Slash And Burn At MSNBC

[ZiprHead]

Joy Reid, Ayman Mohadeen, Alex Wagner, José Díaz-Balart, Katie Phang. Lester Holt has stepped down, some say inprotest for the firings, but will remain on Dateline.

Shortly before Donald Trump took office, MSNBC president Rashida Jones (not that one) announced that she would be stepping down. Jones was the first Black woman to lead a major cable-news network when she stepped into the role in 2021, and under her leadership, MSNBC often hovered above CNN as the second-rated cable-news network with Fox News consistently ranking first. Following her departure, Jones was replaced in the interim by Rebecca Kutler, a former CNN exec.

Okay, so here’s where the story really gets going. On Sunday, the New York Times reported that Joy Reid’s show, The ReidOut, was being canceled as part of a network overhaul led by Kutler. That wasn’t all, though. Alex Wagner, who had previously hosted the 9 p.m. slot four nights a week, was getting replaced by former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki. (That change will happen in April, when Rachel Maddow ceases her five-day-a-week coverage of Trump’s first 100 days and reverts to only doing Mondays.)

On Monday, it was also announced that anchors Katie Phang, who hosts a Saturday-afternoon show, and José Díaz-Balart, who hosts a mid-morning show, were losing their hours. Wagner, Phang, and Díaz-Balart are all staying within the MSNBC ecosystem, while Reid is out of a job entirely. (Wagner and Phang will be correspondents, and Díaz-Balart will anchor Weekend Nightly News.) It is probably worth noting that all four of these booted hosts are people of color and that Reid was the first Black woman to ever host a prime-time cable-news show. In a statement shared to X, Phang wrote, “I was proud to platform more AAPI voices than any other cable show ever. And I was, and remain, proud to have been one of the only AAPI hosts with her name on a show. Representation matters.”

Strange how none of them are white and male. Joe Scarborough ruined his show when he kissed Trump's ass and it still hasn't recovered. Yest he still has his job.

Mehgan Kelly got in on the act.





Then Don Lemon kicked back at Kelly.



It's like a racist soap opera.

 

[Shadowy Man]

To get Don Lemon's google results with that many "Megyn Kelly calls out..." videos, you actually have to search on "Megyn Kelly calls out" not just "Megyn Kelly", so he's being a little deceptive when he says "let's do a google search of Megyn Kelly".

I just noticed that If you look closely in the search bar you can even see "Megyn Kelly calls out".

 

[TV and credit cards]

AP makes no mention of ratings for any of these changes. I would assume it's ratings. I burned out on MSNBC a year or more ago. Just too much Trump. It was relentless. If they'd quit with the 24/7 Trump, I might tune in.

I always thought Willie Geist should have his own show.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

MSNBC sucks. It is noise. I don't like noise. I never watch these channels. In the morning, I pop on Newsworld on the Google feed. Watch actual news coverage. CNN is adequate in breaking situations. That is it. MSNBC can just evaporate. They can invest in NPR.

 

[Ford]

MSNBC sucks. It is noise. I don't like noise. I never watch these channels. In the morning, I pop on Newsworld on the Google feed. Watch actual news coverage. CNN is adequate in breaking situations. That is it. MSNBC can just evaporate. They can invest in NPR.

I haven't had cable or satellite television for at least a decade, so I haven't watched the actual MSNBC, but I've seen clips. When I did watch, it was mostly Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell. I've got a book from the former, and think she's very smart but...

For non-existent god's sake you don't need to spend 15 or 20 or 30 minutes driving a point into the ground. They've been - and this has long been my critique of the "liberal response" media to the right wing - trying to copy the format and approach of the likes of AM talk radio and Fox News without understanding why it worked in the first place.

I remember listening to "Air America" awhile back, and they were following the AM talk radio format to a "T," (rant for 15 minutes, break for commercials, come back with curated angry phone calls, break for news, etc.) and seemingly figured that if they just copied the format it would work. It didn't. MSNBC tried very hard to be a "liberal" answer to Fox News by doing exactly the same thing but with a "left-leaning" bent and that just hasn't worked. You can't "counter the outrage" and wait for the money to roll in. Set yourselves apart for crying out loud.

 

[ZiprHead]

I remember listening to "Air America" awhile back, and they were following the AM talk radio format to a "T," (rant for 15 minutes, break for commercials, come back with curated angry phone calls, break for news, etc.) and seemingly figured that if they just copied the format it would work. It didn't. MSNBC tried very hard to be a "liberal" answer to Fox News by doing exactly the same thing but with a "left-leaning" bent and that just hasn't worked. You can't "counter the outrage" and wait for the money to roll in. Set yourselves apart for crying out loud.

Air America got good reviews and developed a listenership. The financiers. however, lied to the other creators about how much money they had to invest in the project. When the money quickly ran out, so did the network. Deeper pockets were needed.

Murdoch sponsored Fox News for five years before it ever made a profit.

 

[Derec]

Joy Reid, Ayman Mohadeen, Alex Wagner, José Díaz-Balart, Katie Phang. Lester Holt has stepped down, some say inprotest for the firings, but will remain on Dateline.

Not familiar with the rest of that list, but the racist Joy Reid should have been gone a long time ago. Better late than never, I guess.

It is probably worth noting that all four of these booted hosts are people of color and that Reid was the first Black woman to ever host a prime-time cable-news show.

So? Should that mean that her show should be guaranteed in perpetuity?

Strange how none of them are white and male.

