February 6, 2025 • 22 mins
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a major news network? Veteran booking producer Dan Holway, with over 22 years at MSNBC, pulls back the curtain on the fast-paced and unpredictable world of booking guests for live television. From his unexpected entry into journalism as a Seton Hall University student to his current role working with Anna Cabrera, Dan shares insights into the daily challenges of sourcing guests who can provide fresh perspectives on the day's news. Along the way, he reveals the human side of the news industry.
Discover how the role of a booking producer has evolved over the years, with changes in communication methods and team dynamics. Dan discusses the art of building long-term relationships in the media world and touches on the political division in the country and the hurdles faced when striving for balanced coverage. Plus, don't miss Dan's discussion on his passion for craft beer and the serendipitous encounter that led to the creation of his podcast, "America the Brew-tiful."
Connect with Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danholway/
America the BREW-tiful podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/america-the-brew-tiful/id1518400160
Thank you for listening! Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the Media in Minutes podcast here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-in-minutes/id1555710662
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Tuell (00:05):
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
On today's episode, we aretalking with Dan Holway.
(00:32):
Dan began his journalism careerat MSNBC 22 years ago and has
spent his time there as abooking producer.
He currently books interviewsfor the 10 am show with Anna
Cabrera.
Dan is also the co-host of thepodcast America the Brew-tiful,
where he and Tom Simpson covercurrent events in the craft beer
industry and tips and tricks onhow you can get better beer
(00:55):
without having to travel too farfrom home.
Hi Dan, thanks for joining us.
Dan Holway (01:01):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to talk to you.
Angela Tuell (01:03):
Yes, me too.
I'm excited to talk about yourcareer and national news
broadcast insight.
I'm sure there's a lot therefrom how long your career has
been.
Dan Holway (01:12):
Yeah, I've been doing this for a while, so we
definitely have a lot to talkabout.
Angela Tuell (01:17):
Yeah, let's start with how you became interested
in journalism and how you got towhere you are.
I know you recently told methis story, but I would love to
share it with all of ourlisteners.
Dan Holway (01:27):
Sure, yes.
So I guess it really allstarted in college.
Most people that work at MSNBCor CNN or Fox News they come
from a journalism background, acommunications background, and
when I was in college I wasactually an international
relations major, so I'm one ofthe very few that kind of didn't
(01:50):
follow that path and got intojournalism.
But what happened for me waswhen I was in college and I went
to Seton Hall, we had a reallygreat radio station there and I
started working at the radiostation as a freshman all
throughout college and I lovedit.
(02:11):
So when I needed to do aninternship before graduating,
they gave me a bunch of choicesat the School of Diplomacy and
International Relations.
So most people would want tointern at the UN.
I asked them what about news?
What if I did something in news?
And they thought about it andthey said, okay, yeah, that
(02:34):
could work.
As long as it's something thatyou know we'll touch on, kind of
international news, I don't seewhy not.
Angela Tuell (02:41):
Okay.
Dan Holway (02:42):
And at that time I was living in New Jersey and
MSNBC was located in Secaucus,new Jersey.
So I applied and I got it and Ikind of that's where it all
started.
I started as an intern in thebooking department at MSNBC and
(03:02):
I've basically been doing thesame thing ever since.
Angela Tuell (03:07):
Wow, so you liked it obviously.
Dan Holway (03:09):
Yeah, I did.
I did.
It was a lot of fun.
I mean, my job is basicallytalking to people, like I'm
doing with you now.
Angela Tuell (03:16):
Yeah, and you know it takes a lot or it takes a
special kind of person to be abooking producer.
But tell us a little bit aboutfor those who are not super
familiar with the role.
You know what you do on atypical day I know days are not
typical, probably, but and yourmain responsibilities.
Dan Holway (03:33):
Sure.
So yes, basically my job goesas the news goes.
So I'll give an example, arandom example.
We had an earthquake here inthe Northeast earlier this year
Very rare.
So on a day like that we mighthave a set plan and have all
(04:01):
these stories written, but on aday like that something happens.
Now my job is to find a guestto come on and talk about this
random earthquake in theNortheast that happened.
So really my job depends onwhat the news is, but my job is
finding guests to come ontelevision and talk about
whatever the news of the day is.
Angela Tuell (04:23):
Was there anything you were surprised to learn
when you started at MSNBC?
Dan Holway (04:30):
You know, I guess the thing that was surprising is
just kind of how everybody thatI work with is a normal person
with normal, you know, normalworries at home and a normal
life, and not these super youknow.
You watch a television show andit's like their whole life is
(04:50):
their job, but it's not reallylike that yeah, you mean the
hosts, right, the talent as wecall it yeah, well, the hosts
are a little different.
The hosts are a little moreintense.
They have, uh, for them it's,it's maybe a little more okay,
okay, it's a little more intensethey have.
