Al Sharpton: MSNBC is ALL WHITE ALL NIGHT

[bigdarryl]

He was talking about no Progressive African American Journalist on there station representing black views when you have white Progressives trying to speak on there issues with all the RACE BAITING going on the other side

[onehandle]

1. No anchors, but certainly African American Journalists as guests. nt

[bigdarryl]

3. Only one I see on the progressive side is Joe Madison on Ed's show

by the way he will be a guess tonight 7-16-10 at 6:00PM

[Bitwit1234]

6. They certainly do have African American guests. Eugene

Robinson is there all the time. Where do you see any on CNN, Fox's sister station or Fox itself. Except for Blackwell and Steele who are batcrapcrazy almost as Bachmann.

[tishaLA]

9. And Melissa Harris-Lacewell. And Trisha Rose

But the fact that we can name the African American regulars on the network is somewhat indicative that Rev Sharpton is speaking the truth. Bob Somersby at Daily Howler has written at some length about the preponderance of Irish Catholic voices on the channel (Russert in the past, Scarborough, Tweety, Buchanan, etc), which I think is also something of a fair criticism.

[angee_is_mad]

29. Roland Martin on CNN

who should have his own damn show. It's a travesty.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. The real problem is at FOX so why is he going after the low-hanging fruit at MSNBC?

[bigdarryl]

4. HE just mentioned them he siad he doesn't expect FOX to have any on there show

maybe you should tune into his show and listen

[chelsea0011]

5. If MSNBC had the money it would be a good move at 10 PM for an AA

instead of repeating the lineup. Then they could repeat starting at 11.

[JamesA1102]

14. Lawence O'Donnell is getting the 10PM slot. nt

[chelsea0011]

31. I didn't here that. thanks

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. I think Al's trying to get his own show.

If MSNBC offered Jesse Jackson a deal, I bet Al would be pissed.

Aside from Jesse though, who would be a good choice for the show?

Could Eugene Robinson carry an hour himself?

My cynical side says MSNBC would give it to that "Independent Womans Forum" (i.e. right wing) shill Michelle Bernard who is a regular on the network.

Or, God help us...... Ron Christie. :scared:

[jberryhill]

8. Eugene could carry an hour

But I like him as a commentator, and he does have a decent position with the Washington Post already.

He's smarter, and calmer, than Keith O.

[Empowerer]

16. Your assumption is an example of why there needs to be more diversity

on these shows. Although there's no evidence that Rev. Sharpton is trying to get or even wants his own television show - or that, if he does, it's the basis for his pointing out a factual lack of diversity - you dismiss his very astute observation out-of-hand. If a white person had made such a comment, I doubt that they would be accused of some personal agenda. But, unfortunately, when a black person does so, they are suspected of being up to something.

We see this play out regularly on MSNBC itself as, night after night, we watch white men and women discussing race and racism, often with no black people involved in the conversation. I have no doubt that there is an assumption among some execs and producers that it must be done this way because, if a black person leads such a discussion, they'll be seen as "biased."

Until we learn that black people are no more "biased" on the issue of race than white people are and, moreover, we are just as capable of talking about non-racial issues, we are going to continue to get trapped in these boxes that keep the most "liberal" news network virtually lily-white - while some of its liberal viewers see nothing wrong with it.

[Sebastian Doyle]

18. Al Sharpton's primary motive most of the time is promoting Al Sharpton

Not going to deny he's done some good things over the years, but he is a shameless self promoter. It's got nothing to do with him being Black. There are plenty of white self promoters too, and many of them already have TV shows.

I just don't see "The Al Sharpton Show" pulling in the ratings for MSNBC. I'm all in favor of an African American host on MSNBC, just as long as it isn't Michelle Bernard or Ron Christie. As I said before, I'm not sure Eugene Robinson could carry an hour of TV air time by himself, but I'd give his show a try if he had one.

Joe Madison? I'm not really familiar with his radio show, as it doesn't air around here and I haven't had XM for a while. I've heard his guest appearances on Thom Hartmann's show and others, so I'm assuming he's not a right winger. Maybe he's a good fit for MSNBC. Assuming he wants a TV gig at all (not all radio broadcasters feel the need to make that leap like Ed & Rachel have)

[Empowerer]

24. A network that gives Willie Geist and Dylan Ratigan their own shows . . .

is certainly in no position to claim they can't find a person of color qualified to host a show.

