easy way to make a paper boomerang

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How to Make a Paper Boomerang

Last Updated: March 13, 2024

This article was co-authored by Natalie Kay Smith and by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall . Natalie Kay Smith is a sustainable fashion writer and the owner of Sustainably Chic, a sustainability-focused blog. Natalie has over 5 years of sustainable fashion and green living writing and has worked with over 400 conscious brands all over the world to show readers fashion can exist responsibly and sustainably. This article has been viewed 375,527 times.

Instead of spending money on an expensive wooden boomerang, you can make one yourself at home using paper. Use a thin, blank sheet of paper so you can easily fold it into a flying boomerang shape. Once you're finished folding the paper into a boomerang, take it outside and throw it around to see if it flies back to you!

Printable Boomerangs

Getting Started

• You can use shipping paper.

Making Valley and Mountain Folds

Folding into a "7" shape, finishing your boomerang.

• Your origami boomerang is complete!

Community Q&A

Things You'll Need

• Blank piece of paper, or thin cardboard

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-boomerang.html

About This Article

Boomerangs are fun to play with, and you can make your own at home with just a blank piece of paper. To make a boomerang, first, you’ll need to cut a piece of printer paper in half. Then, you’ll need to make a few different folds to secure its shape. Once it’s folded, bend it in half to make a boomerang shape and tuck the corners in to make it aerodynamic. To see a printable template for making a boomerang, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Make a Paper Indoor Boomerang - STEAM Project for Kids!

Making and designing a paper boomerang was the perfect accompaniment to my kids' recent obsession with making paper airplanes . ( Did you see their awesome landing strips? ) It was a nice way to spend a cold winter's afternoon when we were stuck indoors.  The kids got a little science tinkering time in, and testing out the boomerangs released a bit of their energy and because these are boomerangs made out of paper, no one had to worry about breaking the fancy china. ( Oh, who am I kidding. There is no fancy china. )

By now you probably know that S.T.E.A.M. stands for S cience, T echnology,  E ngineering,  A rt and design,  M athematics. Although there is a lot of heavy-handed promotion of S.T.E.A.M. learning these days, it's hardly a new concept. All of these disciplines are interconnected and even so called simple projects like keeping your kids busy flinging paper around the apartment can promote left and right brain activity! (Note: this post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through these links may earn commission.)

I was worried that making the paper boomerang was going to be difficult, that the design had to be precise for the toy to work. I watched a video about folding an origami boomerang but quickly realized that was far too complicated for my attention-challenged boys. It just so happened, however, that a library book I had checked out, Gizmos & Gadgets: Creating Science Contraptions That Work (& Knowing Why) , had a simple alternative!

How to Make a Paper Boomerang

What you need:

• Heavy paper. This could be card stock, thin cardboard, cardboard, even watercolor paper ( which made our best boomerang, more on that below ). We experimented with different types of paper and I encourage you to do the same.
• Tape. If using heavy cardboard, you may want to use glue ( allow for drying time ), or rubber bands.
• 360 degree protractor . This is not essential, but VERY helpful as you will see. Also, it is great for math art projects !
• Enthusiastic engineers! ( Required )

Step by Step Instructions:

Decide on the shape of your boomerang's arm. We found that the design is not nearly important as having each arm exactly the same shape. Since most of the examples we saw had arms with a slightly larger tip, that is what we did. Of course this is an area where kids can experiment to their hearts content!

Right now you are thinking, is there template I can print out? Here's my answer: you don't need a template!

Once you have one arm, you can use it to trace more arms. Cut out the arms.

Tape 3-4 arms together. Use the  360 degree protractor to determine the distance between arms! We found this to be the single most important factor in producing a boomerang that returned to the sender. When we eyeballed taping arms in thirds, throwing the paper boomerang was unsatisfying. Adjusting the boomerang arms so they were evenly spaced made a world of difference. You want the arms at 120 degrees angles.

If your kids are motivated, decorate your diy boomerangs, this puts the "A" in STEAM. My kids didn't care much about this, but I decorated a few myself because I like that sort of thing.

You can experiment with different types of paper. Heavy cardboard didn't work at all for us, but we also have a small living room, so maybe we needed more space for the indoor boomerang to turn around instead of simply crashing into the wall! It turns out the watercolor paper worked the best! We speculated that perhaps the natural curling action ( because it had gotten wet when I painted it ) added to the aerodynamic action.

Troubleshooting ( a.k.a. thinking like an engineer ):

None of the paper boomerangs we made were perfect. But some were more boomerang-ish than others! Here are some tips offered up by my 10 year old:

• Try different launching angles. Hold the paper boomerang vertically, then try horizontally.
• Try different launching speeds. Throwing too fast didn't work too well for me, but maybe it will for you.
• Try different types of paper.
• Make sure the angles are even! ( This is where the 360 degree protractor is very handy! )
• Even if it doesn't come all the way back to you, it has a really cool spin.
• Also, it's really neat to throw two at a time and see which one works better.

Extras: ( thoughts from mom )

• For younger kids, make a sample paper boomerang to generate interest. My 6 year old was not interested in the creative part until I showed him how they work.
• Get in on the action yourself. Kids model what they see. Your kids may already be independent inventors, but mine are not. They are much more interested if I participate in the project with them. Otherwise they tend to go straight back to Pokemon.
• I absolutely loved how this project required the kids to think like scientists . Not every incarnation of the indoor boomerang was successful. This would be a terrific project for a classroom in which students compared and contrasted designs.

Want more 52 more STEAM activities? Check out my STEAM Kids book . Chock full of awesome ideas for kids ages 4-10.

Reader Interactions

Rachelle | TinkerLab says

February 22, 2015 at 1:38 pm

This is awesome. I love all the punches of humor you sprinkle through your writing. And now I think I need to hunt down a 360 degree protractor!