Angela Tuell (05:04):
For them it's maybe a little more Okay.
Okay, it's a little bit more oftheir life then.
Dan Holway (05:07):
Yes.
Angela Tuell (05:09):
So could you tell us a little bit more about how
your role has evolved over theyears?
I know you've essentiallystayed in the same type of
position.
Has it evolved?
Dan Holway (05:19):
Sure, yeah, it definitely has.
It's gone through kind of somecycles.
It definitely has it's gonethrough kind of some cycles.
(05:41):
When I started at MSNBC as abooking producer, we had kind of
a whole team and that teambooked for a number of changed
for a while and then I worked ona show called the Cycle, and
the Cycle was we had four hostsand it was a different monster,
but we all had a specific team.
So I would work directly withthe segment producers, the
(06:03):
senior producers, the executiveproducers, the anchors, and that
happened for a while.
Then it kind of reverted backand then reverted back again.
So that's, it's basically whatI'm doing now is you know, I
work with a specific show team.
The current show team is 10 am.
(06:24):
Msnbc reports with Ana Cabrera.
Angela Tuell (06:27):
So what are you looking for with interviewees
for the show?
Dan Holway (06:31):
Sure.
So there are anchor favoritesall the time.
So there are certain peoplethat they will say, hey, this
story is going on.
Let me get this person whocovers the White House as you
know, this is my favorite personokay, sure, um, but when it's
something a little more random,then what?
(06:53):
There's a few things.
I look for the current host.
I have loves having guests onset, so if I can find an expert
in a field and get them to newyork, it always makes for a
better interview.
But then you also just kind oflook for people that are
interesting and engaging, andthat could sometimes be
difficult if it's something likeI mentioned the earthquake
(07:15):
before.
Not all geologists are superengaging.
Angela Tuell (07:20):
Yeah, that would be tough.
How many interviews do youtypically book for an hour show?
Dan Holway (07:26):
So I would say in a normal show we probably have
about five guests booked for thehour.
Angela Tuell (07:31):
And how can publicists most help you do your
job, and do you have any petpeeves when it comes to working
with PR professionals?
Sure, sure, be honest with us.
Dan Holway (07:43):
Yeah, I will, I'll be honest.
Sure, sure, be honest with us.
Yeah, I will, I'll be honest.
So I think it's kind of beingon top of the news.
I work on a show that iscompletely news.
We don't really do anything, wedon't promote products, we kind
of don't veer off too much intoother things unless it has a
(08:07):
news peg, and a news peg that iskind of about what the
headlines going on right now inthe news world are.
Yeah, so sometimes I gethundreds of emails a day,
hundreds and hundreds.
Angela Tuell (08:22):
Right.
Dan Holway (08:23):
Honestly, on a busy day I might literally get a
thousand emails.
Now, some of these areautomated emails that we get.
Every time a guest is booked byanyone on the network I get an
email.
But there are many, many emailsthat come through.
And yeah, I mean the one thinghey can you, the world could be
(08:43):
falling apart thing hey, can you, the world could be falling
apart and somebody wants to sendme an email about something
that has nothing to do with whatis being covered in the news.
You know, as interesting as Imight find the subject matter,
there's just no way for that tohappen.
Angela Tuell (09:00):
Yeah, You're like hey, did you turn on the TV and
see what's happening?
Dan Holway (09:03):
right now?
Yes, exactly.
Angela Tuell (09:06):
Yeah, that's definitely good advice.
Do you prefer email?
Dan Holway (09:10):
Yes, so when I started kind of working, it was
a lot more phone.
We did a lot of things over thephone.
When I talked to guests, I gavethem a phone call old fashioned
phone calls.
Now I would say it's about 80%email and maybe 15% text message
(09:31):
and 5% talking on the phonetext message and five percent
talking on the phone.
Angela Tuell (09:38):
Yeah, yeah, I was still thinking it would be more
than that.
I mean, if it's, if it's morebreaking news type stuff, is it?
Does it tend to be more phone,then, or not necessarily?
Dan Holway (09:43):
if, if we're in breaking news mode, uh, I need
to get somebody asap and I willgive them a call.
Angela Tuell (09:49):
Yes, yeah, yeah so what does it take to be a great
booking producer?
Dan Holway (09:55):
So I think it's a few things.
First, being okay with whenpeople say no.
There are a lot of times thatwe go after different guests
that are just not going to comeon.
Maybe they'll come on the TodayShow, maybe they'll do a
(10:17):
specific primetime show, butthey're not going to say yes to
every ask.
That's one.
The second is, honestly, to bea great booking producer.
I think you have to have doneit for a while, because you
build those relationships up,you are able to have complete
recall when something randomthat you haven't done in a while
happens.
Okay, yes, I remember thisperson that I booked eight years
(10:40):
ago that can come on to talkabout something.
