Quo Vadis, MSNBC? (with a p.s.)

Click here for an article at Crooks & Liars by Nicole Belle, entitled "Framing The Debate, MSNBC Edition: Joan Walsh Out As Contributor."

MSNBC, the allegedly "liberal" news channel, notified Joan Walsh that they are terminating her contract as a contributor ... The reason the MSNBC executives gave to her agent were "budgetary" concerns.

This is interesting:

When President Obama was in office, MSNBC leaned in, offering shows to People of Color, like Tamron Hall, Melissa Harris-Perry, Al Sharpton, Karen Finney and Joy Reid (sadly, only Reid remains). Now that we're in the Trump era, with Trump and his flunkies calling out the corrupt media, MSNBC head Andy Lack is clearly tacking to reflect that: white, conservative primarily male pundits.

Joan Walsh, Melissa Harris-Perry, Sam Seder, and Al Sharpton have been given the boot (Sharpton from his own program, although he still appears as a commentator; Seder was reinstated after a viral campaign of support). Lawrence O'Donnell was threatened with non-extension of his contract, but he, too, was saved by a viral campaign of support. (The article also includes Tamron Hall and Karen Finney among lefties who have been released or downgraded, but I'm not familiar with either of them.)

On the other hand, right-wingers Hugh Hewitt, Joe Scarborough, and Nicole Wallace have their own programs; Greta Van Susteren was given a program which was rapidly terminated, apparently after no one was tuning in to watch her. Other right-wingers making regular appearances include Charlie Sykes, Peggy Noonan, Steve Schmidt, George Will, and until his recent dismissal in disgrace Mark Halperin (and, the article says, Megyn Kelly, although I'm unaware of this and have never seen Kelly on MSNBC). They can afford these people, but not Joan Walsh? (I have to add that the above list includes two people I like, and who I feel have rehabilitated themselves from their hard-core Republican pasts: Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace.)

Where are you going, MSNBC?

P.S.: after writing the above, I was pleased to read Digby's comments on the Joan Walsh dismissal by Digby at Hullabaloo. In her article entitled "Oh MSNBC, you've made a huge mistake," she expresses the same thoughts I did (although better than I did, of course.)

I was particularly pleased to find that she agreed with me about Schmidt and Wallace:

I like the Never-Trump apostates like Nicole Wallace and Steve Schmidt. As Republicans they are very good at harsh criticism and they are turning it on their own party and the president for a change. It's good to know that while Republicans may have wrong ideas about policy they aren't all batshit crazy and falling into line behind Donald Trump.