February 23, 2015 at 7:18 am

I love this! I had n idea you could make paper boomerangs! These look like a lot of fun and I agree that templates can discourage problem solving. Bravo!

Meri Cherry says

February 23, 2015 at 11:34 pm

love the experimentation! who knew boomerangs could be made from paper? so cool!

March 01, 2015 at 12:48 am

Love this! Definitely love the experimentation and learning about what elements are critical to the boomerang.

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How to Make a Paper Boomerang

Dana is an avid crafter who has shared her passion and knowledge with many media outlets. She has a B.A. in Journalism and has been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years.

Learn about our Editorial Policy .

Traditional boomerangs are made of wood and can be quite heavy. A homemade paper boomerang is a safer alternative when you're looking for a fun activity to do with your friends.

Fold an Origami Boomerang

This paper boomerang is an intermediate level origami project, requiring knowledge of mountain folds, valley folds, and inside reverse folds. You'll need a single sheet of 8 ½" x 11" paper. If you don't want to make a plain boomerang, print out some patterned paper for a fun design.

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1. Place your paper in front of you vertically with the white side face up. Fold it in half, then unfold. Cut along the middle crease so you have two equal rectangles. Set one rectangle aside for another project. Take the remaining rectangle and fold it in half. Unfold.

2. Fold the left and right sides in towards the middle crease.

3. Fold the paper in half, bringing the top towards the bottom. Fold the left and right corners in to meet the center vertical crease.

4. Unfold the corner creases you made in the previous step. Unfold the half fold crease and rotate the paper so it is in front of you horizontally. Unfold the bottom half of the horizontal paper.

5. Make mountain fold creases along the lines of the guide creases you made in the last step. Go over each crease several times so they are nice and sharp. A bone folder is ideal for this task, but you can also use the edge of a metal ruler if needed.

6. Make a valley fold crease along the right side of the double diamond shaped mountain fold crease pattern. Unfold all but the top horizontal fold. Your creases should look like the following image:

7. Fold up the upper half of the paper so it is perpendicular to the table, hold on to the left side of the paper with your left hand, and use your right hand to move the right side of the paper clockwise into a "number 7" shape. The creases made in the previous step will help the paper ease into this position.

8. Tuck in the point where the bottom of the top fold meets the side, as seen in step 7.

9. Pry open the bottom of the paper slightly. Fold the left and right corners in towards the middle vertical center. Crease well, then unfold. Make an inside reverse fold on the left corner, then tuck the right corner into the pocket created by this fold.

10. Repeat the previous step on the top end of the paper, making your inside reverse fold on the top side and tucking the bottom corner into this pocket.

To throw your completed origami boomerang, hold the model at the corner joint with your thumb on top and your index finger on the bottom. Throw up and away from you by twisting your wrist, similar to how you'd throw a Frisbee.

For best results, play with your paper boomerang in a room with a high ceiling and no running fans. If you're in a room with a vaulted ceiling, start at the lower end and throw your boomerang toward the higher end of the room.

Origami Super Boomerang

Are you ready for a real challenge? In this video, Jeremy Shafer of Jeremy Shafer Origami demonstrates how to make a boomerang with four points from a single sheet of paper. After the project is complete, he provides a series of handy flying tips to help you make the most of your new paper toy.

Origami Provides Low Cost Entertainment

Origami paper toys are a great way to entertain your friends without spending much money. Once you're done playing with your paper boomerang, have a contest to see who can make paper airplanes that will fly the longest or make a pair of paper swords for an old-fashioned duel.

Origami Tutorial: How to Make a Paper Boomerang

Home / Origami Instructions / Origami Tutorial: How to Make a Paper Boomerang

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Boomerangs are originally native to Australia, where it has been used by the aboriginals for hunting in the years gone by; nowadays this contraption is used more as a sport and for entertainment in general. We will now begin an easy pictorial origami guide on how to make your very own paper boomerang.

Step-by-step instructions to make a boomerang out of paper

1. The first and only thing that we’re going to need is one A4 sized paper, which is the most common size of paper used for printers, get hold of one and move on to the next step. 2. Cut the paper vertically right down the middle, we are going to need only one of these halves.

3. Take the chosen half and fold it right down the middle on its vertical axis. Fold such that the crease gets well pronounced and unfold it. 4. Now fold both sides of the halves such that the folds culminate not closer than 1 millimeter from the middle. Since we are going to fold the paper again in a few steps, leaving this will ensure that the folds do not overlap.

5. Now we’ll fold the paper halfway down its horizontal axis so that the top half meets with the bottom half on the inside. We need to crease well while we’re at it.

6. Fold both the top right and left corners of the paper to the center. Again, make sure to put in the creases judiciously. Now unfold and do an inside reverse fold on the crease made by the last fold.

7. We’ll now unfold the paper along the horizontal axis and turn it on its side. 8. This step will require us to unfold the bottom half of the paper.

9. We’re going to focus on the center of the paper for these next couple of steps, this step will involve making a mountain fold along the vertical diagonal of the diamond shape we see in front of us. 10. Now make four valley folds along the four sides of the diamond. Creasing well will make the next few steps much easier. 11. This step will require us to take our thumb and close the fold on the right side of the bottom half of the still horizontal paper. Now we have a more pronounced diamond shape in the middle which we need to squash it such that the bottom corner of the diamond is up against the right half of the paper, we have now got the paper in an L-shape.

12. We will now fold the upper-half of the underside of the L, and tuck the inside corner that is jutting out into the pocket at the convergence point of the L. 13. Now we must take the left side of the model and fold the upper edge down. Once that is done we will have a pocket in the middle that would look like a mountain. Now we will fold the upper edge of the right side of the paper as well, and as we do, we will squash the mountain to the left side, forming another little pocket.