So so those are two things.
The other thing is just kind ofhaving some some news judgment.
You can't always rely on yourteam to tell you what to do when
there's breaking news.
I've never, hey guys, what doyou think of this?
It to tell you what to do whenthere's breaking news.
I'm never, hey guys, what doyou think of this?
It's here's what you got,here's what I'm giving you.
Angela Tuell (11:00):
Yes, yeah, those are great, and not everyone has
those skills, obviously you dothem well because you've been
there for so long, and that'ssomething else I was going to
ask.
It is really unusual in thisbusiness in general, in
journalism in general, I shouldsay to stay in one media outlet
for so long.
What has kept you there?
Dan Holway (11:17):
It is super rare.
I've worked with a ton ofpeople over the years and
generally people do leave andthey look for a different
opportunity and, to be honest,that's a very good way to
increase your salary is to leave.
You know, you kind of give themthe hometown discount for a
(11:38):
while if you stick around.
But I think for me what I sawthe most is the people who left,
who I still keep in contactwith.
A lot of times they would leaveand they would just not be
happy you know, the whole grassis not always greener on the
other side thing.
Correct.
And no, no job is perfect, nocompany is perfect.
(12:00):
But uh, you know, I've beenvery comfortable in my job.
I like the people I work withand that's even throughout the
times that I've kind of jumpedaround.
It's like you're working onthis show now with this team.
It's been pretty consistentlygood.
So I like the people I workwith.
I think I've been treatedpretty well by the company.
(12:21):
So, yeah, some people are alittle more risk takers and
maybe I'm just into safety.
Angela Tuell (12:31):
Yeah, those things you mentioned are important,
though, and you don't know whatyou're going to get when you
move.
So it's true, and I've heardsome.
Dan Holway (12:38):
I've heard several horror stories and I'm like oh
OK maybe I should be happy thatI am here.
Angela Tuell (12:43):
Right, yes, so I do have to talk about.
With our current politicalenvironment and the negativity
towards journalists, you know,especially at the national level
.
Has that affected your work orlife?
Dan Holway (12:56):
It's a great question.
I think it's funny because I'llhave different co-workers have
come up to me, some of theyounger co-workers, and asked me
for instance hey, are youworried?
And I'm like, okay, about what?
And you know certain people.
Steve Bannon came out and saidthat he wanted to jail people
(13:18):
from different publications.
Right, msnbc was one of them.
Great to hear, right.
But you know, do I worry aboutit?
No, I think, until I have toworry about it, I won't and I
don't think that I will.
I don't think that that issomething that's going to happen
in this country.
But you know, I could be verywrong.
Angela Tuell (13:41):
We'll find out.
Yeah, yeah, there's a lot ofthings happening that we don't
think could happen in thiscountry, right.
Dan Holway (13:47):
But I will say that.
Another thing is I feel likethe country is the most divided
that I could ever remember it,and everybody is way more
political in real life than Ican ever remember.
For most presidential electionsthat I've covered, or just even
(14:10):
before I could vote, I don'tremember there being such
division.
I don't remember people wantingto talk about things as much,
and maybe you would drivethrough a neighborhood and
people might have a little signout for a candidate, but never
flags, never as much as we'reseeing now.
(14:31):
So, yeah, things are different,I think, all over the country
and people are not necessarilyreceptive to opinions that
differ from their own, andthat's on both sides.
Angela Tuell (14:45):
Yeah, that's true.
That is very true.
Do you see any negativitytowards you personally when
people know that you're ajournalist or work in the media
or that sort of thing?
Dan Holway (14:55):
Yeah, honestly, I have not.
Angela Tuell (14:57):
And I I.
Dan Holway (14:59):
I now.
I'm not usually in the field.
I'm usually in front of acomputer, so that that could be
a thing.
I know.
Some of, uh, some of ourjournalists that have been out
in the field have definitelygotten, um know, harassed a bit,
but I have.
Angela Tuell (15:17):
I personally have not, so yeah, that's good, and I
guess that sort of goes into mynext question a little bit is
do you embrace the perceptionthat MSNBC skews left, or do you
feel that is not the case?
You know, that's kind of outthere that all Fox Fox is a
right is the SKUs right andMSNBC SKUs left.
Dan Holway (15:35):
Sure, I mean, I don't think it's a secret,
especially in primetime, thatMSNBC is.
I mean, in primetime MSNBC isvery liberal.
You know, I work on the daytimeprogramming and one thing we
make a conscious effort to do isto try to be as even as
possible.
(15:55):
That said, that is not alwaysthe easiest thing to do, for the
simple reason that Republicansdon't want to come on our air.
You know, if we're, if we'recovering some kind of
congressional vote and we'relooking to get a congress member
, it's very difficult.
