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Ep. 34: What the Hell is Wrong with MSNBC? (Patreon)

Published:
2018-04-18 16:45:03
Edited:
2018-11-22 00:14:37
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

MSNBC is by far the most influential mainstream media outlet on the American Left. It sets the tone and defines the boundary for what is acceptable discourse among American liberals. But major issues the Left is generally thought to care about - imperial war, worker strikes, Palestine, climate change - are almost entirely absent from coverage, as the network increasingly looks like a 24-hour Trump-Russia infomercial.

What is the point of having a liberal cable news network when it ignores so many major issues on the Left and pushes a narrative that, in the aggregate, does little beyond selling more weapons systems and inflaming US-Russia proxy wars in Syria and Ukraine? How did MSNBC get this way? What are the corporate forces making it so terrible, and is there hope for a more thoughtful, politically relevant network? 

We are joined, anonymously, by a former MSNBC employee.

Show Notes

Rachel Maddow Sees a Russia Connection Lurking Behind Every Corner 

Aaron Maté | April 12, 2017 | The Intercept

Why Are the Times, the Post, and MSNBC on a Conservative Hiring Spree?

Will Oremus | May 9, 2017 | Slate

Why Are Progressives Cheering Cable News’ Parade of Hawks and Liars?

Jeff Cohen | March 26, 2018 | FAIR

Journalist Speaks Truth to Employer, Demoted from "Contributor" to "Palestinian"

Nima Shirazi | July 23, 2014 | Wide Asleep in America

AMAZEBALLS: Rachel Maddow's Ignorance on Iran

Nima Shirazi | June 13, 2013 | Wide Asleep in America 

A Day In The Hype: In NBC Newspeak, 'Perception is Reality' & Propaganda is Truth

 Nima Shirazi | February 16, 2012 | Wide Asleep in America 

The Invisible Dead and "The Last Word": Lawrence O'Donnell 'Rewrites' the Occupation of Afghanistan

 Nima Shirazi | August 9, 2011 | Wide Asleep in America

References

'The Revolution Begins Here': MSNBC's First Broadcast, July 1996

Megan Garber | July 16, 2012 | The Atlantic

Why Cenk Uygur Left MSNBC

Cenk Uygur | July 20, 2011 | The Young Turks

Casualties of war in Gaza

Ronan Farrow Daily | July 21, 2014 | MSNBC

Rula Jebreal discusses the Gaza 'media war' 

All In with Chris Hayes | July 22, 2014 | MSNBC

Why Is a Nice Network Like MSNBC Silencing Protest Over Pro-Israeli Coverage? 

Leslie Savan | July 24, 2014 | The Nation

Transcript can be read here.

Files

Comments

Of course

Liberals are not leftists. Liberals are not even leftwing social democrats (e.g., Bernie Sanders). Liberalism is the default operational and ideological apparatus of capitalism. After the Hillary v Bernie & Blairites v Corbynites battles of the last few years, how can anyone confuse liberals & leftists or even reformist leftwing social democrats?

Bjorn L.

“MSNBC is by far the most influential mainstream media outlet on the American Left.“

Marc Mayerson

I think ViceNews on HBO weekdays is surprisingly excellent. I wonder who else watches it, but I wish more did.

Citations Needed

Not everyone on the left is a leftist (A term broadly used for communists, socialist, and/or anarchists and to distinguish them from liberals.) The "left" as we are defining it is anything left of center. We thought this was obvious but evidently not.

Of course

"The 'left' as we are defining it is anything left of center." Unsure what the center is supposed to be. And I'm not convinced that "left" and "center" should be used geometrically and spatially. The "left" has political content, I don't think amiable PR designations like "center" or "moderate" do. ... There is an idea - false in my estimation - that, since liberals claim to support freedom, fairness, democracy, justice, and equality, leftists are just exceptionally earnest, consistent liberals. By this Chomskyan reading, when MSNBC "fails" to take liberal values seriously and to their reasonable conclusions, they are guilty of cowardice, hypocrisy, partisanship, careerism, and even outright deception on behalf of powerful political-economic actors. But, of course, this narrative misunderstands liberalism, which is the ideological and operational apparatus of profiteering and private capital accumulation. That liberal commitment to capitalism necessitates war, police, surveillance, prisons, market-discipline, austerity for workers, etc. Asking what's "wrong" with MSNBC when they do not take leftists' concerns seriously is like asking why Hitler was such a lousy peace activist. And it's not "fair-to-all-sides false equivalence" that leads the NYTimes, WaPo, The Atlantic, MSNBC, etc to hire racists and sexists: liberals need racism and sexism to legitimize the exploitation, alienation, and disparities inherent to capitalism. Liberals by the tens of thousands didn't hesitate for one moment to adopt homophobic and transphobic memes to denounce the alleged Trump-Putin "collusion." Just as liberals have no problem laughing at the blue collar "rubes in the holler" who are losing their healthcare. At the end of the day, I guess the question for me is: who is this analysis for? If you think liberals are leftists who haven't moved along some path far enough, then I get your need to shame MSNBC celebrities and hasten along its viewers to take liberal commitments - like equality and democracy - seriously. If you think the left is actually a fundamental break with liberal's first-and-foremost commitment to capitalism (and all the policies and institutions capitalism requires), then I think we need to move on from criticizing liberal media for being... liberal.

Emma & Brian

well, thanks citations needed squad. umm i actually did think you were “criticizing liberal media for being ... liberal.” despite any galaxybrains response I enjoyed the episode very much thank you.

sensorsweep

Hayes' "behind the curtain" bit was soooo patronizing. "Gaza, infrastructure spending, sports coverage, or funny internet cat videos..."

Jasper

What about people that don't come asking what the hell is wrong? You make a good argument already. One angle could be who they hire/fire or have on.. Another is "fundamentals" of who owns it, decides what is on.. Plenty of articles on these things, but it can be hard to see the bigger picture and show it is not cherry picking, i am not sure where to start..