14. We will now unfold the bottom half of the left side of the paper and lift up the corner we had tucked in previously. 15. Now fold down the upper edge of the left-hand side of the paper, and you will get another pocket; fold down the still lifted bottom half of the paper, tucking the corner into this pocket and close the top down. Make sure everything is folded and creased nicely.

16. Take the outside of the right-hand side of the paper and unfold it just enough so that we can fold the two corners towards one another, once we are done doing that, we will open the inside corner and make an inside reverse fold creating a pocket and tuck the other corner into this pocket.

17. Now we will repeat the last step for the left-hand side of the paper. Once we have tucked the outside corner into the pocket created with the inside corner, crease well once we have completed doing this.

This completes your boomerang, to throw it well and get it to return to you will require you to hold it in the middle with your index finger and thumb and use your wrist and not your arm, like throwing a flying disc, and throwing it upwards and away from you.

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How to Prevent Dry Rot on Tires: 7 Steps

3 ways to clean a wood pipe, how to install crown molding: 9 steps, 3 ways to remove braids from hair, 9 ways to start a school club, how to download winrar: 13 steps, crafting a stellar essay on texas, 4 ways to quickly open the launchpad on a mac, how to calculate pulse pressure: 6 steps, 3 ways to get out of an employment contract, how to make a paper boomerang.

Are you looking for a fun and engaging activity that gives you a break from technology and taps into your creative side? If so, making a paper boomerang is a fantastic endeavor! It’s simple, entertaining, and rewarding. Not only will your motor skills be put to the test as you fold the paper, but once you complete the boomerang, you can toss it around and marvel at its return. Best of all, you don’t need any special materials – just a piece of paper will do fine! So let’s dive into how to make a paper boomerang.

 Materials You’ll Need:

• A4 paper or cardstock (you can use colored or white paper)
• Optional : Tape or glue

Step 1: Prepare the Paper

Start by folding your A4 sheet of paper in half (lengthwise) to create a sharp crease, serving as a central guiding line.

Step 2: Draw Guidelines

At each end of the sheet, draw lines parallel to the crease that are 1 inch apart from each other. Then, connect the diagonal guidelines from one corner to another end. You should now have 4 diagonal lines resembling an ‘X.’

Step 3: Cut Out the Boomerang Shape

Carefully cut along these four diagonal lines using scissors. Consequently, two boomerang shapes emerge that can be disposed of or used for another project.

Step 4: Fold Each Arm

Hold your boomerang so that the long side faces upward and lay flat on your working surface. Starting with one arm, fold along the crease diagonally downwards on itself so it goes towards the centerline where all four diagonal lines met before cutting; simultaneously curving to avoid touching the center. Proceed by repeating this process for all four arms.

Step 5: Completing the Boomerang

Gently rub your hand along each folded arm to strengthen the paper boomerang’s shape, ensuring it maintains a substantial curve.

(Optional) For added durability, overlap the ends of each bottom section (where both diagonal folds meet) with your choice of tape or glue for reinforcement.

Step 6: Test Flight

Now, it’s time to put your creation to the test! Grasp one arm tip using your thumb and forefinger; ensure that your grip is on the curved side and give it a good flick of your wrist. Watch as your boomerang returns to its exciting flight!

Congratulations! You now know how to make a paper boomerang from scratch! Feel free to experiment with different sizes, designs, and colors – have fun, and enjoy endless hours of amusement.

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Origami Boomerang that Comes Back

Learn some Origami for Kids … Our summer fun continues. Today we have an AMAZING Origami Boomerang that ACTUALLY comes back. You have to be a little neater when making these Origami Boomerangs, BUT the actually steps are easy to do, follow and remember. So soon, you will be making 100s of these boomerangs. The best bit??? They actually come back. Make them. Take them to the park and learn to throw them. You can also spend some time to decorate in the aboriginal style and turn this into a fabulous lesson plan about Australia! A brilliant Paper Craft for Boys and girls.

Origami Boomerang – materials:

• A4 sheet of plain printer paper
• Pens for coloring (optional)

This is a precise Origami project and it is important to try and be as neat as possible. If you are, you will be rewarded with a great Paper Toy that is quick to learn how to make. It is a great addition to a lesson plan about Australia or can be added to any STEM projects.

Origami Boomerang (that comes back):

Also take a peak at these FANTASTIC DIY Water Bombs – hours of summer fun!:

If you would like to try out some more Origami here are some great Origami Projects for Kids :

We also have a great set of Paper Toys for kids to make an play with!!!

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Table of Contents

Materials Needed

Required materials.

To make a paper boomerang, you will need the following materials:

• A sheet of paper (preferably A4 or Letter size)

Importance of Proper Materials

Using the right type of paper is essential to ensure your paper boomerang flies properly. Heavy paper, such as cardstock or construction paper, may be too difficult to fold, while lightweight paper, such as tissue or wrapping paper, may not be sturdy enough to hold its shape.

We recommend using regular printer paper or origami paper for the best results. These types of paper are thin, flexible, and easy to fold into the desired shape. Additionally, they are readily available and affordable, making them the perfect choice for beginners.

By using the right materials, you can ensure that your paper boomerang is sturdy, lightweight, and able to fly smoothly through the air.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid

As with any craft or skill, making a paper boomerang requires practice and patience. However, there are common mistakes that can hinder your success and prevent your boomerang from flying as intended. Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid:

4.1 Using the Wrong Paper

One of the most common mistakes when making a paper boomerang is using the wrong type of paper. If the paper is too heavy, the boomerang will not be able to fly for long distances, while too light paper will not be able to hold its shape. To avoid this mistake, use paper that is lightweight and thin, like printer paper, or any other paper that can fold easily.