There are very few Republicancongressmen that want to come on
(16:15):
MSNBC, and I'm sure that's thesame thing with Fox.
I very much doubt it's going tobe easy for them to get
Democratic lawmakers to come on.
So it's, we try to be as evenhanded, as non-bias as possible
during the daytime, as non-biasas possible during the daytime,
(16:38):
but certainly in the evening.
I think anybody will tell youit's a very opinion-based
program.
Angela Tuell (16:42):
That makes your job, as you were saying, making
it difficult to get Republicanlawmakers on.
That makes your job harder oftrying to balance it because you
can't get on the other.
So do you just have certainones that will come on or ones
that you will talk for?
Dan Holway (16:55):
Some will.
Honestly, it's pretty tricky.
And it's especially tricky thenas well, when you know there's
several hours of programmingthat are all going out to the
same person because they knowthat they might be able to come
on and we don't really repeatguests throughout the day.
Okay, that's good to know.
Angela Tuell (17:12):
That's why you get the emails with what guests are
being booked and what shows yes.
So okay, that's good to know.
That's why you get the emailswith all the guests, with what
guests are being booked and whatshows yes.
Yeah, that makes sense.
So is there anything you wishthe general public knew about
national broadcast news and thewhole 24 hour news cycle
stations that they likely don'tknow?
Dan Holway (17:31):
It's a lot of work.
It's a lot of work from a lotof people, know it's a lot of
work.
It's a lot of work from a lotof people and I will say that my
job is a 24-7 job and noteverybody's is so.
Our writers we have a fewwriters on our show.
Once the show is over, theirday is over.
For someone like me, when ourshow is over, maybe I still need
(17:56):
to plan a little bit for thenext day, but if something
happens at 9 pm, that's going tobe the news for the next day.
Then I am working at 9 pm.
So it's a lot of work from alot of people.
Angela Tuell (18:09):
That's definitely something that not everyone
knows or expects if they're notin that kind of job.
Before we go, we must talkabout your podcast, america the
Brutiful, so please tell us more.
How did it get started?
What is your focus?
Dan Holway (18:25):
Sure, so it's a beer podcast.
We'll start there.
I think you could probablysurmise that from the name, and
it started around COVID time.
Not on purpose, but there's afriend of mine who I went to
high school with.
I was a senior in high schoolwhen he was a freshman, so we
(18:45):
didn't know each other too well.
So we didn't know each othertoo well.
We were taking the same classin gym.
As adults, we went to the samegym and we're taking a CrossFit
class and then a few weeks laterI'm at a beer release.
A beer release.
For those who don't know thathow things used to be kind of
(19:06):
before, covid is a brewery wouldhave a release, and in this
case it was.
The brewery was other half,which is in Brooklyn, and they
would have a release at like 10in the morning and people would
show up at 6 in the morning andget online to get beer.
Angela Tuell (19:26):
So early drinking, there.
Dan Holway (19:28):
Yes, yes, so I saw this friend of mine.
I I'm like what are you doinghere?
Says what are you doing here?
And then obviously we werethere for the same reason and we
started talking about beer andhe said, hey, you know, we
should do, we should do apodcast.
And I said, oh, yeah, sure,that sounds like an interesting
idea.
And then a few weeks later hesays, hey, I bought all the
(19:52):
podcast equipment.
And I said, oh, oh, okay, Iguess we're doing it then and it
took off from there.
So we've been doing it since2020.
And we've had a ton ofinterviews with different
breweries and people in the beerindustry and, honestly, some of
(20:14):
the biggest names in the beerindustry.
So it's been a lot of fun.
Angela Tuell (20:17):
Yeah, that's amazing.
What have been some of yourfavorite episodes?
Dan Holway (20:20):
That might be hard to say, but Sure, I mean, our
last episode of 2024 was onethat I really liked.
It was a, you know, you talk tobrewers and sometimes you think
they are these tough guys.
You know, oh yeah, a lot ofbrewers have beards and, you
know, kind of look like theymight have a rough exterior.
(20:44):
But everybody is a person andit was kind of a sentimental
episode, just everybody kind ofbeing happy with where they are
in life.
So that one was really good.
But we've done episodes on allsorts of things.
We've done different charities.
There's a lot of charitablethings in beer.
(21:05):
Breweries will make beers toraise money for different causes
.
So we've done a lot of thatkind of stuff.
We interviewed a brewery inukraine near the beginning of
the war there and that one waskind of interesting and
different, yeah.
So yeah, I mean we it's tryingto keep up and keep it fresh and
(21:29):
do different things, yeah.
Angela Tuell (21:31):
We will make sure to link to it in our show notes
for everyone.
Can you find it?
Anywhere you get your podcasts.
Dan Holway (21:36):
You can yeah Good.
Angela Tuell (21:39):
And how can listeners connect with you
online?
