“I turned off the news all at once.”
“Please talk to each other more.”
“Please report things from both sides.”
These are some of the answers NBC News got when it conducted a consumer survey for a new marketing campaign that promises “facts, clarity and calm.”
But the comments prompted NBC News Group Chairman Cesar Conde to greenlight the launch of a new editorial series called “Finding Common Ground,” which combines prominent figures from opposite sides of the political spectrum to discuss issues on which consensus can be found.
NBC News announced Thursday that it will feature the segment on its “Today,” “NBC Nightly News with Tom Llama,” “Meet the Press” and streaming channel NBC News Now. Live events are also planned, including a conversation between Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pennsylvania) at the Washington National Cathedral next week, hosted by Today co-host Savannah Guthrie.
“What our viewers are saying is they want less partisanship and less emphasis on extremes and more emphasis on civil, solution-oriented dialogue,” NBC News President Rebecca Blumenstein said in an interview. “We’re going to make this a big focus of our efforts next year.”
The concept of bringing politicians from all walks of life to the table for bipartisan debate is hardly new. The Fox News show is running a similar series of television interviews and podcasts, also called “Common Ground,” starting in 2022.
But TV news outlets are clearly promoting the idea that all points of view are welcome, a response to a polarizing political climate that consumers say is uncomfortable. (A recent Pew Research survey found that 36% of U.S. adults “always or most of the time” follow the news, down from 51% in 2016).
Earlier this year, C-SPAN, which receives funding from the cable and satellite industry, launched “Ceasefire,” a roundtable show in which Republicans and Democrats debate respectfully. The idea came from C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist, who created the iconic and often maligned cable news debate show “Crossfire” during the CNN era.
After Paramount was acquired by Skydance Media, its new chief executive hired David Ellison, co-founder of the digital news platform Free Press, as CBS News editor-in-chief. She is tasked with bringing a broader range of perspectives to the network.
Tom Bettag, a lecturer at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill School of Journalism, finds the trend “bizarre” because he believes broadcast networks are already forced to find common ground because they serve local affiliate TV stations in both red and blue states.
“It would be shocking if you said, ‘Let’s all talk about what we have in common,’ and all of a sudden that turns into a new slice of bread that everyone rushes to buy,” Bettag said. “But is there a problem? No.”
But Guthrie said in an interview that as the media landscape becomes more fragmented and non-traditional news sources proliferate, viewers may need to be reminded of NBC’s journalistic values.
“We don’t see this as a huge change, at least for us,” Guthrie said. “What we do is highlight our strengths. I think legacy media needs to remind people of who we are and what we do. It’s important to differentiate ourselves and communicate who we are.”
Bettag added that he understands NBC’s rationale, as mainstream news organizations have been under attack and accusations of bigotry from right-wing critics and President Trump for years.
Kristen Welker, moderator of Meet the Press, the daily podcast version of NBC’s Sunday roundtable show. It started with a conversation last year between Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.). Both men are ordained ministers and spoke about their faith and bipartisan efforts.
Recently, Rep. Hilary Scholten (D-Mich.) and Rep. Troy Downing (R-Mont.) spoke about helping small business owners better understand artificial intelligence.
Welker, who conducts most of the interviews, said viewer feedback has been positive.
“They love the tone of these conversations,” Welker said. “They feel it reflects the conversations they’re having with their families in their own homes. So we hope this will be useful to the public and our viewers.”
