Kristen Welker wants to “Meet The Press” with something new.
So the new Sunday-show moderator is introducing a different sort of recurring segment to NBC’s venerable public affairs program. “Meet The Moment” will feature conversations with influentials from outside the usual Beltway haunts, who will still weigh in on issues of importance to voters and the long-running show’s overall audience. Among those who have appeared: Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix, who discussed Black maternal health; actor Selma Blair, who has become an advocate for fair disability pay after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; author and The Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta, who has scrutinized changes in the Evangelical church; and Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, who has pushed for women’s rights in Iran.
Some of these segments will run again this Sunday. More “Moments” are expected in 2024.
The new programming concept comes as the big network Sunday shows have cast about for ways to stay relevant to viewers, including broadcasts that spotlight single topics and traveling outside Washington, D.C. for important interviews. During the coronavirus pandemic, for example, CBS’ “Face The Nation” conducted multiple exchanges with Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner and medical expert — so many times that he became one of the most frequent non-journalist guests in the program’s history.
“MTP,” “Face The Nation,” “This Week,” “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday” all try to land “gets” with big newsmakers, but are grappling with long-term audience migration as well as the fact that social media has given many politicians ways to reach voters and constituents without having to be grilled by a deft journalist. After enjoying a surge of interest in 2020, in the run-up to the presidential election. the three broadcast Sunday programs and “Fox News Sunday” saw viewership ebb to differing degrees, according to ComScore data analyzed by Pew Research Center.
For Welker, who took the reins of “Meet The Press” from Chuck Todd in September, new voices could bring additional reasons to watch the show. In November, the anchor told an audience during an acceptance speech for The National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award that “too many people have stopped talking to each other, and worse, stopped listening.”
“I think one of the ways we as journalists can confront the moment we’re in is by seeking out conversations with unique and diverse perspectives, that people won’t hear anywhere else. If we can bring people with different views to the same table, I believe we can begin to sew back together these threads of division,” she added. “One of my biggest goals, and challenges, as the moderator of Meet the Press is to facilitate exactly these kinds of conversations, and that starts with incorporating more voices into our coverage. That means including elected officials and candidates from across our political spectrum. Including the voices of voters, as well as cultural leaders, academics, scientists, entertainers, and more — people who can lend new perspectives to the issues that impact our politics and in many cases grind them to a halt.”
NBC News declined to make Welker available for a direct interview.
The various “Moments” can be quite personal. Selma Blair is very open about the challenges she has faced with MS, both in her personal life and on the red carper. Tim Alberta describes being challenged by a church elder over politics in the middle of his father’s funeral. Allyson Felix describes hiding her pregnancy while she was negotiations to renew a sponsorship pact with Nike.
Other Sunday hosts have tested extensions and new elements. Chris Wallace would interview a “Power Player” from outside the worlds of traditional news when he led “Fox News Sunday” for example. His successor, Shannon Bream, has pushed even further, enlisting such guests as former New York Yankee Andy Pettitte. Chuck Todd took “MTP” into historical podcasts and even into film festivals during his tenure on the program,
Of course, Welker is barely five months into her new job. Her first moment of “Moment” may give viewers some new look at her vision for the NBC Sunday AM mainstay.
