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MSNBC's primetime shows are failing us in a major way [1]

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Date: 2023-07-12

I used to love Rachel Maddow. Now, not so much — even if she remains one of the , if not the, smartest political commentators on TV. I generally really like Chris Hayes but his show has increasingly disappointed me of late. Same is true for Lawrence O’Donnell.

But the obsessive focus on Donald Trump now — two and a half years out of office — is grotesquely excessive and way, way beyond any journalistic value. Day after day, show after show, it seems like 50 — 75% off each show is devoted to the flood of legal developments related to one or the other of Trump’s many alleged crimes. I really don't think that’s much of an exaggeration, To the extent we hear about another topic in the limited time remaining in each show…. we are subjected to story after story of Desantis’s epic failures as a candidate so far and his declining poll numbers well before the first GOP debate and months before the first GOP presidential primary. And yet, Joe Biden’s name — and the Biden Administration in general — is barely mentioned, Joe Biden, you know, the incumbent President of the United States who, even allowing for plenty of room for criticism, has a pretty remarkable record of accomplishments — both foreign and domestic — in his two and a half years, especially given how narrow the Democratic Senate majority is, the radical, extremist Supreme Court, and how batshit nuts the House GOP is. Is it any wonder that most Americans don’t think the Biden Administration has accomplished much if their accomplishments are barely mentioned?

I blame MSNBC and its shows more for this than the other, non-conservative media outlets. First, because I don’t watch the CNN or other channels’ alternative political commentary shows so I can’t comment on what they are — or aren’t — covering regularly. And because the MSNBC lineup of course has a more unapologetically and transparent progressive political outlook, and thus can reasonably be expected to highlight some of the positive accomplishments of this Administration a little more regularly, To be clear,

I’m not asking for MSNBC to become a strident liberal version of Fox, with over the top coverage of the Administration’s wins and radio silence on its mistakes and any (REAL, not invented) scandals if they ever occur. But I would like to see some time — a lot more time — devoted to topics other than every single motion, and twist and turn and development and filing in Trump’s legal sagas, with daily checkins with legal speculation on Aileen’s Cannon and what she will or will not do, and when she will or will not do it. And what does this redacted document mean and what does it not mean.

I get that the many critical indictments of a former President is historic by definition and deserves plenty of coverage, especially given what a staggering threat that a reflected, unconvicted Trump remains to our democracy. But my god, the key facts about the indictments, and looming indictments, up to this point have been repeated over and over and over again on MSNBC in particular ad nauseam. Hell, both Chris Hayes and O’Donnell (I didn’t see Alex’s show) devoted some of their valuable airtime to covering a Fulton County DA walking through his explanation of what a grand jury’s role is to the Trump GA grand jury. Evern Hayes at one point described the footage as “banal” among other things. I would think that, barring any real, significant breaking news, perhaps one, maybe two stories toward the end of each week summarizing the week’s legal developments and updating where things stand would be more than sufficient until there is a new major development — we are still still months before the first trials actually start! Yes, I am deeply concerned about Aileen Cannon and the prospects of significant delays and if evidence shows that that is happening, MSNBC and all news orgs should shout that fact. But for now, the excessive focus on process is insane.

I’m glad that there was some coverage of the GOP / Hunter Biden ? Chinese spy informant fiasco yesterday… but it was pretty limited. This is what the GOP has been going ape shit about for years trying to damage the Biden Administration and an indicted Chinese spy is their trustworthy informant? This should hammered home repeatedly for several shows to try to get some blasting of this in mainstream media coverage — and the GOP should both be ruthlessly mocked, over and over again, and their patriotism blasted, over and over again.

More substantively, as far as I can recall, there has been virtually no coverage of the fact that House Republicans have completely reneged on budgetary limits established in the debt ceiling deal and are in the process of proposing and passing radically extreme cuts to federal agencies across the board, going back tor fiscal year 2022 levels — 30% or more cuts to some agencies (We just learned for example, that they propose to slash EPA’s funding by 39%…. to the lowest level since 1991.). To say nothing of the policies and programs they are targeting and trying to damage or wipe out.

As an environmental lobbyist in DC, I’m watching this firsthand every day, especially since the appropriations bills are being worked on right now, and suffice it to say, the odds of a government shutdown have escalated dramatically. Explicitly because House Republicans have broken their word — the GOP controlled Congress passed the debt ceiling bill after all. Apart from the political damage Republicans should get for this — that their word doesn’t mean shit, etc etc, — this is incredibly important stuff and MSNBC should be highlighting g a piece of this every single day starting now or pretty damn soon. Focus on a single department or agency — oeven just once or twice a week — and highlight exactly what those cuts would mean for families, and climate change, and foreign policy, etc, etc etc. And that a looming government shutdown will be the fault of the GOP. Period., That needs to be made abundantly clear. Joan McCarter has been the one DailyKos staffer who periodically writes on this — thank you, Joan. But much more needs to be done. Much more.

I’d also love to see some overviews occasionally of the Inflation Reduction. Act, for example, and specific examples of what that means in terms of historic investments in clean energy across the country. Or the CHIPS Act… I could go on… but you get the idea.

MSNBC needs to do better. Much, much better.

Thanks for making it through this mini-rant.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/12/2180830/-MSNBC-s-primetime-shows-are-failing-us-in-a-major-way

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