I see so many complaints about MSNBC - why do you watch that Network?

[CajunBlazer]

There are posts every day about why people despise MSNBC personalities or at least what they say or do on the air. If it is that bad, why do you continue to watch? And if you continue to watch, why do you complain about what you are obviously choosing to watch?

On the surface at least that behavior doesn't seem to make sense. There must be something going on that isn't obvious.

[femmocrat]

1. I ask myself that every day! LOL

Because CNN and Fox are worse?

[CajunBlazer]

4. FOX may be worse - I don't watch it either

But given what I have read on DU, CNN is a lot better. The only complaints I have seen about CNN are about Trump surrogates, but they are balanced out by Clinton surrogates who are every bit as effective, and, to my prejudiced eyes and ears, far more effective than their opponents.

The CNN hosts and political analysis at least try to not take sides except when something is obvious, which with Trump happens often enough. If I had to guess, I would say that the vast majority of them will be voting for Hillary.

So again, why do you continue to watch MSNBC - habit?

[femmocrat]

5. I like some of the MSNBC hosts.

Especially Joy Reid. I wish she was on every day. I like Craig Melvin too. And Katy Tur!

I actually flip back and forth between CNN and MSNBC during the day, and watch MSNBC at night: Chris H., Rachel, and Lawrence.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

9. Check out Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon

Those two I think you would especially like.

[CajunBlazer]

13. I have to agree About Cuomo and Lemon

Especially Cuomo. You can tell he is a lawyer. He pushes back hard on bullshit and right now most of the bullshit is coming from the Trump side. There have been a couple of incidents lately where I'll bet Rudy Giuliani regrets having squared off against Cuomo. You can sense the good vibes with his co-host Alisyn Camerota.

I also like Anderson Cooper.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

8. CNN is the best news network by far

They have the best hosts. The only host that I don't like is Wolf Blitzer. They are actually very balanced and they don't let people lie for the most part. CNN has horrible Trump surrogates but they also have Ana Navarro who lambastes Trump and his surrogates with style and there are some good Clinton surrogates.

The morning shows and primetime shows on CNN are great.

[CajunBlazer]

14. Agree completely

[beachbumbob]

2. 10% of time they say something negative about trump....

[upaloopa]

3. What is talked about from day to day changes from support of progressive

candidates and issues to opposing them. I would say it is 60/40 support to not.

It is that 60% which is the reason I watch and it is the 40% I complain about. Usually the 40% is untruthful or stretches the truth like today's morning Joe and his rants about the emails and how sleazy the Clintons are.

[sarae]

36. That describes me, too.

When it gets too bad, I switch off MSNBC. But in general, I enjoy it.

And sometimes I actually like complaining, and hearing others complain, about shows. It's fun. I don't think that's something to feel bad about. People who don't want to see Morning Joe complaint threads don't need to click on them, either.

[kstewart33]

6. I don't want MSNBC to be the Fox News for the left.

I want balance in news reporting, not a propaganda network. The MSNBC campaign correspondents are top notch.

The left leaning opinion shows (Hayes, Rachel, Lawrence, Joy) are top notch as well.

[Panich52]

7. Primetime shows still tops. Problem is MorningJoe and

fact that corporations aren't known f/ their liberalism. Management dumped all favorites from afternoon shows. Joy Reid relegated to weekend mornings, but now has 2 hrs each Sat & Sun. But they had good sense to keep Haye's, Maddow & O'Donnell.

[CajunBlazer]

15. Then I would switch over to the New Day with Chris Cuomo on CNN in the morning

[Panich52]

19. May give it a try. Used to like AlJazeera in morn.

[Fahrenthold451]

10. Lawrence gets all proud about how smart he is, Chris Hayes is just a hopeless geek and

Rachel busts out the newsreel from 1974. All very predictable. I'm trying to quit. I am.

[Cha]

11. K&R

[lovemydog]

12. k & r

[NCTraveler]

16. I don't watch it. I actually got rid of cable. It has been a very positive experience.

I can no longer support the cable news or tv industry in its current state.

[jzodda]

17. I don't mind msnbc

I especially like Maddow. The others are ok. I dont have as big a problem with them. Mourning Joe is the worst. Chris Matthews can also get on my nerves.

When I get tired if our news networks I go outside the box and watch Al jazerra English. I find that they are a quality news network. I also like the BBC. I will even watch RT at times when they are not openly spreading Putin propaganda.

But by far I get my political news online. Politico, real clear, media matters and this site are by far my favs. Mediate also but I get into fights with trumpsterz in the comments.

[DesertFlower]

30. i don't watch "morning joe". he comes on

at 3am here. i'm a late sleeper. never up before 10am. i usually start my day with "the view".

[Caliman73]

18. I stopped watching some time ago

I used to watch Rachel Maddow all the time. We even recorded shows to watch. I really like Rachel but she tends to be repetitive in her coverage. I still think that she is one of the better (smarter, more prepared, consistent) hosts on the channel, but I kind of got burned out.

I think that I started to drift away a bit when they fired Keith Olbermann. I know that people love him or hate him, but I liked his delivery and his fire. I like Joy Reid as well, but I do not believe that she has her own show and mainly guest hosts or is a guest on others' shows.

I think that what some people continue to return for is the promise that MSNBC once held. It was an alternative to Fox and had a more liberal slant. I think that it has lost that aspect but at times there are good things coming out which draws people back in, only to be disappointed again later. Like a gambling addiction. You know that you probably aren't going to win, but you just might & the next time could be the big one.

[treestar]

20. Because of fear they are influencing a lot of voters

The media is seen as driving "the narrative" and these people are deemed powerful in some minds.

