A major shakeup occurred within the Republican National Committee, as Ronna McDaniel, the committee's chairperson since 2017, stepped down at the beginning of March. Less than a month later, McDaniel found a new, unexpected home, when NBC News announced it was hiring her as an on-air contributor. But it was all over as quickly as it began. In the wake of widespread backlash from both outside and inside NBC, the network announced it dropped McDaniel as a contributor.

McDaniel's NBC hiring and firing
Following her ouster from the RNC, NBC announced last week that it was hiring McDaniel as a contributor in a move that "angered the network's contributors, staff and audience — and with seemingly no upside," The Atlantic said. 

Journalists at NBC were "uncomfortable with [McDaniel's hiring] because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination," NBC News Chief Political Analyst Chuck Todd said. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski said the network shouldn't hire a person who "used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier." 

Rumors swirled that the network was considering letting go of McDaniel. This was confirmed on Tuesday when NBC announced McDaniel had been dropped as an on-air contributor. A newsroom can't succeed "unless it is cohesive and aligned," Cesar Conde, the chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, said in a memo. "Over the last few days, it has become clear that [McDaniel's] appointment undermines that goal."

What does this mean for the media landscape?
While it remains to be seen if the McDaniel saga continues to move the needle further to the right on cable television, her dismissal is a "reminder of how election denialism remains a divisive and burdensome topic for the GOP as it fights to win the White House," The Wall Street Journal said. It remains an indication that if you are a "messenger of election denialism, you may not maintain the credibility to be given a voice in many places in the public square," Rob Stutzman, a GOP consultant, said to the Journal. 

Just weeks after being released from jail, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has claimed an extraordinary election victory and is set to become Senegal's youngest-ever president and Africa's youngest elected leader. An amnesty law passed last month made it possible for the 44-year-old to stand in the election. Faye had been awaiting trial on charges of defamation and contempt of court, having criticized the government in a Facebook post. 

Faye's main opponent, Amadou Ba, conceded defeat on Monday after "provisional results showed Faye had won nearly 54% of the vote," said DW. It is an "unlikely climb to the top for an unlikely national figurehead," said Reuters. The former tax inspector will replace Macky Sall as president when Sall's second term in office ends on April 2. 

'Soft-spoken and serious' 
Faye has emerged from the shadow of "popular and controversial opposition politician" Ousmane Sonko, said The New York Times. Both have "captivated young people" by "excoriating political elites" and promising economic reforms. 

But Faye has been pushed into the limelight since Sonko was barred from standing after being convicted of defamation and accused of rape. Many voters saw him "merely as a proxy" for Sonko, but the two men have "very different styles." In contrast to Sonko's "bombast," Faye is described as "soft-spoken and serious." 

'Agent of change'
Senegal is often "lauded as one of Africa's most stable democracies" and usually experiences fairly peaceful transitions of power. However, the country appears to be on the "brink of a generational shift," said Alexis Akwagyiram on Semafor. There is hope that Faye's "rapid ascent and relative youth" could genuinely make him an "agent of change" on a "continent dominated by elderly leaders." 

A "lack of job opportunities" in Senegal has led many young people to try to reach Europe in small boats as they are "desperate for a brighter future." Faye has vowed to "shake up the established order" and wants to generate greater economic prosperity through policies such as "currency change and renegotiating oil and gas contracts."