4.2 Poor Wing Placement

The wings are a crucial part of the boomerang, and their placement can significantly impact the flight. If the wings are too close together, the boomerang will not have enough lift to fly back to you. On the other hand, if the wings are too far apart, the boomerang will not spin and will fall to the ground. To avoid this mistake, ensure that the wings are evenly spaced and symmetrically placed on the boomerang.

4.3 Incorrect Throwing Technique

Another common mistake when making a paper boomerang is throwing it incorrectly. If you throw it too hard or at the wrong angle, the boomerang will not fly back to you. To avoid this mistake, practice your throwing technique by starting with a light toss and gradually increasing the strength and angle of your throw.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you can increase your chances of success when making a paper boomerang. Remember to take your time and practice often to improve your skills and create a boomerang that will fly back to you with ease.

In conclusion, making a paper boomerang is a fun and affordable activity that can improve your hand-eye coordination and creativity. By following the step-by-step instructions provided, you can create your own paper boomerang and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing it fly through the air.

Remember to use the right type of paper and adjust the wings and throwing technique to get the best flight results. For those interested in taking their skills to the next level, advanced techniques can be employed to create more intricate designs and shapes. Experimenting with different paper types and colors can also add a unique touch to your creations.

Overall, making paper boomerangs is a great way to spend your free time while also enhancing your motor and cognitive skills. So, grab some paper and get started on your own masterpiece!

Origami Boomerang That Comes Back

Introduction: Origami Boomerang That Comes Back

This is a simple Origami boomerang and it really does come back for this all you need is a sheet of standard printer paper doesn't matter what type as long as it's close to A4 size and its for indoors and a ton of fun

Piece of standard printer paper

Step 1: Cut Paper

you wanna cut the piece of paper in half horizontally while it's in landscape position cut in the middle like cut in half

This is the main folding process make sure all your folds are accurate and well done follow carefully like so Main Folding

Step 3: Throwing

throwing the Boomerang is easy once you know how catching is the hard part as when you catch you don't want to clamp down on it as it may crush the boomerang here is how to throw Throwing

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Ronna McDaniel, TV News and the Trump Problem

The former republican national committee chairwoman was hired by nbc and then let go after an outcry..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Today, the saga of Ronna McDaniel and NBC and what it reveals about the state of television news headed into the 2024 presidential race. Jim Rutenberg, a “Times” writer at large, is our guest.

It’s Monday, April 1.

Jim, NBC News just went through a very public, a very searing drama over the past week, that we wanted you to make sense of in your unique capacity as a longtime media and political reporter at “The Times.” This is your sweet spot. You were, I believe, born to dissect this story for us.

Oh, brother.

Well, on the one hand, this is a very small moment for a major network like NBC. They hire, as a contributor, not an anchor, not a correspondent, as a contributor, Ronna McDaniel, the former RNC chairwoman. It blows up in a mini scandal at the network.

But to me, it represents a much larger issue that’s been there since that moment Donald J. Trump took his shiny gold escalator down to announce his presidential run in 2015. This struggle by the news media to figure out, especially on television, how do we capture him, cover him for all of his lies, all the challenges he poses to Democratic norms, yet not alienate some 74, 75 million American voters who still follow him, still believe in him, and still want to hear his reality reflected in the news that they’re listening to?

Right. Which is about as gnarly a conundrum as anyone has ever dealt with in the news media.

Well, it’s proven so far unsolvable.

Well, let’s use the story of what actually happened with Ronna McDaniel and NBC to illustrate your point. And I think that means describing precisely what happened in this situation.

The story starts out so simply. It’s such a basic thing that television networks do. As elections get underway, they want people who will reflect the two parties.

They want talking heads. They want insiders. They want them on their payroll so they can rely on them whenever they need them. And they want them to be high level so they can speak with great knowledge about the two major candidates.

Right. And rather than needing to beg these people to come on their show at 6 o’clock, when they might be busy and it’s not their full-time job, they go off and they basically put them on retainer for a bunch of money.

Yeah. And in this case, here’s this perfect scenario because quite recently, Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee through the Trump era, most of it, is now out on the market. She’s actually recently been forced out of the party. And all the networks are interested because here’s the consummate insider from Trump world ready to get snatched up under contract for the next election and can really represent this movement that they’ve been trying to capture.

So NBC’S key news executives move pretty aggressively, pretty swiftly, and they sign her up for a $300,000 a year contributor’s contract.

Nice money if you can get it.

Not at millions of dollars that they pay their anchors, but a very nice contract. I’ll take it. You’ll take it. In the eyes of NBC execs she was perfect because she can be on “Meet the Press” as a panelist. She can help as they figure out some of their coverage. They have 24 hours a day to fill and here’s an official from the RNC. You can almost imagine the question that would be asked to her. It’s 10:00 PM on election night. Ronna, what are the Trump people thinking right now? They’re looking at the same numbers you are.

That was good, but that’s exactly it. And we all know it, right? This is television in our current era.

So last Friday, NBC makes what should be a routine announcement, but one they’re very proud of, that they’ve hired Ronna McDaniel. And in a statement, they say it couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team. So all’s good, right? Except for there’s a fly in the ointment.

Because it turns out that Ronna McDaniel has been slated to appear on “Meet the Press,” not as a paid NBC contributor, but as a former recently ousted RNC chair with the “Meet The Press” host, Kristen Welker, who’s preparing to have a real tough interview with Ronna McDaniel. Because of course, Ronna McDaniel was chair of the party and at Trump’s side as he tried to refuse his election loss. So this was supposed to be a showdown interview.

From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history. This is “Meet The Press” with Kristen Welker.

And here, all of a sudden, Kristin Welker is thrown for a loop.

