*We reported on this development a few months back, but all we can say now is that with this update a lot of liberals and left leaning folks are not gonna be happy. 🙁
That’s because, for reasons that only make sense to Andy Lack, the head of news at NBC and MSNBC, the latter network is about to become more Fox News and less MSNBC. Or more right (and white) and less left (and diversified), if you will.
Here’s what HuffPost is reporting …
On Friday, readers of the new morning email put out by Mike Allen awoke to a little nugget of news. “One of your favorites is getting their own MSNBC show,” he teased in the subject line.
That new host was none other than Nicolle Wallace, a former spokeswoman for President George W. Bush and, later, the 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain and Sarah Palin.
New York magazine reported hours later that conservative activist and radio host Hugh Hewitt, already a regular contributor to MSNBC, was in talks with the network about a weekend show.
From outside, it might seem odd to see the premier liberal network veering right, even as liberals around the country are fired up to resist the administration of President Donald Trump.
READ RELATED STORY: INSIDERS SAY NBC/MSNBC WANTS TO BE ‘THE NEXT FOX NEWS’
But what’s even more crazy about the changes is the fact that, in the era of Donald Trump, MSNBC’s primetime ratings have never been better. They are at an all-time high. Meanwhile, Noah Oppenheim, Lack’s new deputy who has a long history of provocative right-wing journalism, is shepherding in the changes — which have coincidentally made MSNBC look much whiter.
The piece points out the the gap between the success of the primetime lineup and the investment of leadership in that very success has started to become public.
O’Donnell, for instance, has the network’s second-most watched show, but it gets little in the way of promotion, a point he made himself on Twitter last week.
Best promo ever written for my show. (No one else is writing them so there’s really no competition but this is a great one.) https://t.co/0H8RGXUS9Z
— Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) April 28, 2017
O’Donnell’s contract will soon be up for renewal. Keeping the second-best performing show is typically not in question at most networks ― but at MSNBC, it will test whether Lack gives into, or continues to resist, the energy of the resistance.
You read the rest of this in-depth, must-read story of MSNBC’s shift to right, at HuffPost.
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