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Dan Abrams

Posted on January 21, 2009

dan-abramsDan Abrams is the Chief Legal Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. He also serves as a contributor to “Dateline” and “Today” and as a MSNBC dayside anchor.

From June 2006 to October 2007, Abrams was the General Manager of MSNBC. Prior to his management appointment, Abrams hosted “The Abrams Report,” a nightly legal affairs program, and later hosted “Verdict with Dan Abrams.”

Abrams began his career at NBC Sports in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics and Wimbledon. His primary duties included making coffee runs, icing sodas, and keeping certain anchor positions dust-free.

Nearly a decade later, Abrams joined NBC News as a general assignment correspondent in 1997 and quickly became a regular contributor to “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” and “Dateline NBC.” Abrams has reported on all of the highest-profile cases of the past decade including the Bush v. Gore post-election battles, President Clinton impeachment trial, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and the legal debate over the treatment of detainees.(via msnbc.com)

Before MSNBC

Before joining NBC News, Abrams worked as a reporter for Court TV where he was widely lauded for his coverage of the the OJ Simpson case.[citation needed] He also covered the International War Crimes Tribunal from The Netherlands, and the assisted-suicide trials of Dr. Jack Kevorkian from Michigan. Abrams’ first job, however, was working as an intern for the Manhattan Borough president.[1]

MSNBC

Dan Abrams was an NBC reporter in 2000 when he covered Bush v. Gore. Abrams and partner Pete Williams were on the Supreme Court steps when the pamphlet was handed out, and they became the first network correspondents to correctly interpret the decision as the country anxiously awaited the outcome. No other networks had live coverage of the decision so fast. Shortly thereafter Abrams began hosting his own show at MSNBC, and The Abrams Report began in 2001.[2][3]Abrams hosted The Abrams Report until he accepted the lead managerial position at MSNBC.[4] Abrams held the position of General Manager of MSNBC from June 12, 2006 until October 2007.[5] With ratings up 62% during his tenure, Abrams left to concentrate on his 9pm show Live with Dan Abrams, which replaced Scarborough Country due to Joe Scarborough’s move to mornings. This show would eventually be revamped and renamed Verdict with Dan Abrams. [6]

Verdict with Dan Abrams, which aired until August 21, 2008, garnered rapid ratings growth for the 9 PM hour (73% in the age 25-54 demographic and 54% in total viewers from 2007). However, MSNBC announced on August 19, 2008 that Air America Radio host Rachel Maddow would take over that 9 PM time slot beginning September 8, 2008.[7] At that time, Abrams took on additional duties with NBC News including substituting as an anchor on the Today show.

Abrams Research

In November 2008, Abrams announced the creation of Abrams Research, a expert network of global media professionals available for consulting projects. In the words of the Wall Street Journal, it aims to “help business executives navigate public-relations challenges — from major acquisitions to bothersome bloggers to outright scandals.”[8] Working with former Huffington Post media editor Rachel Sklar, Abrams assembled a database of thousands of media professionals, creating a broad business model divergent from that of traditional PR firms. The firm’s launch was covered, in addition to the Journal, by the New York Times and the New York Observer.

Some media outlets, including Gawker.com[9], have articulated concerns that the firm’s business model may be in conflict with journalistic codes of conduct. Mr. Abrams, however, has responded openly to these critics,[10] even appearing on NPR’s On the Media to discuss Abrams Research’s launch with host Bob Garfield.[11] According to industry trade publications such as PRWeek, the controversy does not appear to be affecting the business’ growth.[12]

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