Is Maddow in Milwaukee? No, That’s an LED Screen on MSNBC.
MSNBC’s prime-time coverage of the Republican National Convention has featured a typical TV tableau: anchors at a desk perched high above the convention floor, pontificating as the starred-and-striped political pomp unfolds below.
But Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, Joy Reid and the rest of MSNBC’s A-list anchor team have not been inside the convention hall. They were not even in Milwaukee.
Instead, they were broadcasting from a studio in Midtown Manhattan, as a live feed of the convention floor was projected onto an LED screen behind them.
The arrangement — which several veteran television news producers described as unorthodox — has created something of a trompe l’oeil effect. A casual glance at the screen would suggest that MSNBC’s top anchors were covering the convention in person.
MSNBC announced last week that Ms. Maddow and its other marquee personalities would not travel to Milwaukee. For on-the-ground anchoring, the network sent its 11 p.m. host, Stephanie Ruhle, who arrived on Tuesday, and Katy Tur, a daytime host who focuses on reporting and analysis. (Several journalists from NBC News, the network’s corporate cousin, have also been reporting from Milwaukee.)