In full disclosure to our viewers, this interview was scheduled weeks before it was announced that McDaniel would become a paid NBC News contributor.

Because now, she’s actually interviewing a member of the family who’s on the same payroll.

Right. Suddenly, she’s interviewing a colleague.

This will be a news interview, and I was not involved in her hiring.

So what happens during the interview?

So Welker is prepared for a tough interview, and that’s exactly what she does.

Can you say, as you sit here today, did Joe Biden win the election fair and square?

He won. He’s the legitimate president.

Did he win fair and square?

Fair and square, he won. It’s certified. It’s done.

She presses her on the key question that a lot of Republicans get asked these days — do you accept Joe Biden was the winner of the election?

But, I do think, Kristen —

Ronna, why has it taken you until now to say that? Why has it taken you until now to be able to say that?

I’m going to push back a little.

McDaniel gets defensive at times.

Because I do think it’s fair to say there were problems in 2020. And to say that does not mean he’s not the legitimate president.

But, Ronna, when you say that, it suggests that there was something wrong with the election. And you know that the election was the most heavily scrutinized. Chris Krebs —

It’s a really combative interview.

I want to turn now to your actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

And Welker actually really does go deeply into McDaniel’s record in those weeks before January 6.

On November 17, you and Donald Trump were recorded pushing two Republican Michigan election officials not to certify the results of the election. And on the call —

For instance, she presses McDaniel on McDaniel’s role in an attempt to convince a couple county commissioner level canvassers in Michigan to not certify Biden’s victory.

Our call that night was to say, are you OK? Vote your conscience. Not pushing them to do anything.

McDaniel says, look, I was just telling them to vote their conscience. They should do whatever they think is right.

But you said, do not sign it. If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. How can people read that as anything other than a pressure campaign?

And Welker’s not going to just let her off the hook. Welker presses her on Trump’s own comments about January 6 and Trump’s efforts recently to gloss over some of the violence, and to say that those who have been arrested, he’ll free them.

Do you support that?

I want to be very clear. The violence that happened on January 6 is unacceptable.

And this is a frankly fascinating moment because you can hear McDaniel starting to, if not quite reverse some of her positions, though in some cases she does that, at least really soften her language. It’s almost as if she’s switching uniforms from the RNC one to an NBC one or almost like breaking from a role she was playing.

Ronna, why not speak out earlier? Why just speak out about that now?

When you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team, right? Now, I get to be a little bit more myself.

She says, hey, you know what? Sometimes as RNC chair, you just have to take it for the team sometimes.

Right. What she’s really saying is I did things as chairwoman of the Republican National committee that now that I no longer have that job, I can candidly say, I wished I hadn’t done, which is very honest. But it’s also another way of saying I’m two faced, or I was playing a part.

Ronna McDaniel, thank you very much for being here this morning.

Then something extraordinary happens. And I have to say, I’ve never seen a moment like this in decades of watching television news and covering television news.

Welcome back. The panel is here. Chuck Todd, NBC News chief political analyst.

Welker brings her regular panel on, including Chuck Todd, now the senior NBC political analyst.

Chuck, let’s dive right in. What were your takeaways?

And he launches right into what he calls —

Look, let me deal with the elephant in the room.

The elephant being this hiring of McDaniel.

I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.

And he proceeds, on NBC’S air, to lace into management for, as he describes it, putting Welker in this crazy awkward position.

Because I don’t know what to believe. She is now a paid contributor by NBC News. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didn’t want to mess up her contract.

And Todd is very hung up on this idea that when she was speaking for the party, she would say one thing. And now that she’s on the payroll at NBC, she’s saying another thing.

She has credibility issues that she still has to deal with. Is she speaking for herself, or is she speaking on behalf of who’s paying her?

Todd is basically saying, how are we supposed to know which one to believe.

What can we believe?

It is important for this network and for always to have a wide aperture. Having ideological diversity on this panel is something I prided myself on.

And what he’s effectively saying is that his bosses should have never hired her in this capacity.

I understand the motivation, but this execution, I think, was poor.

Someone said to me last night we live in complicated times. Thank you guys for being here. I really appreciate it.

Now, let’s just note here, this isn’t just any player at NBC. Chuck Todd is obviously a major news name at the network. And him doing this appears to just open the floodgates across the entire NBC News brand, especially on its sister cable network, MSNBC.

And where I said I’d never seen anything like what I saw on “Meet the Press” that morning, I’d never seen anything like this either. Because now, the entire MSNBC lineup is in open rebellion. I mean, from the minute that the sun comes up. There is Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring. But if we were, we would have strongly objected to it.

They’re on fire over this.

believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier.

But it rolls out across the entire schedule.

Because Ronna McDaniel has been a major peddler of the big lie.

The fact that Ms. McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News, to me that is inexplicable. I mean, you wouldn’t hire a mobster to work at a DA’s office.

Rachel Maddow devotes an entire half hour.

It’s not about just being associated with Donald Trump and his time in the Republican Party. It’s not even about lying or not lying. It’s about our system of government.

Thumbing their noses at our bosses and basically accusing them of abetting a traitorous figure in American history. I mean, just extraordinary stuff. It’s television history.

And let’s face it, we journalists, our bosses, we can be seen as crybabies, and we’re paid complaining. Yeah, that’s what we’re paid to do. But in this case, the NBC executives cannot ignore this, because in the outcry, there’s a very clear point that they’re all making. Ronna McDaniel is not just a voice from the other side. She was a fundamental part of Trump’s efforts to deny his election loss.

This is not inviting the other side. This is someone who’s on the wrong side —

Of history.

Of history, of these moments that we’ve covered and are still covering.

