MSNBC
MSNBC, a
portmanteau of
MSN and
NBC, is a 24-hour cable news channel in the
United States, and a news
Website.
MSNBC was founded in
1996 by
Microsoft and
General Electric's NBC unit, which is now
NBC Universal. Although Microsoft and NBC shared operations of the company at its founding, it was announced on
December 23,
2005, that NBC Universal will purchase a majority stake in the television network, which left Microsoft with 18%.
MSNBC cable is currently America's third most-watched cable news channel
[January Numbers…, Inside Cable News blog, January 31st, 2006], after
Fox News, and
CNN, but ahead of
CNBC and
CNN Headline News. The news station broadcasts primarily out of its studios in
Secaucus,
New Jersey.
[Collins, Scott Crazy Like A Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN, ISBN 1591840295]MSNBC, like sister channel
CNBC, shares the
NBC logo of a
rainbow peacock.
Development
Microsoft and NBC announced on
December 14,
1995 that they would be creating MSNBC. The stated purpose was to combine the resources and reputation of NBC News with the technology of Microsoft to bring an integrated news service on the and
cable television. Microsoft would invest $220 million for a 50% share of the cable network , while MSNBC and Microsoft would share the cost of a $200 million newsroom based in
Redmond, Washington. NBC supplied the space with a 18 month old
America's Talking network.
Roger Ailes, then president of
America's Talking, was passed over when NBC executives were looking for someone to run their new cable news operation. Ailes subsequently joined
News Corporation as president of the newly-formed CNN rival,
Fox News Channel.
[Collins, Scott Crazy Like A Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN, ISBN 1591840295]Launch
MSNBC was launched on
July 15,
1996 at 9AM EDT from its studios in
Fort Lee, New Jersey. The first show, which was anchored by
Jodi Applegate, broadcasted a lineup of news, interviews, and opinions.
[Jodi Jodi Applegate WNYW biography: [1]] During the day, rolling news coverage continued with
The Contributors, a show that featured
Ann Coulter and
Laura Ingraham, as well as interactive programming coordinated by Applegate,
John Gibson, and
John Seigenthaler Jr. Stories were generally longer and more detailed than the stories running on CNN at the time.
[Collins, Scott Crazy Like A Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN, ISBN 1591840295]MSNBC originally demonstrated the interactive value of the
Internet. The network's first slogan was
It's Time to Get Connected, and e-mail addresses and phone numbers were displayed regularly.
[Beato, G. Media Circus, April 11, 1997, Salon Magazine [2]] Primetime featured an hour-long interview program called
Internight (which showcased the stars of NBC News)
[Goodman, Walter. "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; New and Familiar Faces In News Channel Debut", The New York Times, July 23, 1996. [3]], followed by the network's flagship newscast,
The News with Brian Williams, and
The Site, a show about the Internet and computers co-hosted by
Soledad O'Brien and a computer-generated character played by
Leo Laporte [MSNBC at Ten; Remembering The Site. [4]]. The first
Internight included an interview with President
Bill Clinton, who took questions from callers and e-mailers.
[Burelle's Transcripts: [5]] Other shows that made use of the internet included
News Chat featuring Mary Kathleen Flynn, and a look into the past with
Time & Again anchored by
Jane Pauley.
Black Entertainment Television host
Ed Gordon also contributed to the new network by hosting the Saturday version of
Internight.
The start was a bit rocky due to a series of changes in management and continuing internal squabbles over the direction of the network. In addition, NBC affiliates were concerned that the cross-promotion would divert viewers from their own programs, although that fear abated as the years passed.
[Siklos, Richard. "This Little Peacock is Showing Some Pluck. BusinessWeek, August 17, 1998.] However, MSNBC was often first to break news. It broke the story of the crash of
TWA Flight 800 eight minutes before CNN, ushering in an era of hypercompetitiveness between the news channels that continues today.
[Towery, Terry. "MSNBC proves it is ready." Peoria Journal Star, July 21, 1996. Page C12]MSNBC signed a simulcast agreement with
Infinity Broadcasting station
WFAN to carry the
Imus in the Morning radio show, which began on
September 2,
1996.
[Bianculli, David: "BEST OF 'IMUS IN THE MORNING' ON MSNBC? THEM'S THE BREAKS." New York Daily News, September 29, 1996.] In November 1996, the network moved to the new
Secaucus studios.
