The start to the week has not been kind to MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow, the 26-year-old hired to inject some energy into the network’s moribund daytime lineup.
His show, “Ronan Farrow Daily,” has been poorly reviewed since its debut in late-February, and on Monday he woke up to a brutal report in the New York Daily News.
The article quoted an unnamed MSNBC source who said that Farrow “sort of stinks on TV.” And his show, according to the Daily News, is at risk of being canned after debuting to bleak ratings.
Monday’s edition of the embattled program only added to Farrow’s star-crossed opening month.
When Farrow announced the death of Ray Hutchison, the former lawmaker and husband of ex-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), the show’s graphics team showed a photo of former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Fifteen minutes later — after a screengrab of the photo had already been widely circulated and mocked on Twitter — Farrow corrected the error.
“Again, we do have sad political news today. We have word that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s husband passed away,” he said. “We showed you a picture of the senator with Ray LaHood. We wanted to show you the correct photo of Ray Hutchison, who we remember today with the senator.”
Cable news chyron errors happen with some frequency, but it was the second such flub for Farrow’s program in a week. Last Tuesday, Farrow asked his viewers if the individuals who jumped off the new World Trade Center last year were “heroes” or “zeros.”
But his chyron provided no such context and referred to the daredevils as the “WTC jumpers,” a description that conjured up images of 9/11.
Farrow’s graphics team stepped in it once more on Monday during a segment on Anne Hidalgo, who was elected as the first female mayor of Paris.
“IT’S A GIRL!” read the cringe-inducing caption on the screen.
Correction: Farrow is 26, not 28. We regret the error.
