Watch This Space

Daytime “lefties” at MSNBC: Katie Tur, Andrea Mitchell and Chris Jansing on the beat, at the news desk during live coverage of the “hush money trial,” May 16. Screenshot by author. Video still courtesy MSNBC.

A recent New York Times “expose” of MSNBC raises questions…not about MSNBC.

If you subscribe to the world of ‘newsies,’ the print world of news, don’t be shy to show your age: we have entered the competitive jungle of news gathering and reporting, the digital/social media circus. Where twenty something voters go to see what’s happening in the world on Tik Tok. Where big pharma hawks a stream of resilient age-mitigating miracles on daytime cable.

Where partisan political positioning is reported — like it or not — now less than six months before the 2024 election.

Where, the New York Times reported on May 15, the following from a prominent front-page position:

“How MSNBC’S Leftward Tilt Delivers Ratings and Complications” (1)

Question: What precisely is a “leftward tilt?”

Let’s read on:

“NBC’s leaders have been forced to grapple with how to square its cable news network’s embrace of progressive politics with the company’s straight news operation.

“MSNBC placed a big bet on becoming comfort TV for liberals. Then it doubled down.

“Time slots on the cable network once devoted to news programming are now occupied by Trump-bashing opinion hosts. The channel has become a landing spot for high-profile alumni of President…