Dan Holway (21:42):
Honestly, if they're on, instagram is kind of the
place that we use the most.
So, yeah, message on Instagram.
I read them all.
Angela Tuell (21:52):
Perfect.
Thank you so much Dan.
Dan Holway (21:55):
Thank you.
Angela Tuell (21:56):
That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes
, a podcast by CommunicationsRedefined.
Please take a moment to rate,review and subscribe to our show
.
We'd love to hear what youthink you can find more at
communicationsredefined.
com/ podcast.
I'm Angela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
On today's episode, we aretalking with Dan Holway.
(00:32):
Dan began his journalism careerat MSNBC 22 years ago and has
spent his time there as abooking producer.
He currently books interviewsfor the 10 am show with Anna
Cabrera.
Dan is also the co-host of thepodcast America the Brew-tiful,
where he and Tom Simpson covercurrent events in the craft beer
industry and tips and tricks onhow you can get better beer
(00:55):
without having to travel too farfrom home.
Hi Dan, thanks for joining us.
Dan Holway (01:01):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to talk to you.
Angela Tuell (01:03):
Yes, me too.
I'm excited to talk about yourcareer and national news
broadcast insight.
I'm sure there's a lot therefrom how long your career has
been.
Dan Holway (01:12):
Yeah, I've been doing this for a while, so we
definitely have a lot to talkabout.
Angela Tuell (01:17):
Yeah, let's start with how you became interested
in journalism and how you got towhere you are.
I know you recently told methis story, but I would love to
share it with all of ourlisteners.
Dan Holway (01:27):
Sure, yes.
So I guess it really allstarted in college.
Most people that work at MSNBCor CNN or Fox News they come
from a journalism background, acommunications background, and
when I was in college I wasactually an international
relations major, so I'm one ofthe very few that kind of didn't
(01:50):
follow that path and got intojournalism.
But what happened for me waswhen I was in college and I went
to Seton Hall, we had a reallygreat radio station there and I
started working at the radiostation as a freshman all
throughout college and I lovedit.
(02:11):
So when I needed to do aninternship before graduating,
they gave me a bunch of choicesat the School of Diplomacy and
International Relations.
So most people would want tointern at the UN.
I asked them what about news?
What if I did something in news?
And they thought about it andthey said, okay, yeah, that
(02:34):
could work.
As long as it's something thatyou know we'll touch on, kind of
international news, I don't seewhy not.
Angela Tuell (02:41):
Okay.
Dan Holway (02:42):
And at that time I was living in New Jersey and
MSNBC was located in Secaucus,new Jersey.
So I applied and I got it and Ikind of that's where it all
started.
I started as an intern in thebooking department at MSNBC and
(03:02):
I've basically been doing thesame thing ever since.
Angela Tuell (03:07):
Wow, so you liked it obviously.
Dan Holway (03:09):
Yeah, I did.
I did.
It was a lot of fun.
I mean, my job is basicallytalking to people, like I'm
doing with you now.
Angela Tuell (03:16):
Yeah, and you know it takes a lot or it takes a
special kind of person to be abooking producer.
But tell us a little bit aboutfor those who are not super
familiar with the role.
You know what you do on atypical day I know days are not
typical, probably, but and yourmain responsibilities.
Dan Holway (03:33):
Sure.
So yes, basically my job goesas the news goes.
So I'll give an example, arandom example.
We had an earthquake here inthe Northeast earlier this year
Very rare.
So on a day like that we mighthave a set plan and have all
(04:01):
these stories written, but on aday like that something happens.
Now my job is to find a guestto come on and talk about this
random earthquake in theNortheast that happened.
So really my job depends onwhat the news is, but my job is
finding guests to come ontelevision and talk about
whatever the news of the day is.
Angela Tuell (04:23):
Was there anything you were surprised to learn
when you started at MSNBC?
Dan Holway (04:30):
You know, I guess the thing that was surprising is
just kind of how everybody thatI work with is a normal person
with normal, you know, normalworries at home and a normal
life, and not these super youknow.
You watch a television show andit's like their whole life is
(04:50):
their job, but it's not reallylike that yeah, you mean the
hosts, right, the talent as wecall it yeah, well, the hosts
are a little different.
The hosts are a little moreintense.
They have, uh, for them it's,it's maybe a little more okay,
okay, it's a little more intensethey have.
Angela Tuell (05:04):
For them it's maybe a little more Okay.
Okay, it's a little bit more oftheir life then.
Dan Holway (05:07):
Yes.
Angela Tuell (05:09):
So could you tell us a little bit more about how
your role has evolved over theyears?
I know you've essentiallystayed in the same type of
position.
Has it evolved?
Dan Holway (05:19):
Sure, yeah, it definitely has.
It's gone through kind of somecycles.
It definitely has it's gonethrough kind of some cycles.