[Collins, Scott Crazy Like A Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN, ISBN 1591840295]Not just the Net
The original goals of the network attracting a younger, tech-savvy audience, failed to materialize. In September 1997, MSNBC laid off 20% of its staff
[Flash, Cynthia. "MICROSOFT LEARNS COSTLY MEDIA LESSON". Tacoma News Tribune, September 24, 1997. Page C9] and cancelled
The Site due to low ratings and the death of
Princess Diana, causing howls of protest from its viewers, many of whom considered O'Brien a
cult figure.
["MSNBC CHANNEL CANCELS `THE SITE,' AWARD-WINNING TECHNOLOGY SHOW". Seattle Times, September 21, 1997, Page E4.] The network began moving away from its Internet roots and began covering fashion and celebrity like the other news channels.
[Pope, Kyle. "Future Seems Bright at MSNBC Despite Tiny Ratings." The Wall Street Journal, October 28, 1997, page B1] In October 1997,
Internight was replaced with
The Big Show, hosted by
Keith Olbermann, in hopes that his irreverent style would spike up ratings.
[Bauder, David. "`BIG SHOW' A TALL ORDER FOR OLBERMANN". Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 17, 1997, page 5.E] After its first year, the network had 24,000 households viewing it per night, paling by comparison to the 578,000 of CNN and the 30,000 of Fox News (then four months younger than MSNBC)
[Johnson, Peter. "MSNBC hasn't plugged into a big audience yet." USA Today, June 4, 1997.]The MSNBC web site remained relatively successful, becoming the most-used online news site in 1997
[PR Newswire: "MSNBC.COM RATED #1 ONLINE NEWS SITE FOR 1997", January 20, 1998], 1998
[PR Newswire: "MSNBC.COM RATED #1 ONLINE NEWS SITE FOR 1998", January 19, 1999], and 1999
[PR Newswire: "MSNBC.COM RATED #1 ONLINE NEWS SITE FOR 1999", January 22, 2000]. MSNBC significantly increased during the
impeachment of Bill Clinton, following a new
covering the Big Story format that provided saturation coverage for the top stories. Keith Olbermann left over MSNBC's continuing focus on the impeachment. He was replaced by
John Hockenberry, who achieved some success. His
Edgewise program focused on newsmakers and made use of Hockenberry's documentary skills. Ratings began to drop after the impeachment trial was completed. Fox was beating MSNBC in numbers of viewers per 24 hours, which was more impressive considering MSNBC's distribution advantage. NBC News stars began shunning the network. Low-rated chat shows such as
Watch It, and
Equal Time, a
Crossfire knockoff, filled out the schedule.
[Jensen, Elizabeth. "Cable News Rivals Prepare for Life After Monica". Los Angeles Times, February 12, 1999. Page A1.] Hockenberry was replaced after six months by a rebroadcast of
Hardball from
CNBC.
[Mifflin, Lawrie. "Too Few Viewers for 'Hockenberry'." The New York Times, July 12, 1999. Page C12]That show was replaced by
Headliners and Legends, a biography program that has been a weekend staple on the network ever since. Also in 1999, the management of MSNBC replaced midday news coverage with a delayed broadcast of
NBC News Today called
Today on MSNBC and repackaged
Dateline NBC stories into
MSNBC Investigates, a decision that angered NBC affiliates. On the other hand, 1999 saw a partnership with the
Washington Post that permitted more integrated coverage on the web site.
["Washington Post, NBC to collaborate". Houston Chronicle, November 18, 1999. pg. 4]On
April 3, 2000, a three woman anchored show named
Home Page hosted by
Ashleigh Banfield,
Gina Gaston, and
Mika Brzezinski began.
[Curpisin, Tim. "MSNBC wants to be women's `Home Page'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 3, 2000.] Along with Home Page, MSNBC tried to attract female viewers by signing a deal in February 2001 with Detroit radio station WJR to simulcast the first two hours of
The Mitch Albom Show. While the pairing was a ratings winner, both shows would eventually be cancelled: Home Page due to sinking ratings; and The Mitch Albom Show due to its constant pre-emptions and some disagreements with the MSNBC management.
2000 also saw John Gibson, one of the original MSNBC hosts, leave the network. His confrontational tenure as the host of the
Feedback primetime program foreshadowed his opinion program on the Fox News Channel.
