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There has been a growing trend at legacy media organizations where progressive staffers ignite a war with their employers over an editorial position that does not align with their own.

Among the most memorable clashes in recent years include the social media revolt by New York Times staffers over the infamous Tom Cotton op-ed in 2020 and the open attacks by CNN employees over the network’s Trump town hall in 2023.

In 2024, that trend exploded across multiple news outlets. These were the biggest newsroom revolts of the year:

NBC’s hiring (and firing) of Ronna McDaniel

NBC News was engulfed in a firestorm fueled by its own staffers after the network announced in March it had hired former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a contributor.

The practice of major news organizations hiring ex-lawmakers, government officials and political insiders has existed for decades and has largely been non-controversial. But a chorus of NBC talent, particularly from its liberal cable arm MSNBC, publicly disavowed McDaniel’s hiring, citing her alleged actions in trying to block the certification of Michigan’s election results in 2020.

“We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons including, but not limited to, as lawyers might say, Ms. McDaniel’s role in Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone,” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said on “Morning Joe.” 

Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, blasted NBC’s “inexplicable” decision to hire McDaniel and expressed hope that the network would reverse its decision.

CBS News’ internal uproar over the Dokoupil-Coates interview

In October, the left-wing staff at CBS News lashed out at their colleague, “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil, over his tough but civil interview exchange with progressive author Ta-Nehisi Coates. 

Dokoupil, who is Jewish and has children living in Israel, grilled Coates, whose new book “The Message” is harshly critical of Israel and has been rebuked by the Jewish state’s defenders for its shallow analysis of a complicated conflict.

“The content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,” Dokoupil told Coates about one portion about his trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, asking him “Why leave out so much” and “What is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place?” 

CBS leadership reassured offended staff members that following a review, they concluded that the interview did not meet the company’s “editorial standards,” the Free Press reported, which obtained audio of the staff meeting. 

While a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that Dokoupil would not be punished over the interview, he was forced to meet with the network’s in-house Race and Culture Unit following complaints. According to The New York Times, the conversation “focused on Mr. Dokoupil’s tone of voice, phrasing and body language” during the interview.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Joseph Wulfsohn