Lesley Stahl interviewing Rachel Maddow:
LESLEY: Everybody they hire to anchor their shows is distinctly liberal and encouraged to express themselves that way, wouldn’t you say?
RACHEL: At MSNBC?
LESLEY: Yes.
RACHEL: Well, I wouldn’t call David Shuster a liberal. I would barely call Chris Matthews a liberal. He voted for Bush. And I certainly wouldn’t call Joe Scarborough a liberal.
LESLEY: Chris Matthews is a liberal.
RACHEL: Well, Chris Matthews is a Democrat.
LESLEY: He’s a liberal.
RACHEL: Chris Matthews – well, you could interview him about it and find out. If Chris Matthews had an Air America radio show, he’d get torn apart by our listeners.
I actively watch MSNBC for roughly three hours a day, give or take. I have it on in the background from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on most days. The notion that it's somehow the liberal network is absolutely ridiculous. In thumbnail form, it breaks down like so:
Conservative: 3 hours (Scarborough)
Liberal: 2 hours (Olbermann & Maddow)
Standard Inside-Washington BBQ: The rest of the time.
MSNBC, save for two hours a day, is all about the sport called "politics." If there's a visible preference for one side or the other during a standard daypart, that preference is based upon who's winning the scrum and not which side has the better ideas/policies.