Re: Sharpton - I don't agree that he's a self-promoter - at least no more so than any other public figure or politician. He stands up for causes and interests that most Democrats agree with and WANT someone to stand up for - and he does it with eloquence, dignity and restraint.

I find it interesting that some of the same people who can't get enough of Keith and Dylan and Ed and Rachel because they supposedly fight for what they believe turn around and attack Al Sharpton for fighting for what he believes (usually the same things that Keith and Dylan and Ed and Rachel believe in and fight for), dismissing and marginalizing him as a "self-promoter" - even though he gets a tiny fraction of the airtime that they do.

[Sebastian Doyle]

28. I have no idea who those people are

I've heard the name "Dylan Ratigan" but I've never seen his show.

If you want to know why I'm not exactly a big fan of Al Sharpton, why don't you ask him about his questionable affiliations in the 2004 primary, like Roger Stone?

You can read about it here: http://www.blackcommentator.com/76/76_cover_sharpton.html

[MerryBlooms]

19. Oh, I think Eugene Robinson could definitely do an hour

I think the editorial makes a good point - we are seriously lacking in our news media. I bet there are a lot of local stations with tons of local non white talent that could be drawn from. I would welcome some fresh faces.

I'd also like to see msnbc report news on the weekends instead of the criminal gotcha crap they do now.

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. Yeah the Prison stuff all weekend long has really gotta go.

It's especially annoying on holiday weekends, when it ends up being three or four days of that shit.

[denimgirly]

10. Stations almost always look in-house when filling time slots -- so if anyone it will be Eugene...

I agree..why is there no AA progressive? Pattern shows that Eugene would be in line for that job if they decide to offer one. But if they pass on him (assuming they are looking for a progressive) it will be likely because he is AA since virtually always tv news shows pick someone who is in the family and Eugene Robinson has been part of MSNBC for a long time.

[csziggy]

17. They could promote Tamron Hall to an evening slot

Co-host with Lawrence O'Donnell would be good. She was great as a substitute for Rachel and Keith, and she and David Schuster were terrific together in their afternoon slot. She is smart, informed, great at interviews, and beautiful.

[Arkana]

11. Sorry, Al, but the races of their commentators is the LEAST of MSNBC's problems.

[Empowerer]

13. I disagree. The lack of diversity is a big part of their problem!

[Radical Activist]

12. Fair point.

MSNBC is crap 22 hours of the day anyway.

[LatteLibertine]

15. I'd love to see them

give Tamron Hall an evening commentary show. I'm sure they could replace a rerun of something or the other.

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. Eugene Robinson is on all of the time

[CBR]

22. It is true. They should add some diversity. nt

[ProgressOnTheMove]

23. I want the best up there to counter the right wing noise machine we have that we'd be crazy to have

anyone other than what we have at this point. When and if the poltical climate settles sure more diversity, but for now I want the best of the best and we have that.

[Empowerer]

25. Do you have any idea what you said?

You may not realize it, but you just played right into a false notion of "qualifications v. diversity" which assumes that diversity somehow means lowering standards.

Do you really think the MSNBC evening lineup is incapable of improvement or that bringing more minorities in to host program means undermining quality of programming?

I'm sorry, but there is no good reason that Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow get a total of 6 hours of primetime programming (3 hours of which are repeats) or that replacing one or more of their reruns with a show hosted by an African American would diminish anything - in fact, it would enrich and broaden the discussions far beyond the homogenous, repetitive programming MSNBC now offers.

Please don't fall into the trap of assuming that diversity is inconsistent with high quality!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

26. FOX News Al is practically a member of Rupert Murdoch's line-up

Whenever Hannity needs a straw man to debate, bring in crooked old Al to represent the left.
Sharpton needs to worry about his own network before attacking others.

MSNBC could use a more diverse line-up, but this clown isn't the way to go.

[mzmolly]

27. Does Tamron Hall count?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20074213/

[Sebastian Doyle]

30. Whatever happened to Bernie Shaw anyway?

He was an original CNN anchor. Left that network almost immediately after the AOHellTimeWarner regime took over. Probably a wise move on his part. I don't claim to know his politics, but he obviously wasn't fond of the hard right turn CNN took under the new (mis)management. So that must say something good about him.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

32. Isn't it an FCC requirement?

Let's see, they have a radio guy whose audience is growing steadily, a diabetic irishman whose mood swings with his insulin levels, a former sportscaster with a vivid wit, acerbic tongue, and decent insight, and a super smart gay female who commits real journalism each evening.