And I think it’s fair to say that at this point, everyone understands that Ronna McDaniel’s time at NBC News is going to be very short lived. Yeah, basically, after all this, the executives at NBC have to face facts it’s over. And on Tuesday night, they release a statement to the staff saying as much.

They don’t cite the questions about red lines or what Ronna McDaniel represented or didn’t represent. They just say we need to have a unified newsroom. We want cohesion. This isn’t working.

I think in the end, she was a paid contributor for four days.

Yeah, one of the shortest tenures in television news history. And look, in one respect, by their standards, this is kind of a pretty small contract, a few hundred thousand dollars they may have to pay out. But it was way more costly because they hired her. They brought her on board because they wanted to appeal to these tens of millions of Americans who still love Donald J. Trump.

And what happens now is that this entire thing is blown up in their face, and those very same people now see a network that, in their view, in the view of Republicans across the country, this network will not accept any Republicans. So it becomes more about that. And Fox News, NBC’S longtime rival, goes wall to wall with this.

Now, NBC News just caved to the breathless demands from their far left, frankly, emotionally unhinged host.

I mean, I had it on my desk all day. And every minute I looked at that screen, it was pounding on these liberals at NBC News driving this Republican out.

It’s the shortest tenure in TV history, I think. But why? Well, because she supports Donald Trump, period.

So in a way, this leaves NBC worse off with that Trump Republican audience they had wanted to court than maybe even they were before. It’s like a boomerang with a grenade on it.

Yeah, it completely explodes in their face. And that’s why to me, the whole episode is so representative of this eight-year conundrum for the news media, especially on television. They still haven’t been able to crack the code for how to handle the Trump movement, the Trump candidacy, and what it has wrought on the American political system and American journalism.

We’ll be right back.

Jim, put into context this painful episode of NBC into that larger conundrum you just diagnosed that the media has faced when it comes to Trump.

Well, Michael, it’s been there from the very beginning, from the very beginning of his political rise. The media was on this kind of seesaw. They go back and forth over how to cover him. Sometimes they want to cover him quite aggressively because he’s such a challenging candidate. He was bursting so many norms.

But at other times, there was this instinct to understand his appeal, for the same reason. He’s such an unusual candidate. So there was a great desire to really understand his voters. And frankly, to speak to his voters, because they’re part of the audience. And we all lived it, right?

But just let me take you back anyway because everything’s fresh again with perspective. And so if you go back, let’s look at when he first ran. The networks, if you recall, saw him as almost like a novelty candidate.

He was going to spice up what was expected to be a boring campaign between the usual suspects. And he was a ratings magnet. And the networks, they just couldn’t get enough of it. And they allowed him, at times, to really shatter their own norms.

Welcome back to “Meet the Press,” sir.

Good morning, Chuck.

Good morning. Let me start —

He was able to just call into the studio and riff with the likes of George Stephanopoulos and Chuck Todd.

What does it have to do with Hillary?

She can’t talk about me because nobody respects women more than Donald Trump.

And CNN gave him a lot of unmitigated airtime, if you recall during the campaign. They would run the press conferences.

It’s the largest winery on the East Coast. I own it 100 percent.

And let him promote his Trump steaks and his Trump wine.

Trump steaks. Where are the steaks? Do we have steaks?

I mean, it got that crazy. But again, the ratings were huge. And then he wins. And because they had previously given him all that airtime, they’ve, in retrospect, sort of given him a political gift, and more than that now have a journalistic imperative to really address him in a different way, to cover him as they would have covered any other candidate, which, let’s face it, they weren’t doing initially. So there’s this extra motivation to make up for lost ground and maybe for some journalistic omissions.

Right. Kind of correct for the lack of a rigorous journalistic filter in the campaign.

Exactly. And the big thing that this will be remembered for is we’re going to call a lie a lie.

I don’t want to sugarcoat this because facts matter, and the fact is President Trump lies.

Trump lies. We’re going to say it’s a lie.

And I think we can’t just mince around it because they are lies. And so we need to call them what they are.

We’re no longer going to use euphemisms or looser language we’re. Going to call it for what it is.

Trump lies in tweets. He spreads false information at rallies. He lies when he doesn’t need to. He lies when the truth is more than enough for him.

CNN was running chyrons. They would fact check Trump and call lies lies on the screen while Trump is talking. They were challenging Trump to his face —

One of the statements that you made in the tail end of the campaign in the midterms that —

Here we go.

That — well, if you don’t mind, Mr. President, that this caravan was an invasion.

— in these crazy press conferences —

They’re are hundreds of miles away, though. They’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away. That’s not an invasion.

Honestly, I think you should let me run the country. You run CNN. And if you did it well, your ratings —

Well, let me ask — if I may ask one other question. Mr. President, if I may ask another question. Are you worried —

That’s enough. That’s enough.

And Trump is giving it right back.

I tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.

Very combative.

So this was this incredibly fraught moment for the American press. You’ve got tens of millions of Trump supporters seeing what’s really basic fact checking. These look like attacks to Trump supporters. Trump, in turn, is calling the press, the reporters are enemies of the people. So it’s a terrible dynamic.

And when January 6 happens, it’s so obviously out of control. And what the traditional press that follows, traditional journalistic rules has to do is make it clear that the claims that Trump is making about a stolen election are just so abjectly false that they don’t warrant a single minute of real consideration once the reporting has been done to show how false they are. And I think that American journalism really emerged from that feeling strongly about its own values and its own place in society.

But then there’s still tens of millions of Trump voters, and they don’t feel so good about the coverage. And they don’t agree that January 6 was an insurrection. And so we enter yet another period, where the press is going to have to now maybe rethink some things.

In what way?

Well, there’s a kind of quiet period after January 6. Trump is off of social media. The smoke is literally dissipating from the air in Washington. And news executives are kind of standing there on the proverbial battlefield, taking a new look at their situation.