["Gibson Jumping to FNC." New York Post, August 16, 2000.] MSNBC continued to repackage NBC News programs (
Special Edition and
Crime Files), and during the
2000 presidential election cycle, reporters and interviews were cycled constantly between broadcast NBC and the cable news channel.
[Saunders, Dusty. "NBC SCORED EARLY SUCCESS IN ANNOUNCING BUSH WIN", Rocky Mountain News, December 15, 2000.] MSNBC also commissioned original documentaries similar to
The Discovery Channel for use as filler on weekends. Later in the year,
Lester Holt received kudos for his daily coverage of the Florida election controversy, allowing MSNBC to beat Fox News during November 2000.
[Lavin, Cheryl. "HOLT HITS THE NEWSROOM RUNNING FOR MSNBC." Chicago Tribune, November 24, 2000. Page 1.]Ratings issues
MSNBC continued to trail both Fox and CNN. With the success of Fox News Channel, MSNBC tried to copy the Fox News Channel's emphasis on opinion hosts.
[Moss, Linda. "MSNBC Shifts Shows" Cable World, July 2, 2001.] In January,
Mike Barnicle got a show on MSNBC, but it was cancelled in June 2001 due to high production costs.
[E! Online, Bits and Pieces, June 26, 2001. ] In June, as a sign of the continuing trouble of MSNBC, Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer said that he wouldn't have started MSNBC knowing what he knew now.
[[Ballmer: Would not launch MSNBC again. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-268073.html] CNET News.Com, June 7, 2001] After the
September 11, 2001 attacks, MSNBC did prove useful as an outlet for NBC News to provide up-to-the-minute coverage, in contrast to broadcast NBC's longer stories. CNBC and CNBC Europe, with little financial news to report, ran MSNBC for many hours of the day following the attacks. The year also boosted the profile of
Ashleigh Banfield, who had escaped injury while covering the World Trade Center on September 11. Her
Region In Conflict program capitalized on her newfound celebrity and showcased exclusive interviews from
Afghanistan.
2002 continued MSNBC's focus on opinion journalism, and low ratings. MSNBC scored up to triple the usual ratings during the
2002 Winter Olympics, and not for its news programming.
[Bauder, David. "BAD DECISIONS HURT MSNBC" Associated Press, February 25, 2002. ] Alan Keyes is Making Sense debuted in January, featuring the conservative one-time candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination.
[Huff, Richard. "MSNBC GETS KEYES TO TALK." New York Daily News, January 8, 2002.] MSNBC rebranded itself as
America's NewsChannel, with a patriotic theme proclaiming MSNBC to be fiercely independent.
[Battaglio, Steven. "MSNBC STARTS TO SPELL OUT NEW APPROACH." New York Daily News, April 12, 2002, page 139] Jerry Nachman joined MSNBC as its editor-in-chief and host of a news analysis program in May, and liberal talk-show pioneer
Phil Donahue began hosting an evening talk show in July.
[Jensen, Elizabeth. "Donahue's Back, With No Plans to Be Neutral." Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2002. Page F1] The News with Brian Williams was relegated to
CNBC, leaving MSNBC with primarily opinion shows in the evening. Afternoons replaced the rolling news coverage with talk shows featuring
Curtis Sliwa,
Ron Kuby,
Bill Press, and
Pat Buchanan.
[Bard, Ed. "MSNBC relying on personalities as it revamps lineup." Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. June 13, 2002.]The experiment did not last long. Keyes was gone by July. Sliwa and Kuby were removed in October, and Nachman's show was moved in October. Donahue's ratings plunged spectacularly, from 660,000 households his first week to just 136,000 households his sixth week, a drop of 80%.
[Bauder, David. "CAN'T PHIL THE BILL? / Donahue's numbers sinking on MSNBC" Houston Chronicle, September 4, 2002, Page 10] The network was regularly beaten in the ratings by
CNN Headline News. Overall, ratings dropped 36% from the previous year.
[deMoraes, Lisa. "MSNBC's Nachman Takes One for the Team" Washington Post, October 5, 2002. Page C07 ] MSNBC publicly proclaimed support for Donahue and moved some shows around to try to stabilize his ratings, which helped increase his viewership to 446,000 households.
