MS NOW’s Pivotal Moment

On Wednesday evening, MS NOW marked its 30th anniversary with a dinner that convened many of the figures responsible for its rise into a cable news force. Held in a downstairs private room at Lafayette in lower Manhattan, the gathering assembled more than 40 current and former leaders from across the network’s three decades, including Andy Lack, Tom Rogers, Rashida Jones, Phil Griffin, Dan Abrams, Neal Shapiro, Erik Sorenson, current network president Rebecca Kutler, and former NBCUniversal chief executive Jeff Zucker. Much of the network’s star anchor lineup was also in attendance.

Versant chief executive Mark Lazarus, I’m told, kicked off the evening with a simple toast: “30 years and 30 more.” Lack recalled the network’s launch day and shouted out “employee number one,” Lawrence O’Donnell. Griffin pointed to Tim Russert’s appearances on “Morning Joe” in 2008 as a turning point, saying they “changed us forever.”