The Media

The Way Things Work at MSNBC

Sadly, my friend Cenk Uygur is parting ways with MSNBC, and for all of the reasons we've discussed here over the years.

I've long hypothesized that the content at MSNBC is controlled by a small clique of "very serious" Washington insiders and cable news executives who decide what goes on the air -- ratings are entirely irrelevant anymore. I can't highlight that enough.

Ratings mean nothing. The personal reputations of the members of those cliques (specifically Phil Griffin in this case) mean everything. This is why Chris Matthews, the host of the lowest rated show on cable news, gets to earn more than $5 million a year and occupy not one but two hours of air time every evening and why someone like Cenk gets nitpicked to death because of "tone".

Here's Cenk to explain:

(via Chez)