[Huff, Richard. "MSNBC: Weak ratings snuff Phil Donahue" Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. February 26, 2003.] Nevertheless, the cancellation of his show would stick in the craw of some left-leaning viewers for years. They saw it as an indication that executives had no faith in liberal viewpoints. Donahue himself claimed that MSNBC was trying to "out-fox" Fox by removing him and adding
Joe Scarborough to the lineup.
[Huff, Richard. "DONAHUE LIBERALLY FIRES BACK AT MSNBC" New York Daily News, February 27, 2003. Page 89] In March 2003, MSNBC featured a weekend show hosted by right-wing shock-jock
Michael Savage, which turned out to have been an embarrassing move when Savage snapped at a prank caller on his show, calling him a "pig" and a "sodomite," telling him that he "should get
AIDS and die" and "go eat a sausage and choke on it." Savage was immediately
fired.
[Lowry, Brian. "Savage gets the boot after on-air anti-gay outburst" Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2003. Page E1.]To fill Donahue's timeslot, a new show,
Countdown, debuted. Originally it was focused on the war in Iraq, but eventually, it became a vehicle for Keith Olbermann to return his irreverent style to the network after his self-imposed exile from news.
[Canfield, Kevin. "NOT YOUR STANDARD NEWS SHOW ; KEITH OLBERMANN'S ECLECTIC HOUR PERFORMS ROLE OF AFTERNOON PAPER" Hartford Courant, May 29, 2003. Page D1.]On December 23, 2005, it was announced that NBC Universal will acquire an additional 32% share of the television network from Microsoft, solidifying its control over television operations and allowing NBC to further consolidate MSNBC's backroom operations with NBC News and its other cable properties. MSNBC.com will continue to be 50% owned by both NBC and Microsoft, and its operations will be largely unaffected. NBC will have the option to buy the remaining 18% share from Microsoft after two years. Due to Microsoft's declining influence, rumors are currently circulating in the broadcast industry that the network will eventually be rebranded as
NBC News Channel, which is currently used for the network's news service to NBC affiliates.
New Leadership
On June 7, 2006, Rick Kaplan resigned as president of MSNBC, after holding the post for two years.
[Rick Kaplan Exits: Effective Immediately, President Of MSNBC Steps Down, TVNewser, June 7th, 2006] Following the announcement, it was announced on June 12, 2006, that
Dan Abrams, a nine-year veteran of MSNBC and NBC News, had been named General Manager of the NBC News 24-hour cable news channel, effective immediately. NBC News Senior Vice President
Phil Griffin will oversee MSNBC. Griffin will also continue to oversee NBC News'
Today and Abrams will report to Griffin. Dan Abrams will step down from his weekday show "The Abrams Report" but will remain as NBC Chief Legal Correspondent and contribute to NBC and MSNBC news programs.
On
June 29,
2006, Abrams announced a revamp to MSNBC's early-primetime and primetime schedule. Started on
July 10th,
Tucker (formerly
The Situation with Tucker Carlson) will air at 4pm and 6pm ET (taking over Abrams' old timeslot), while Rita Cosby's
Live & Direct will be taken off the schedule. Cosby instead will be given the role of primary anchor for "MSNBC Investigates" at 10 and 11pm ET, the new programming set to take over Cosby and Carlson's timeslots. According to the press release, "MSNBC Investigates" promise to "...complement MSNBC's existing programming by building on our library of award winning documentaries." [
6]. The move to taped programming during 10 and 11pm is likely a direct result of the success the network saw with their Friday "experiment" by replacing all primetime programming with taped specials.
MSNBC is shown in The United States and Canada. MSNBC is shown for a few hours a day on
Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. During breaking news MSNBC is also shown occasionally on sister network
CNBC Europe.
In the UK during major US breaking news the now closed ITV News Channel (ITN) occasionally showed MSNBC and some of its reports appeared in the ITV News bulletins
MSNBC.com, is the online news outlet for the
NBC News family, including networks shows such as
Today,
NBC Nightly News and
Dateline NBC as well as MSNBC TV. In addition to NBC News content and material produced by the site's own staff, MSNBC.com also hosts articles and features from several partners, including
The Washington Post and
Newsweek magazine.
The site is produced out of newsrooms in
Redmond, Washington,
Secaucus, New Jersey and London, England. It is the news provider for MSN, the portal site and online service operated by Microsoft, but is editorially and financially separate.
MSNBC.com is currently in a fierce battle with
CNN.com for the position of top online
U.S. news site. The site's use of the MSN Video Player, which relies on
Windows Media Player video compression technology incompatible with the
Macintosh platform, has drawn criticism for excluding Mac users from taking full advantage of the site.
