Ronan Farrow, Reluctant TV Star

JESSE LICHTENSTEIN
The New York Times

Ronan Farrow had a cold. “Probably from a source,” he joked. It wasn’t clear who gave it to him — the big pop star in L.A. or the Minnesotans fighting against terrorist recruitment in their community. Farrow had been out of town reporting pieces on both, and his voice was almost shot.

It was a Monday in December, and as part of the preparations to host his own daily news show on MSNBC in January, Farrow was scheduled to do a quick “hit” on one of the network’s daytime shows: a few obligatory minutes riffing on young people’s attitudes toward President Obama’s health care plan, a few more on income inequalities. “I’ve been on our air pretty much every day that I’ve been in town,” he said, “which is probably less than the brass wanted.” He was striding along low-ceilinged hallways in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, past an exposed bank of computer servers and a library cart full of old videotapes. “The hallowed halls,” he murmured. He had a conference call, then makeup, then he would be on camera, then he was leaving directly for eight days of reporting in Kenya.

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