(05:41):
When I started at MSNBC as abooking producer, we had kind of
a whole team and that teambooked for a number of changed
for a while and then I worked ona show called the Cycle, and
the Cycle was we had four hostsand it was a different monster,
but we all had a specific team.
So I would work directly withthe segment producers, the
(06:03):
senior producers, the executiveproducers, the anchors, and that
happened for a while.
Then it kind of reverted backand then reverted back again.
So that's, it's basically whatI'm doing now is you know, I
work with a specific show team.
The current show team is 10 am.
(06:24):
Msnbc reports with Ana Cabrera.
Angela Tuell (06:27):
So what are you looking for with interviewees
for the show?
Dan Holway (06:31):
Sure.
So there are anchor favoritesall the time.
So there are certain peoplethat they will say, hey, this
story is going on.
Let me get this person whocovers the White House as you
know, this is my favorite personokay, sure, um, but when it's
something a little more random,then what?
(06:53):
There's a few things.
I look for the current host.
I have loves having guests onset, so if I can find an expert
in a field and get them to newyork, it always makes for a
better interview.
But then you also just kind oflook for people that are
interesting and engaging, andthat could sometimes be
difficult if it's something likeI mentioned the earthquake
(07:15):
before.
Not all geologists are superengaging.
Angela Tuell (07:20):
Yeah, that would be tough.
How many interviews do youtypically book for an hour show?
Dan Holway (07:26):
So I would say in a normal show we probably have
about five guests booked for thehour.
Angela Tuell (07:31):
And how can publicists most help you do your
job, and do you have any petpeeves when it comes to working
with PR professionals?
Sure, sure, be honest with us.
Dan Holway (07:43):
Yeah, I will, I'll be honest.
Sure, sure, be honest with us.
Yeah, I will, I'll be honest.
So I think it's kind of beingon top of the news.
I work on a show that iscompletely news.
We don't really do anything, wedon't promote products, we kind
of don't veer off too much intoother things unless it has a
(08:07):
news peg, and a news peg that iskind of about what the
headlines going on right now inthe news world are.
Yeah, so sometimes I gethundreds of emails a day,
hundreds and hundreds.
Angela Tuell (08:22):
Right.
Dan Holway (08:23):
Honestly, on a busy day I might literally get a
thousand emails.
Now, some of these areautomated emails that we get.
Every time a guest is booked byanyone on the network I get an
email.
But there are many, many emailsthat come through.
And yeah, I mean the one thinghey can you, the world could be
(08:43):
falling apart thing hey, can you, the world could be falling
apart and somebody wants to sendme an email about something
that has nothing to do with whatis being covered in the news.
You know, as interesting as Imight find the subject matter,
there's just no way for that tohappen.
Angela Tuell (09:00):
Yeah, You're like hey, did you turn on the TV and
see what's happening?
Dan Holway (09:03):
right now?
Yes, exactly.
Angela Tuell (09:06):
Yeah, that's definitely good advice.
Do you prefer email?
Dan Holway (09:10):
Yes, so when I started kind of working, it was
a lot more phone.
We did a lot of things over thephone.
When I talked to guests, I gavethem a phone call old fashioned
phone calls.
Now I would say it's about 80%email and maybe 15% text message
(09:31):
and 5% talking on the phonetext message and five percent
talking on the phone.
Angela Tuell (09:38):
Yeah, yeah, I was still thinking it would be more
than that.
I mean, if it's, if it's morebreaking news type stuff, is it?
Does it tend to be more phone,then, or not necessarily?
Dan Holway (09:43):
if, if we're in breaking news mode, uh, I need
to get somebody asap and I willgive them a call.
Angela Tuell (09:49):
Yes, yeah, yeah so what does it take to be a great
booking producer?
Dan Holway (09:55):
So I think it's a few things.
First, being okay with whenpeople say no.
There are a lot of times thatwe go after different guests
that are just not going to comeon.
Maybe they'll come on the TodayShow, maybe they'll do a
(10:17):
specific primetime show, butthey're not going to say yes to
every ask.
That's one.
The second is, honestly, to bea great booking producer.
I think you have to have doneit for a while, because you
build those relationships up,you are able to have complete
recall when something randomthat you haven't done in a while
happens.
Okay, yes, I remember thisperson that I booked eight years
(10:40):
ago that can come on to talkabout something.
So so those are two things.
The other thing is just kind ofhaving some some news judgment.
You can't always rely on yourteam to tell you what to do when
there's breaking news.
I've never, hey guys, what doyou think of this?
It to tell you what to do whenthere's breaking news.
I'm never, hey guys, what doyou think of this?
It's here's what you got,here's what I'm giving you.
Angela Tuell (11:00):
Yes, yeah, those are great, and not everyone has
those skills, obviously you dothem well because you've been
there for so long, and that'ssomething else I was going to
ask.
