Over the weekend ICN was first to report that someone posted the new MSNBC schedule — supposedly “effective January 11, 2010” — on Wikipedia:
Among the alleged changes “It’s the Economy” is canceled, Norah O’Donnell returns to anchoring at 2pm, Andrea Mitchell Reports moves to 3pm, and Page Hopkins and Christina Brown will be sharing anchoring duties on “First Look/Early Today.”
But a spokesperson for MSNBC tells TVNewser that the line-up posted on Wikipedia is incorrect and that the network has not completely finalized a 2010 schedule.
So what happened?
Wikipedia is a user-generated site, which means anyone can make changes to a majority of the pages with either a username or just an IP address, making them susceptible to false or simply wishful information.
The user who originally posted the new schedule is identified by an IP address whose only other activity was editing the page for the FOX affiliate in Hartford, CT. The schedule went through a series of edits by different users. Another IP address later added Hopkins’ name to the schedule.
Hopkins has been anchoring news updates for MSNBC recently, and has filled-in on “First Look” during the holiday week.
As of this afternoon, the schedule had been removed from the network’s entry, likely by someone at MSNBC.
Considering the flux of MSNBC’s dayside schedule of late, it’s not surprising that fill-in work like that of Hopkins would fuel some speculation.