Newly-minted NBC News chief digital officer Vivian Schiller talks to Ad Week about her new gig, as well as her departure from NPR.
Schiller says that NBC News already does some things well in the digital space:
What’s NBC News already doing that’s cool or innovative?
AdvertisementNBC News has done a remarkable job of building community around its programs, particularly the Today show. The team translates the tone and voice of the Today show to the digital platform. You feel compelled to go there throughout the day because it’s got the sense of the personalities, lifestyle without the snarkiness. There’s also some really interesting stuff going on in social media. I really admire what Ryan Osborn, the social media guy, is doing. I literally have not met him in person, but I follow him on Twitter.
Later in the interview, she was asked about political bias at NPR, and whether MSNBC may face similar challenges:
You left NPR amid controversy over political bias. MSNBC grappled with its bias during Keith Olbermann’s ouster. Do you see parallels there?
No. People say all kinds of things about all kinds of news organizations. I worked at NPR, The New York Times, CNN. You always get attacked for bias, left, right or otherwise. At NPR we got accused of conservative bias far more often than you’d expect. You don’t pay attention to that stuff.