If Willie Geist and Dylan Ratigan have their own shows, why doesn't Tamron Hall?

[Empowerer]

She's outstanding - smart, entertaining and doesn't take no guff from anybody, yet she lacks the stridency and self-important attitude of many of the other cable talk show hosts.

[Jennicut]

1. I like her way better then Geist or Ratigan. I think she is not strident enough for the big bosses

though.

[stray cat]

2. why are the unemployed unemployed?

[xultar]

21. When you see a thread that isn't to you liking why not walk on by?

I don't get this shit on a thread mentality.

People are different. They talk about different things and they can't be hemmed up in misery all day. There must be a break in misery or we'd all commit suicide.

So if you want to only talk about serious shit, hide the threads you deem unimportant and move on.

[bigdarryl]

3. No shit I rather look at her fine ass than them two thats for sure

[Perky]

4. ?????

Yeah ok ...but she is sitting in a chair so how would you.....oh never mind

[uponit7771]

9. "ass" was not meant literal ass...her fine self....never mind

[dionysus]

6. i think you may need to go to Making Sensible Statements 101.

:rofl:

[DevonRex]

13. ...

I managed to decipher it, I think. But then, maybe not. :shrug:

[dionysus]

29. it's like going into a restraurant and declaring "HEY YOU GOT A SWEET ASS!111!"

how uncouth :D

[DevonRex]

31. Now I have this picture of him pinching a waitress's buttocks, too!

Thanks. :spank:

[dionysus]

32. I might have to send Wadsworth on a road trip for a lecture on ettiquette.

[DevonRex]

33. That'll have him shaking right down to his toes. Nobody can withstand

a lecture on etiquette from Wadsworth and not tremble at the very thought. Grammar and spelling might be in order, as well, but you may not be able to spare him that long. He might judge the endeavor to be hopeless in any case.

:hi:

[dionysus]

35. would anyone want to give the old chap a load of guff?

[DevonRex]

36. Certainly not I. Learnt my lesson at the age of 6 I believe.

And still wouldn't dare. :rofl:

[dionysus]

39. as a lad, i wasn't allowed to play with my gold bullion until Wadsworth knew i had finished reading

my daily assignment of Chaucer.

:P

[DevonRex]

42. Obviously he made you read your

mythology, too. ;)

[dionysus]

43. a little bit of Gilgamesh every day before golf lessons. ah the memories...

:silly:

[DevonRex]

44. I guess that explains your fondness for bulls.

Or you could just like to make me google things.

[dionysus]

45. silly, that's what staff is for!

:)

[DevonRex]

47. It's her evening off.

She actually has a date with the footman. These things never work out. Really, I should have my head examined. Next thing you know I'll have to take him along when I travel. As if I don't have enough of an entourage as it is. I should give her a list of acceptable suitors.

[uponit7771]

7. +1

[DevonRex]

10. Oh dear. You might want to rephrase that to something that's not so

blatantly... Nevermind. If you could make that statement then nothing I could say would make you understand.

[activa8tr]

38. RIGHT ! Nevermind! we see enough asses on TV as it is.

I think we see asses when we look at their white male faces.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

5. Yeah she is great

I wonder why she doesnt either. I think it looks really bad for MSNBC to have their entire lineup be devoid of people of color.

[flamingdem]

8. She doesn't seem as critically informed as the others

I like her tone but sometimes she seems more like a news reader than experienced journalist.

Maybe she just has that bland style to seem less threatening. What is her background?

[Empowerer]

15. She's no less "critically informed" than Ratigan or Geist - in fact, she's miles ahead of them

Of course, it seems that a black journalist has to be a combination of Ed Bradley and Neil DeGrasse Tyson before they can get a shot at their own television show while white guys who aren't even journalists are given their own shows if they can just manage to sit up straight in their chairs and look into the right camera . . .

[dkf]

17. Yup she seems very news readerish to me too.

I don't think I've ever sat up in my chair and been amazed by some point of illumination. Of course I've never gotten that from Willie either but I have from Dylan Keith and Rachel. Big Ed not so much. Tweety yes. David Gregory is the worst though. He sucks.

[Empowerer]

34. Maybe that's because she IS a "news reader." She's an anchor, not a commentator

She's not SUPPOSED to make you sit up in amazement at her insight and brilliance because, unlike most of the so-called "journalists" on these shows, she's not there to shove her every waking thought, opinion and pet peeve into our faces.

[DevonRex]

11. I like her. nt

[vaberella]

12. There are no Black anchors with their own show on any CABLE network.

Actually maybe CNN, but I thought that show was canceled.

[Jennicut]

14. And that is sad.

[Empowerer]

16. Yes, it's pathetic - absolutely no excuse for it.

Especially given how they seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel to find white guys to give shows to.

[Jennicut]

18. LOL. I wonder why Wolf Blitzer STILL has a show.

[PatSeg]

24. I've often wondered that myself

He's is so boring and painful to listen to. I haven't watched CNN in ages and I will never watch Blitzer.

[vaberella]

22. Just gives you an idea of the racial and sexist aspect of things.

Women anchors with their own show is few and very far between. I believe only MSNBC has more than one, I know they have 3.

[Yavin4]

19. Because She'll Have Less Time for Our Relationship. We're Engaged.

I just need to tell her about it.

[brentspeak]

20. Dylan Ratigan is one of the best commentators out there, period

I haven't watched any Willie Geist, so I can't speak in regards to him. But you make it sound like Ratigan shouldn't have his own show.

