MSNBC Producer Resigns, Shares Open Letter After Noticing Issues Surrounding News Coverage

A new open letter is shining a light on why one former MSNBC producer decided to leave the news network.

On Tuesday, Ariana Pekary, who worked behind the scenes of the primetime show "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell," shared her thoughts about issues she said go on unbeknownst to viewers.

In her letter, Pekary began by revealing that over a year and a half ago she had received conflicting advice about whether or not she should vacate her producing role. While some said she should "hang in there," others stated she should "just quit." On July 24, she finally made the jump to leave MSNBC and is now explaining what took place before the move.

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"July 24th was my last day at MSNBC. I don’t know what I’m going to do next exactly but I simply couldn’t stay there anymore. My colleagues are very smart people with good intentions. The problem is the job itself. It forces skilled journalists to make bad decisions on a daily basis," she stated.

Continuing, she added that the editorial decisions that are currently in place and the emphasis on how stories "rate" caused her to reconsider her position. This, she said, was "practically baked in to the editorial process" and affected the content that was shown each day.

As a result, Pekary said the news network has an incentive to "amplify fringe voices" and block diversity of thought, as doing so bolsters ratings. Elaborating, she said that President Donald Trump's poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic could get coverage over the ongoing science surrounding potential vaccines, COVID transmission, or antibodies. Additionally, she expressed her concern that Trump could also be prioritized over presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden or sharing information about mail-in voting.

"Important facts or studies get buried," she wrote.

As for what's ahead for the former producer, Pekary stated that she's heading back to Virginia and reconnecting with "family, friends, and a community of independent journalists."

"And so very soon, I’m going to be seeking you out, any one of you who also may sense that the news is fundamentally flawed and is frustrated by it. This effort will start informally but I hope to crystallize a plan for when better, safer days are upon us," she later said, adding that more than ever she is now "craving a full and civil discourse."