And they’re seeing that in this clearer light, they’ve got some new problems, perhaps none more important for their entire business models than that their ratings are quickly crashing. And part of that diminishment is that a huge part of the country, that Trump-loving part of the audience, is really now severed from him from their coverage.

They see the press as actually, in some cases, being complicit in stealing an election. And so these news executives, again, especially on television, which is so ratings dependent, they’ve got a problem. So after presumably learning all these lessons about journalism and how to confront power, there’s a first subtle and then much less subtle rethinking.

Maybe we need to pull back from that approach. And maybe we need to take some new lessons and switch it up a little bit and reverse some of what we did. And one of the best examples of this is none other than CNN.

It had come under new management, was being led by a guy named Chris Licht, a veteran of cable news, but also Stephen Colbert’s late night show in his last job. And his new job under this new management is we’re going to recalibrate a little bit. So Chris Licht proceeds to try to bring the network back to the center.

And how does he do that?

Well, we see some key personalities who represented the Trump combat era start losing air time and some of them lose their jobs. There’s talk of, we want more Republicans on the air. There was a famous magazine article about Chris Licht’s balancing act here.

And Chris Licht says to a reporter, Tim Alberta of the “Atlantic” magazine, look, a lot in the media, including at his own network, quote unquote, “put on a jersey, took a side.” They took a side. And he says, I think we understand that jersey cannot go back on him. Because he says in the end of the day, by the way, it didn’t even work. We didn’t change anyone’s mind.

He’s saying that confrontational approach that defined the four years Trump was in office, that was a reaction to the feeling that TV news had failed to properly treat Trump with sufficient skepticism, that that actually was a failure both of journalism and of the TV news business. Is that what he’s saying?

Yeah. On the business side, it’s easier call, right? You want a bigger audience, and you’re not getting the bigger audience. But he’s making a journalistic argument as well that if the job is to convey the truth and take it to the people, and they take that into account as they make their own voting decisions and formulate their own opinions about American politics, if tens of millions of people who do believe that election was stolen are completely tuning you out because now they see you as a political combatant, you’re not achieving your ultimate goal as a journalist.

And what does Licht’s “don’t put a jersey back on” approach look like on CNN for its viewers?

Well, It didn’t look good. People might remember this, but the most glaring example —

Please welcome, the front runner for the Republican nomination for president, Donald Trump.

— was when he held a town hall meeting featuring Donald J. Trump, now candidate Trump, before an audience packed with Trump’s fans.

You look at what happened during that election. Unless you’re a very stupid person, you see what happens. A lot of the people —

Trump let loose a string of falsehoods.

Most people understand what happened. It was a rigged election.

The audience is pro-Trump audience, was cheering him on.

Are you ready? Are you ready? Can I talk?

Yeah, what’s your answer?

Can I? Do you mind?

I would like for you to answer the question.

OK. It’s very simple to answer.

That’s why I asked it.

It’s very simple. You’re a nasty person, I’ll tell you that.

And during, the CNN anchor hosting this, Kaitlan Collins, on CNN’s own air, it was a disaster.

It felt like a callback to the unlearned lessons of 2016.

Yeah. And in this case, CNN’s staff was up in arms.

Big shakeup in the cable news industry as CNN makes another change at the top.

Chris Licht is officially out at CNN after a chaotic run as chairman and CEO.

And Chris Licht didn’t survive it.

The chief executive’s departure comes as he faced criticism in recent weeks after the network hosted a town hall with Donald Trump and the network’s ratings started to drop.

But I want to say that the CNN leadership still, even after that, as they brought new leadership in, said, this is still the path we’re going to go on. Maybe that didn’t work out, but we’re still here. This is still what we have to do.

Right. And this idea is very much in the water of TV news, that this is the right overall direction.

Yeah. This is, by no means, isolated to CNN. This is throughout the traditional news business. These conversations are happening everywhere. But CNN was living it at that point.

And this, of course, is how we get to NBC deciding to hire Ronna McDaniel.

Right. Because they’re picking up — right where that conversation leaves off, they’re having the same conversation. But for NBC, you could argue this tension between journalistic values and audience. It’s even more pressing. Because even though MSNBC is a niche cable network, NBC News is part of an old-fashioned broadcast network. It’s on television stations throughout the country.

And in fact, those networks, they still have 6:30 newscasts. And believe it or not, millions of people still watch those every night. Maybe not as many as they used to, but there’s still some six or seven million people tuning in to nightly news. That’s important.

Right. We should say that kind of number is sometimes double or triple that of the cable news prime time shows that get all the attention.

On their best nights. So this is big business still. And that business is based on broad — it’s called broadcast for a reason. That’s based on broad audiences. So NBC had a business imperative, and they argue they had a journalistic imperative.

So given all of that, Jim, I think the big messy question here is, when it comes to NBC, did they make a tactical error around hiring the wrong Republican which blew up? Or did they make an even larger error in thinking that the way you handle Trump and his supporters is to work this hard to reach them, when they might not even be reachable?

The best way to answer that question is to tell you what they’re saying right now, NBC management. What the management saying is, yes, this was a tactical error. This was clearly the wrong Republican. We get it.

But they’re saying, we are going to — and they said this in their statement, announcing that they were severing ties with McDaniel. They said, we’re going to redouble our efforts to represent a broad spectrum of the American votership. And that’s what they meant was that we’re going to still try to reach these Trump voters with people who can relate to them and they can relate to.

But the question is, how do you even do that when so many of his supporters believe a lie? How is NBC, how is CNN, how are any of these TV networks, if they have decided that this is their mission, how are they supposed to speak to people who believe something fundamentally untrue as a core part of their political identity?