MSNBC's programming is segmented into four distinct segments:
early morning,
daytime,
primetime and
weekend (all times
Eastern).
Mornings
Early mornings start at 5 a.m. with
First Look, anchored by
Kristine Johnson or the overnight newsbreak anchor.
Mornings continue with
Imus in the Morning, a simulcast of nationally syndicated radio personality
Don Imus's show from
WFAN radio. The program originates from MSNBC studios in New Jersey, the Imus Ranch in
Ribera, New Mexico and the WFAN-AM studios in
Queens, New York. Imus airs from 6–9 a.m. Satellite radio (only
XM currently offers MSNBC) replays
First Look, since XM does not have the rights to rebroadcast Imus' radio show.
Daytime
MSNBC Live airs from 9am-3pm weekdays featuring the latest news, live coverage, breaking news, weather coverage, and special features.
Anchors and correspondents seen on MSNBC weekdays and weekends include,
Chris Jansing,
Amy Robach,
Alex Witt,
Contessa Brewer,
Bill Fitzgerald,
Kristine Johnson,
Milissa Rehberger,
Dan Kloeffler,
Alison Stewart,
Melissa Stark,
Natalie Allen,
Donna Gregory,
Willow Bay,
David Shuster,
Norah O'Donnell,
Monica Novotny,
Monica Crowley,
Michael Smerconish and MSNBC.com's
Dara Brown.
NBC Weather Plus meteorologists (
Bill Karins,
Elise Finch,
Jeff Ranieri,
Jackie Meretsky, and
Kristen Cornett) provide weather reports, and CNBC Market Updates air at 30 past the hour.
At 3p.m.,
The Most with Alison Stewart airs. Alison Stewart, former
World News Now anchor, brings a fast paced look at the day's news stories.
At 4:30 and 5:30pm in place of news break headlines,
CNBC Market Wrap airs. These segments are the length of regular news updates, and are usually hosted by
Margaret Brennan.
Evening/Primetime
Evening programming begins at 4 p.m. with
Tucker, hosted by
Tucker Carlson.
At 5 p.m.,
Hardball with Chris Matthews airs. Hosted by political reporter and author
Chris Matthews,
Hardball is a mix of political and other news.
The 4-6 p.m. block reairs from 6-8 p.m.
Tucker and
Hardball are sometimes updated for the later airings when news warrants.
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a sometimes irreverent look at the day's top news, shown each weekday at 8 p.m. Hosted by former
ESPN SportsCenter anchor
Keith Olbermann, Countdown is styled like a radio music countdown, starting with the day's number five story (usually the top story of the day) progressing to number one (which is usually fluff). According to Olbermann, the higher the story number, the more buzz it is expected to get around the water cooler.
[Kurtz, Howard. "Three, Two, One, Olbermann; MSNBC's 'Countdown' Host Puts News on the Fast Track" Washington Post, July 28, 2003. Page C01] This is the second time Olbermann has hosted a show for the network; he hosted
The Big Show from
1997 to
1998 as well as
White House in Crisis which aired during that same time period.
Scarborough Country with former
Florida representative
Joe Scarborough airs at 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, and focuses on political, social, media and religious issues.
The
MSNBC Doc Block airs weekdays from 10pm-12am ET. Two taped documentaries air at this time. MSNBC uses its resource of award winning documentaries in its primetime lineup.
Rita Cosby works in developing more documentaries with her newly formed
Rita Cosby Specials unit.
Weekends
|
Alex Witt serves as anchor of MSNBC Live on Weekend mornings. |
Weekends consist of news coverage from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Live coverage of the news begins at 8 a.m. with
Alex Witt and runs through noon, followed by
Contessa Brewer from noon-4 p.m.
Weekend evenings start at 4 p.m. with back-to-back episodes of
Headliners and Legends followed by
MSNBC Reports,
MSNBC Investigates, and other programs. Brief news cut-ins start at the bottom of each hour.
The network cablecasts
Meet the Press with
Tim Russert each Sunday evening at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
On
August 13,
2006, at 7:30 a.m., MSNBC will begin a new weekend program named
Your Business. The program will be for "America's small business entrepreneurs" and hosted by
JJ Ramberg.