Well some are at least "white adjacent", to borrow a term from one of Joy Reid's unhinged rants. Mohadeen is Egyptian and North Africans have traditionally been classified as white, even by US Census. Alex Wagner is biracial (half white, half Burmese). José Díaz-Balart may have a Spanish name, but he is a white Cuban and is lighter skinned than say George Zimmermann of whom people on here and on news networks insisted that he was white. You can't have it both ways. Are "white Hispanics" white or not? To call them "person of color" when fired reassigned by MSNBC but "white" when they kill a black teenager in self defense is hypocritical.

In any case, why does it matter? It's not like MSNBC (and other news networks) have not gotten ridden by shows headed by white men. It could be that these shows had crap ratings and/or did not fit the editorial direction of MSNBC. Especially Joy Reid's racist rants must be embarrassing to the execs.
And the sample size here is low anyway - it could be just chance.

Joe Scarborough ruined his show when he kissed Trump's ass and it still hasn't recovered. Yest he still has his job.

How exactly did he "kiss the ring"? And what are his ratings?

Then Don Lemon kicked back at Kelly.

Don Lemon, ugh.

It's like a racist soap opera.

It's Newspeak to suggest that calling out racists like Reid is itself "racism".

 

[Derec]

To get Don Lemon's google results with that many "Megyn Kelly calls out..." videos, you actually have to search on "Megyn Kelly calls out" not just "Megyn Kelly", so he's being a little deceptive when he says "let's do a google search of Megyn Kelly".

Don Lemon being deceptive?

 

[Derec]

I remember listening to "Air America" awhile back,

I remember them too. I remember a certain RFK Jr. had a show on it, with Mike Papantonio. He sounded just as raspy and unhinged back then, but he was a darling of the Left. Another win for the Horseshoe Theory.

 

[ZiprHead]

I remember listening to "Air America" awhile back,

I remember them too. I remember a certain RFK Jr. had a show on it, with Mike Papantonio. He sounded just as raspy and unhinged back then, but he was a darling of the Left. Another win for the Horseshoe Theory.

That's cuz he wasn't crazy back then. Back then his big issue was the environment and pollution. I have no idea what the brain worms did to him since then.

 

[Ford]

I remember listening to "Air America" awhile back,

I remember them too. I remember a certain RFK Jr. had a show on it, with Mike Papantonio. He sounded just as raspy and unhinged back then, but he was a darling of the Left. Another win for the Horseshoe Theory.

That's cuz he wasn't crazy back then. Back then his big issue was the environment and pollution. I have no idea what the brain worms did to him since then.

He was crazy, but he was more like "Jenny McCarthy crazy." Looney Tunes anti-vaxxer, but his environmentalism was at least slightly admirable. Watching him chow down on McDonald's with Trump sure put that out to pasture, didn't it? Maybe he special-ordered a roadkill burger?

I mean, he's not "every black person on MSNBC is a racist" crazy, but...

 

[barbos]

Ha-Ha!

But what about the main piece if lying shit - Rachel Maddow?

 

[blastula]

To get Don Lemon's google results with that many "Megyn Kelly calls out..." videos, you actually have to search on "Megyn Kelly calls out" not just "Megyn Kelly", so he's being a little deceptive when he says "let's do a google search of Megyn Kelly".

I just noticed that If you look closely in the search bar you can even see "Megyn Kelly calls out".

The search field in the video show: megyn kelly calls out. It's in the titles of her own videos.

 

[Shadowy Man]

To get Don Lemon's google results with that many "Megyn Kelly calls out..." videos, you actually have to search on "Megyn Kelly calls out" not just "Megyn Kelly", so he's being a little deceptive when he says "let's do a google search of Megyn Kelly".

I just noticed that If you look closely in the search bar you can even see "Megyn Kelly calls out".

The search field in the video show: megyn kelly calls out. It's in the titles of her own videos.

Yes. That is what my final sentence says. But prior to that Don says “let’s do a Google search of Megyn Kelly”, implying that all th results are of her calling out. If you donf include “calls out” you get a different set of results. He seems to be suggesting that all She does is “call out”.

 

[southernhybrid]

I like Ari Melber, who does "The Beat" at 6PM. I lost interest in Joy Reid when she left her weekend show. I read that her ratings were low and that's why she her show was ended. Not sure about the rest since I don't watch them.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I remember listening to "Air America" awhile back,

I remember them too. I remember a certain RFK Jr. had a show on it, with Mike Papantonio. He sounded just as raspy and unhinged back then, but he was a darling of the Left. Another win for the Horseshoe Theory.

That's cuz he wasn't crazy back then. Back then his big issue was the environment and pollution. I have no idea what the brain worms did to him since then.

I don't remember ever saying, "Hey did you hear what RFK Jr said?"

 

[ZiprHead]

Ha-Ha!

But what about the main piece if lying shit - Rachel Maddow?

Get over it, Priscilla.

 

[Axulus]

Joy Reid and the others are free to start a youtube show. Seems to be the trend these days. Why do they need corporate overlords to give them validation?

 

[Elixir]

MSNBC sucks. It is noise. I don't like noise. I never watch these channels. In the morning, I pop on Newsworld on the Google feed. Watch actual news coverage. CNN is adequate in breaking situations. That is it. MSNBC can just evaporate. They can invest in NPR.

NPR is my least annoying, most reliable source. How long before the Mob shuts it down?

 

[ideologyhunter]

Joy Reid I'll miss. Al Sharpton, I wouldn't miss.