It is really unusual in thisbusiness in general, in
journalism in general, I shouldsay to stay in one media outlet
for so long.
What has kept you there?
Dan Holway (11:17):
It is super rare.
I've worked with a ton ofpeople over the years and
generally people do leave andthey look for a different
opportunity and, to be honest,that's a very good way to
increase your salary is to leave.
You know, you kind of give themthe hometown discount for a
(11:38):
while if you stick around.
But I think for me what I sawthe most is the people who left,
who I still keep in contactwith.
A lot of times they would leaveand they would just not be
happy you know, the whole grassis not always greener on the
other side thing.
Correct.
And no, no job is perfect, nocompany is perfect.
(12:00):
But uh, you know, I've beenvery comfortable in my job.
I like the people I work withand that's even throughout the
times that I've kind of jumpedaround.
It's like you're working onthis show now with this team.
It's been pretty consistentlygood.
So I like the people I workwith.
I think I've been treatedpretty well by the company.
(12:21):
So, yeah, some people are alittle more risk takers and
maybe I'm just into safety.
Angela Tuell (12:31):
Yeah, those things you mentioned are important,
though, and you don't know whatyou're going to get when you
move.
So it's true, and I've heardsome.
Dan Holway (12:38):
I've heard several horror stories and I'm like oh
OK maybe I should be happy thatI am here.
Angela Tuell (12:43):
Right, yes, so I do have to talk about.
With our current politicalenvironment and the negativity
towards journalists, you know,especially at the national level
.
Has that affected your work orlife?
Dan Holway (12:56):
It's a great question.
I think it's funny because I'llhave different co-workers have
come up to me, some of theyounger co-workers, and asked me
for instance hey, are youworried?
And I'm like, okay, about what?
And you know certain people.
Steve Bannon came out and saidthat he wanted to jail people
(13:18):
from different publications.
Right, msnbc was one of them.
Great to hear, right.
But you know, do I worry aboutit?
No, I think, until I have toworry about it, I won't and I
don't think that I will.
I don't think that that issomething that's going to happen
in this country.
But you know, I could be verywrong.
Angela Tuell (13:41):
We'll find out.
Yeah, yeah, there's a lot ofthings happening that we don't
think could happen in thiscountry, right.
Dan Holway (13:47):
But I will say that.
Another thing is I feel likethe country is the most divided
that I could ever remember it,and everybody is way more
political in real life than Ican ever remember.
For most presidential electionsthat I've covered, or just even
(14:10):
before I could vote, I don'tremember there being such
division.
I don't remember people wantingto talk about things as much,
and maybe you would drivethrough a neighborhood and
people might have a little signout for a candidate, but never
flags, never as much as we'reseeing now.
(14:31):
So, yeah, things are different,I think, all over the country
and people are not necessarilyreceptive to opinions that
differ from their own, andthat's on both sides.
Angela Tuell (14:45):
Yeah, that's true.
That is very true.
Do you see any negativitytowards you personally when
people know that you're ajournalist or work in the media
or that sort of thing?
Dan Holway (14:55):
Yeah, honestly, I have not.
Angela Tuell (14:57):
And I I.
Dan Holway (14:59):
I now.
I'm not usually in the field.
I'm usually in front of acomputer, so that that could be
a thing.
I know.
Some of, uh, some of ourjournalists that have been out
in the field have definitelygotten, um know, harassed a bit,
but I have.
Angela Tuell (15:17):
I personally have not, so yeah, that's good, and I
guess that sort of goes into mynext question a little bit is
do you embrace the perceptionthat MSNBC skews left, or do you
feel that is not the case?
You know, that's kind of outthere that all Fox Fox is a
right is the SKUs right andMSNBC SKUs left.
Dan Holway (15:35):
Sure, I mean, I don't think it's a secret,
especially in primetime, thatMSNBC is.
I mean, in primetime MSNBC isvery liberal.
You know, I work on the daytimeprogramming and one thing we
make a conscious effort to do isto try to be as even as
possible.
(15:55):
That said, that is not alwaysthe easiest thing to do, for the
simple reason that Republicansdon't want to come on our air.
You know, if we're, if we'recovering some kind of
congressional vote and we'relooking to get a congress member
, it's very difficult.
There are very few Republicancongressmen that want to come on
(16:15):
MSNBC, and I'm sure that's thesame thing with Fox.
I very much doubt it's going tobe easy for them to get
Democratic lawmakers to come on.
So it's, we try to be as evenhanded, as non-bias as possible
during the daytime, as non-biasas possible during the daytime,
(16:38):
but certainly in the evening.
I think anybody will tell youit's a very opinion-based
program.
Angela Tuell (16:42):
That makes your job, as you were saying, making
it difficult to get Republicanlawmakers on.
