MSNBC hosts Jen Psaki, Joy Reid, and Rachel Maddow were found to be reporting in front of an LED screen in New York that created the illusion they were reporting live from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

CNN’s Jake Tapper called out MSNBC during a live broadcast from the RNC, noting that CNN was actually broadcasting live from Milwaukee, unlike “some other networks that just have a big LED.”

CNN's Jake Tapper mocks MSNBC during RNC coverage:

"We are here live as opposed to some other networks that just have a big LED, who shall remain nameless."pic.twitter.com/QoOMzxtu5N

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 19, 2024

“We are here live, as opposed to some other networks that just have a big LED, who shall remain nameless,” Tapper said.

Savanah Hernandez for Turning Point Action revealed that the location where the hosts appeared to be, based on the angle of the crowd behind them, did not have a table or the hosts. However, a camera crew for MSNBC was at that location at the RNC, likely running a feed behind the hosts.

Just found out that Joy Reid, Jen Psaki and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC aren’t actually doing their “live reporting” from the RNC.

They’re actually sitting in front of an LED screen which is why I haven’t been able to find them all week

They aren’t even at the event | @TPAction_ pic.twitter.com/FZKcdhZEE0

— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) July 18, 2024

Hernandez mentioned she had been confronting members of the mainstream media all week and had not been able to find Reid, Maddow, and Psaki. After discovering they were using an LED screen, she went to the MSNBC camera booth and spoke about how she would not be able to ask why Joy Reid has been pushing debunked theories that Trump was not shot in the ear.

According to the New York Post, the hosts have been using a giant LED screen to make it appear as though they are reporting live from the event. This arrangement raises ethical concerns in journalism and reporting for the broadcast news outlet. “If news organizations don’t represent where they are clearly, then how is the audience to have faith and confidence in the actual content of the reporting?” former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno said of the screen. “It can feel like a frivolous thing — oh, well, gee, we’re just using the pictures behind them — but there’s something profoundly important here.”

The hosts had said things during coverage along the lines of “Good evening from New York” and “we say hi here from MSNBC HQ in New York,” but the screen made it appear as though they were reporting live from the convention center.