[Empowerer]

23. He's a commentator, but I hardly think he's the best out there

I think he's a one-note, rude blowhard who is more interesting in commentating than in illuminating and who uses his guests as mere foils and props for him to just talk more about what HE thinks. It doesn't take any talent or insight to sit on a stool in a television studio and rant for an hour a day. I can't stand to watch him and turn him off whenever he comes on. I even turn off his commercials.

We don't need more "commentators" on television - I'm sick of getting yelled at hour after hour by people, even those I agree with. We do need more good interviewers and people who can gather and present information that informs and enlightens and, yes, occasionally entertains.

I have no doubt that it, for some weird reason, the MSNBC prime time lineup consisted solely of four black men and one black women, NO ONE would be arguing that they were the best hands-down and there was no need to provide any other perspectives. It would be understood that this lack of diversity was problematic and needed to be addressed right away. Yet, for some reason, when all-white tableaux are presented - whether in television news, politics, entertainment or elsewhere in our society - the presumption is that these are the most qualified people for the positions they are in and racial diversification would mean a diminution of the quality and talent inherent in the status quo.

So, whatever we may think of Dylan Ratigan - and we obviously disagree about him - my point stands: If he can have his own show, there is no good reason why an intelligent, eloquent, female African-American journalist should not be given a shot at having her own, as well.

[Uzybone]

25. you nailed it, not bombastic enough or full of puffery

[Empowerer]

26. And she doesn't spend hour after hour telling us HER opinion or demanding that public officials do

what SHE thinks they should do.

The "I, I, I, I, I" obsession with the MSNBC program hosts is nauseating.

[CBR]

27. +1 nt

[Uzybone]

28. Ratigan is the worst, his "I can fix it" week was nauseating

any fool who thinks he can solve Americas myriad issues on his 1 hr cable yackfest is a madman IMO.

[Empowerer]

30. I agree. He is a joke but because he shares some of the same beliefs of some progressives

they think he's just swell. In reality, he does absolutely nothing for our cause since the only people who listen to him are those who already agree with him - and even many of them, including me, can't stand him.

[activa8tr]

37. The answer should be obvious...there's a race and gender thing

happening there.

How many women have their own show on MSNBC? Two?

How many blacks? ZERO?

[Vinca]

40. I'm still wondering where David Shuster is. I can't even remember what he did

that got him the bum's rush out the door.

[blogslut]

41. I would vote for that

I love her. She's strong, smart and manages to cut through the crap without being mean-spirited.

[Unsane]

46. she isnt that opinionated

[Empowerer]

48. Is being opinionated a requirement for hosting a news talk show these days?

I could certainly use a lot fewer opinionated hosts. It would be nice, for a change, to have a host actually present information without yelling at us, demanding that people think, do and say what THEY want them to.

[Unsane]

49. isnt this what she already does for like 4 hrs a day?

why does she need a separate show to do this?

[Empowerer]

50. Not at all

She's an anchor who is on a couple of hours a day. This is very different than having her own show.

But one of the reasons I suggest her for a show is that one of the excuses that we often hear for why blacks aren't hired as hosts is that they either lack journalistic or on-air experience or that they don't have a following. Many of the white folk who have their own shows got their start as anchors and reporters during the day. She's proving herself every day, so why shouldn't she be given the same opportunity that Samantha Guthrie and Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell and others have been given?

[jenmito]

51. She has a new promo up about her being on at 11am and 2pm every day...

and I'm glad. But it (her show) doesn't have a name.

[Empowerer]

52. I hope they're paving the way for her own show . . .

[jenmito]

54. She's the only one who has a promo for her show that doesn't have a name.

It looks like they're testing it out. Maybe they'll give her show a name soon if ratings are high.

[Empowerer]

55. At least they're promoting her

Last year, they gave Carlos Watson a show at 11:00 a.m. - and then for some bizarre reason, didn't promote his show at all. In fact, he was the ONLY show host whose picture did not appear in their promo photo montage. It was pretty outrageous. He only lasted a couple of months - go figure.

[jenmito]

57. Exactly...

and I remember Carlos Watson's show. He just disappeared one day, it seems. His show wasn't on and there was no mention of why.

[HipChick]

53. Because she is black?MSNBC line up is notably absence

of non-whites...since Carlos Watson

[Empowerer]

56. And they dissed Carlos Watson shamelessly

Behaved as if they were embarrassed that he had a show on their network.

[LatteLibertine]

58. I'd love to see Tamron

with an evening commentary show. Just replace a rerun.

I'm hearing she's being groomed to take a major role in the Today Show, though.

[falcon97]

59. She's not very good.

Tamron Hall seems to have no more than note card knowledge on any topic. She struggles with interviews and commentary without having them pre formed.

But the question was if Geist and Ratigan hsve their own shows, why doesn't Hall? There is no good answer to that as neither Geist nor Ratigan are not good either. MSNBC is unwatchable until 6 p.m., except the WH correspondents' show.

IMHO.

[Empowerer]

60. I don't agree that she's not good, but agree with the rest of your point

And even if she weren't very good, we're not exactly looking at a network of Walter Cronkites. She's no worse or less knowledgeable than any of the other hosts. It's easy to appear knowledgeable when you only have to prepare to discuss a couple of topics for just an hour a day - especially when you have your own producers, writers, researchers, bookers, etc. focusing only on you.

I'll bet that Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews or even Rachel Maddow would be less incisive and knowledgeable and more "notecard" dependent if, instead of having all day and a full cadre of staff to work on one hour a day of programming, they were slipped into two separate one hour slots in the middle of the day covering a dozen disparate stories.

But that being said, given the ridiculously low standards MSNBC has shown when it comes to giving shows to white men, they would be hard pressed to start demanding that a black woman be a journalistic prodigy before getting a show.