[CajunBlazer]

23. Let me see, the watch MSNBC because they are afaid they are influencing viewers?

FOX News influences voters all of the time - do they watch FOX for the same reason?

[treestar]

38. some do

there are threads on DU about the outrageous stuff people have said on Faux.

But also there is an expectation that MSNBC be liberal, maybe it once was. So there is not just Faux and that liberals have a channel too. So when people on MSNBC are saying things that help the right, that makes it that they are going the way of Faux and there is no channel for the left.

[Dem2]

21. It's kind of funny, isn't it?

Oh, the drama!

[Adrahil]

22. I face-palm about 4-5 times a day.

I keep it on in the background as I work. So many derps-a-day, especially from "journalist" Andrea Mitchell. But I do like some of the commentators/hosts, and what else can I watch? I will not watch CNN since they are paying Corey Lewandowski, who is also a paid Trump operative. That's too much.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

24. I complain about it sometimes, but I also rarely watch it.

I almost never watch Tweety and his propensity for rudely talking over guests. I almost never watch Rachel Maddow and her propensity to absurdly "milk" a topic. Morning Joe flat-out sucks, but I don't mind reading about recent nuttiness on DU.

I have watched them in the past, just like I've heard Limbaugh and Hannity before and join in complaints about them.

It seems kind of unfair that the so-called "liberal" MSNBC is disappointing in many ways, so that might explain people posting lots of complaints about it.

EDIT: I haven't created threads about MSNBC, however, because I don't watch it enough anyway.

[Jamaal510]

25. I wasn't happy

that they moved Rev Al's show to a bad time slot, and that they cut Alex Wagner, MHP, and The Cycle while keeping Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, and the Lock Up show. At least it freed up some time for me to watch other things on TV or do something else. I still watch MSNBC, but not religiously like I used to.

[dofus]

26. I don't have a TV.

And I don't watch ANY mainstream media.

I will say that for several years I watched Rachel on the internet, but then she stopped being, at least for me, relevant. So I stopped watching her. Sometimes I click on a link to her show,

Here's the best part: I honestly think I'm much better informed WITHOUT watching any main stream media. I wake up to Amy Goodman. That same radio station also gives me the BBC. I read a lot of stuff on line. I also read. Books, as weird as that may be. Much of what I read isn't necessarily topical, but I have a larger connection to very many things. In all honesty, I'm probably better informed about things than most people.

[chillfactor]

27. I watch MSNBC

especially the evening crew....I complain about CNN much more except for Don Lemon....I catch his show on its rerun....

[chillfactor]

29. PS....

and I LOVE Joy Reid on the weekends!

[DesertFlower]

28. i like MSNBC.

[Raine]

31. I like MSNBC, that's why I watch it. nt

[lillypaddle]

32. Lately DUers have been talking up CNN as an alternative

but this last week, there have been plenty of complaints about them, too. Who else are we going to watch if we're looking for news and election coverage? I switch back and forth between MSNBC and CNN. I'm certainly not going to watch Faux unless I'm looking to be entertained in a pissed off kind of way.

[Awsi Dooger]

34. Maddow drags down the network

Her show should be a half hour, if not a 15 minute filler. Nothing would be sacrificed.

As a gambler I'd estimate there have been at least 200 times over the years she has touted something in the typical smug fashion with all the waving hands and arrogant tone, but with zero comprehension regarding true probability. I always wish she made the betting lines. For example, when she touted South Carolina as a possible Hillary pickup a few weeks ago. Only a supreme knucklehead would take that route.

I love overboard style when it attaches to rare insight. Johnny Miller is very controversial on the golf message boards. Many posters hate him on the NBC telecasts. But he is exactly the opposite of Rachel Maddow. Miller is the best I've ever seen of a non-gambler who has a perfect feel of actual odds. When he estimates, for example, that a golfer has a 3 in 10 chance of getting up and down from a greenside predicament, it is almost always what the actual betting line would be. It is uncanny. My golf betting friends and I are amazed. Maddow must be on the air to balance Miller. Combined they average 50/50.

I appreciate Chris Hayes and Lawrence O'Donnell because they occasionally isolate something that was overlooked as the most important statement or variable of a speech or debate.

Matthews, you just don't know. I'm convinced he doesn't know himself. He's the only host I've ever seen where it seems like the same show with the same guests and topics could head in a hundred different directions depending on Matthew's mood of the day. But when he's on, Matthews can do more with one sentence or question than anybody else. It's like John McEnroe ending a rally with one flash of brilliance while it took Borg a dozen topspin shots off both sides to wear him down.

CNN has superior hosts and some great regular guests but their GOP surrogates this cycle are unbearable bordering on embarrassing. Years ago there would be excellent content from guys like Ed Rollins, even if I disagreed with them on every issue.

[sarae]

35. I watch MSNBC because I like the primetime shows.

I think they're much better than CNN in the evenings. Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and Lawrence O'Donnell are all great, IMO.

The mornings are completely different – Morning Joe are insufferable. But I like to hate-watch them when Clinton is doing well because it's fun to watch them squirm.

I enjoy hearing what others have to say about it, and I enjoy complaining about it. It's a way to let off steam. It may not be logical behavior to some people, but there it is.

There seems to be a thread about the show every morning, and every morning there are people who post asking why we watch it. It goes both ways – if one doesn't like hearing people talk about MSNBC, then don't read the threads about MSNBC.

[cwydro]

37. I've wondered this also.

Every single day here on DU, there's an outraged post about Morning Joe.

Funny, yet inexplicable.