Last Tuesday, Tom Touchet was quoted on Web site NewsBlues.com dismissing buzz that he was about to be fired as executive producer of Today, saying that NBC News President Neal Shapiro had personally assured him the rumor was "ridiculous." Less than 24 hours later, Touchet was history, replaced by somebody with scant news experience, NBC Sports producer Jim Bell. In tandem with that announcement, MSNBC VP Phil Griffin was named senior VP of NBC News, with oversight of Today, providing the hard-news bona fides that Bell lacks.
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