We’re back with Part II today of our sit-down with MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer for mediabistro.com’s Media Beat.
We wanted to see how she felt about the viewer reaction to news anchor gaffes on live television, particularly her Jesse Jackson–Al Sharpton incident. Brewer admitted that she should have caught the mistake in the prompter — “I’m the final gatekeeper,” she said — but told us that it’s allowed her to develop a relationship with Jackson since. Overall, she added, “I really hate that something like that can paint your whole career with ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.'”
We also got Brewer’s thoughts on MSNBC returning to the single anchor format and about how personalities play a role in cable news. “If you spend a lot of hours in front of a camera, the real you eventually comes out,” she says. Watch Part II below:
• Part I – MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer Describes Her Toughest Interviews
• Part III – MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer Talks Online Feedback and Web Comments