*
Alan Keyes is Making Sense*
A Region in Conflict*
Ashleigh Banfield: On Location*
The Big Show (
Keith Olbermann returned to MSNBC in 2003 and now anchors Countdown)
*
Buchanan and Press*
Connected: Coast to Coast*
Countdown:Iraq*
Deborah Norville Tonight*
Donahue*
Morning Line*
Morning Blend*
Newsfront*
Special Edition*
Today on MSNBC*
Today in America*
NBC News @ Issue*
Crosstalk NBC*
NBC Newswire*
News Chat*
Feedback with John Gibson*
Charles Grodin*
Watch It! with Laura Ingraham*
The Mitchell Report*
Equal Time*
InterNight*
Hockenberry*
The Abrams Report*
America's Voices*
The NFL Now with Mike Francesa*
Edgewise*
National Geographic Ulitmate Explorer*
MSNBC Adventurer*
The Mitch Albom Show*
Curtis & Kolby*
Barnicle*
Weekend Magazine with Stone Phillips*
Lester Holt Live*
The Savage Nation*
Morning Line*
MSNBC Reports (Live Broadcast, now consists of Dateline reruns)
*
Nachman*
The News with Brian Williams*
Remember This?*
Rita Cosby: Live & Direct*
Saturday Final with Lawrence O'Donnell*
The Site*
The Situation with Tucker Carlson (renamed
Tucker)
*
Time and Again*
Weekends with Maury and ConniePast hosts
MSNBC is derided by broadcasting analysts for its "revolving door" tactics when it comes to talent, i.e. rapidly canceling shows and having its anchors depart after only a couple of years with the network. None of MSNBC's current anchors have been with the network since its conception.
Past MSNBC shows featured hosts such as :
Past Anchors of MSNBC Live
*Lester Holt
*Forrest Sawyer
*John Seigenthaler Jr.
*Laurie Jennings
*Bob Kur
*Jeannie Ohm
*Christy Musumeci
*Bianca Solorzano |
*Sam Shane
*John Elliott (KCBS-TV)
*Maurice DuBois (formerly of WNBC)
*Rob Morrison (WNBC)
*Bud Hedinger (briefly)
*Cheryl Casone
*Collette Cassidy
*Gregg Jarrett (Fox News Channel) |
*Virginia Cha
*Jessica Yellin
*Lisa Daniels
*Patti Ann Browne
*Alexis Glick
*Natalie Morales
*Randy Meier
*Sean McLaughlin | }MSNBC program audio is also available on XM Satellite Radio. Don Imus' Imus in the Morning is syndicated via Westwood One, which generally does not allow live radio broadcasts via Internet streams or satellite radio, and thus is not currently available on the XM MSNBC channel. In the place of Imus from 6-9 a.m., XM airs six repeats of the 5:30 a.m. half hour of First Look. Primetime programming on Saturday and Sunday nights from 8-11 p.m. are replaced with repeats of the programming from the same time on the previous Thursday and Friday nights, respectively.MSNBC has received criticism, particularily from David Brock and Media Matters for America, for it's programming and journalistic ethics. MSNBC's weeknight primetime shows are mostly opinionated, personality-driven shows, which some claim only offer talking points and no real news of any kind. These opinion shows allegedly show a Republican, conservative slant. Shows such as Imus in the Morning, Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Situation with Tucker Carlson (a well-known right-wing pundit), and Scarborough Country (hosted by Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman) seem to show conservative biases on the parts of the hosts, guests, and stories covered. These shows greatly outnumber Countdown with Keith Olbermann, a show with a decidedly non-partisan host.
MSNBC was also criticized for the hiring of past hosts with notable backgrounds in conservative politics. MSNBC formerly broadcast shows hosted by former Republican presidential candidates Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes. MSNBC also let far-right shock jock Michael Savage have his own show, but fired him in 2003 when he told an on-air caller to "Get AIDS and die."
MSNBC (and also NBC and CNBC) received massive amounts of criticism for what seemed to be constant promotion of the book Godless: The Church of Liberalism by conservative columnist Ann Coulter. Coulter had appeared on shows like NBC's Today Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, and CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. During these appearances, Coulter claimed that 9/11 widows enjoyed the deaths of their husbands during the September 11th terrorist attacks and that Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore were homosexuals (Coulter called Gore a "total fag.").
* Official Site
* MSNBC on XM information page
* Photos of the MSNBC studio
|