That’s the catch-22. How do you get that Trump movement person who’s also an insider, when the litmus test to be an insider in the Trump movement is to believe in the denialism or at least say you do? So that’s a real journalistic problem. And the thing that we haven’t really touched here is, what are these networks doing day in and day out?

They’re not producing reported pieces, which I think it’s a little easier. You just report the news. You go out into the world. You talk to people, and then you present it to the world as a nuanced portrait of the country. This thing is true. This thing is false. Again, in many cases, pretty straightforward. But their bread and butter is talking heads. It’s live. It’s not edited. It’s not that much reported.

So their whole business model especially, again, on cable, which has 24 hours to fill, is talking heads. And if you want the perspective from the Trump movement, journalistically, especially when it comes to denialism, but when it comes to some other major subjects in American life, you’re walking into a place where they’re going to say things that aren’t true, that don’t pass your journalistic standards, the most basic standards of journalism.

Right. So you’re saying if TV sticks with this model, the kind of low cost, lots of talk approach to news, then they are going to have to solve the riddle of who to bring on, who represents Trump’s America if they want that audience. And now they’ve got this red line that they’ve established, that that person can’t be someone who denies the 2020 election reality. But like you just said, that’s the litmus test for being in Trump’s orbit.

So this doesn’t really look like a conundrum. This looks like a bit of a crisis for TV news because it may end up meaning that they can’t hire that person that they need for this model, which means that perhaps a network like NBC does need to wave goodbye to a big segment of these viewers and these eyeballs who support Trump.

I mean, on the one hand, they are not ready to do that, and they would never concede that that’s something they’re ready to do. The problem is barring some kind of change in their news model, there’s no solution to this.

But why bar changes to their news model, I guess, is the question. Because over the years, it’s gotten more and more expensive to produce news, the news that I’m talking about, like recorded packages and what we refer to as reporting. Just go out and report the news.

Don’t gab about it. Just what’s going on, what’s true, what’s false. That’s actually very expensive in television. And they don’t have the kind of money they used to have. So the talking heads is their way to do programming at a level where they can afford it.

They do some packages. “60 Minutes” still does incredible work. NBC does packages, but the lion’s share of what they do is what we’re talking about. And that’s not going to change because the economics aren’t there.

So then a final option, of course, to borrow something Chris Licht said, is that a network like NBC perhaps doesn’t put a jersey on, but accepts the reality that a lot of the world sees them wearing a jersey.

Yeah. I mean, nobody wants to be seen as wearing a jersey in our business. No one wants to be wearing a jersey on our business. But maybe what they really have to accept is that we’re just sticking to the true facts, and that may look like we’re wearing a jersey, but we’re not. And that may, at times, look like it’s lining up more with the Democrats, but we’re not.

If Trump is lying about a stolen election, that’s not siding against him. That’s siding for the truth, and that’s what we’re doing. Easier said than done. And I don’t think any of these concepts are new.

I think there have been attempts to do that, but it’s the world they’re in. And it’s the only option they really have. We’re going to tell you the truth, even if it means that we’re going to lose a big part of the country.

Well, Jim, thank you very much.

Thank you, Michael.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

[PROTESTERS CHANTING]

Over the weekend, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in some of the largest domestic demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Israel invaded Gaza in the fall.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Some of the protesters called on Netanyahu to reach a cease fire deal that would free the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. Others called for early elections that would remove Netanyahu from office.

During a news conference on Sunday, Netanyahu rejected calls for early elections, saying they would paralyze his government at a crucial moment in the war.

Today’s episode was produced by Rob Szypko, Rikki Novetsky, and Alex Stern, with help from Stella Tan.

It was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg with help from Rachel Quester and Paige Cowett. Contains original music by Marion Lozano, Dan Powell, and Rowan Niemisto and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

• April 3, 2024   •   27:42 The Accidental Tax Cutter in Chief
• April 2, 2024   •   29:32 Kids Are Missing School at an Alarming Rate
• April 1, 2024   •   36:14 Ronna McDaniel, TV News and the Trump Problem
• March 29, 2024   •   48:42 Hamas Took Her, and Still Has Her Husband
• March 28, 2024   •   33:40 The Newest Tech Start-Up Billionaire? Donald Trump.
• March 27, 2024   •   28:06 Democrats’ Plan to Save the Republican House Speaker
• March 26, 2024   •   29:13 The United States vs. the iPhone
• March 25, 2024   •   25:59 A Terrorist Attack in Russia
• March 24, 2024   •   21:39 The Sunday Read: ‘My Goldendoodle Spent a Week at Some Luxury Dog ‘Hotels.’ I Tagged Along.’
• March 22, 2024   •   35:30 Chuck Schumer on His Campaign to Oust Israel’s Leader
• March 21, 2024   •   27:18 The Caitlin Clark Phenomenon
• March 20, 2024   •   25:58 The Bombshell Case That Will Transform the Housing Market

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jim Rutenberg

Produced by Rob Szypko ,  Rikki Novetsky and Alex Stern

With Stella Tan

Edited by Brendan Klinkenberg ,  Rachel Quester and Paige Cowett

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Dan Powell and Rowan Niemisto

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Ronna McDaniel’s time at NBC was short. The former Republican National Committee chairwoman was hired as an on-air political commentator but released just days later after an on-air revolt by the network’s leading stars.

Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The Times, discusses the saga and what it might reveal about the state of television news heading into the 2024 presidential race.

On today’s episode

Jim Rutenberg , a writer at large for The New York Times.

Background reading

Ms. McDaniel’s appointment had been immediately criticized by reporters at the network and by viewers on social media.

The former Republican Party leader tried to downplay her role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. A review of the record shows she was involved in some key episodes .

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

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Jim Rutenberg is a writer at large for The Times and The New York Times Magazine and writes most often about media and politics. More about Jim Rutenberg

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