That makes your job harder oftrying to balance it because you
can't get on the other.
So do you just have certainones that will come on or ones
that you will talk for?
Dan Holway (16:55):
Some will.
Honestly, it's pretty tricky.
And it's especially tricky thenas well, when you know there's
several hours of programmingthat are all going out to the
same person because they knowthat they might be able to come
on and we don't really repeatguests throughout the day.
Okay, that's good to know.
Angela Tuell (17:12):
That's why you get the emails with what guests are
being booked and what shows yes.
So okay, that's good to know.
That's why you get the emailswith all the guests, with what
guests are being booked and whatshows yes.
Yeah, that makes sense.
So is there anything you wishthe general public knew about
national broadcast news and thewhole 24 hour news cycle
stations that they likely don'tknow?
Dan Holway (17:31):
It's a lot of work.
It's a lot of work from a lotof people, know it's a lot of
work.
It's a lot of work from a lotof people and I will say that my
job is a 24-7 job and noteverybody's is so.
Our writers we have a fewwriters on our show.
Once the show is over, theirday is over.
For someone like me, when ourshow is over, maybe I still need
(17:56):
to plan a little bit for thenext day, but if something
happens at 9 pm, that's going tobe the news for the next day.
Then I am working at 9 pm.
So it's a lot of work from alot of people.
Angela Tuell (18:09):
That's definitely something that not everyone
knows or expects if they're notin that kind of job.
Before we go, we must talkabout your podcast, america the
Brutiful, so please tell us more.
How did it get started?
What is your focus?
Dan Holway (18:25):
Sure, so it's a beer podcast.
We'll start there.
I think you could probablysurmise that from the name, and
it started around COVID time.
Not on purpose, but there's afriend of mine who I went to
high school with.
I was a senior in high schoolwhen he was a freshman, so we
(18:45):
didn't know each other too well.
So we didn't know each othertoo well.
We were taking the same classin gym.
As adults, we went to the samegym and we're taking a CrossFit
class and then a few weeks laterI'm at a beer release.
A beer release.
For those who don't know thathow things used to be kind of
(19:06):
before, covid is a brewery wouldhave a release, and in this
case it was.
The brewery was other half,which is in Brooklyn, and they
would have a release at like 10in the morning and people would
show up at 6 in the morning andget online to get beer.
Angela Tuell (19:26):
So early drinking, there.
Dan Holway (19:28):
Yes, yes, so I saw this friend of mine.
I I'm like what are you doinghere?
Says what are you doing here?
And then obviously we werethere for the same reason and we
started talking about beer andhe said, hey, you know, we
should do, we should do apodcast.
And I said, oh, yeah, sure,that sounds like an interesting
idea.
And then a few weeks later hesays, hey, I bought all the
(19:52):
podcast equipment.
And I said, oh, oh, okay, Iguess we're doing it then and it
took off from there.
So we've been doing it since2020.
And we've had a ton ofinterviews with different
breweries and people in the beerindustry and, honestly, some of
(20:14):
the biggest names in the beerindustry.
So it's been a lot of fun.
Angela Tuell (20:17):
Yeah, that's amazing.
What have been some of yourfavorite episodes?
Dan Holway (20:20):
That might be hard to say, but Sure, I mean, our
last episode of 2024 was onethat I really liked.
It was a, you know, you talk tobrewers and sometimes you think
they are these tough guys.
You know, oh yeah, a lot ofbrewers have beards and, you
know, kind of look like theymight have a rough exterior.
(20:44):
But everybody is a person andit was kind of a sentimental
episode, just everybody kind ofbeing happy with where they are
in life.
So that one was really good.
But we've done episodes on allsorts of things.
We've done different charities.
There's a lot of charitablethings in beer.
(21:05):
Breweries will make beers toraise money for different causes
.
So we've done a lot of thatkind of stuff.
We interviewed a brewery inukraine near the beginning of
the war there and that one waskind of interesting and
different, yeah.
So yeah, I mean we it's tryingto keep up and keep it fresh and
(21:29):
do different things, yeah.
Angela Tuell (21:31):
We will make sure to link to it in our show notes
for everyone.
Can you find it?
Anywhere you get your podcasts.
Dan Holway (21:36):
You can yeah Good.
Angela Tuell (21:39):
And how can listeners connect with you
online?
Dan Holway (21:42):
Honestly, if they're on, instagram is kind of the
place that we use the most.
So, yeah, message on Instagram.
I read them all.
Angela Tuell (21:52):
Perfect.
Thank you so much Dan.
Dan Holway (21:55):
Thank you.
Angela Tuell (21:56):
That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes
, a podcast by CommunicationsRedefined.
Please take a moment to rate,review and subscribe to our show
.
We'd love to hear what youthink you can find more at
communicationsredefined.
com/ podcast.
I'm Angela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
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