Has Melissa Harris-Perry, with one email, talked her way out of a tv journalism career?

[MadDAsHell]

I mean once you've outright admitted that you "played the race card" (I hate that phrase but she's basically admitting in her own words that that's what she did), will any network executive be willing to touch her with a 10-foot pole?

HR lesson one for journalists: If you're going to use racially charged buzzwords like "token" and "mammy" to allude to the idea that your network is racially discriminating against you, maybe wait a few days before backpedaling and saying the core issues have nothing to do with race or racial discrimination. When you backpedal 24 hours later, you look at best, like someone who has no filter or ability to control their emotions for the good of their own career, or at worst, a race-baiter.

What network in their right mind would hire someone who just openly admitted that she dropped allusions to racial discrimination into a conversation just for kicks?

She's normally one of the best and brightest minds on television, but she may have just committed career suicide, not just with MSNBC but with any network with an audience of notable size.

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. Oh, well.....

[seaotter]

2. Refreshing, is it not?

That's one for integrity . I will Miss Her. Good thing I still read. Her voice will sustain.

[brush]

34. I think it's called standing up for your principles.

Unlike Rachel Maddow, once the progressive darling, MHP took a stand when MCNBC shifted hard to the right and went Trump 24/7.

She's still a college professor.

[Hoyt]

3. I hope she is back somewhere, but not sure where. I assume she still has her college teaching job,

at least I hope so. Should make her an even more popular professor.

Good luck to her. Hope MSNBC takes a hard look at their lineup and place in the market.

[rurallib]

4. Given the paucity of liberal outlets

I would have guessed her chances at 0 no matter what she did.

[truebluegreen]

5. Sounds to me like she's Mad As Hell.

And I wasn't aware that any of the networks actually practiced journalism so there's that.

[MadDAsHell]

6. Touché on the network journalism comment. nt

[Journeyman]

10. Ah, yes. So true . . .

[PoiBoy]

13. +1,000,000

...so true...

[PufPuf23]

7. Probably will never have an establishment position in "journalism" again nt

[brush]

35. Principle was more important than her show being pre-empted constantly for 24/7 Trump coverage

Unlike Maddow who chose to stay.

[Iggo]

8. "Ex-MSNBC host" is starting to become a badge of honor.

@ MHP.

[okaawhatever]

9. I read her ENTIRE email, which only Medium.com has published in full and it doesn't have the

racial overtones that seem present by reading only the one paragraph. Apparently the disagreement has been going on for months since Andrew Lack became the new head of MSNBC news. It seems that her ratings were up higher than other shows since his arrival which is why I think they wanted to keep her and her audience, but force them to conform to a more CNN/Fox approach. I believe MSNBC had others co-host her show this month as a way of freezing her out, or forcing her to comply. The management at MSNBC also supposedly hasn't returned an email all month.

If they wanted to get rid of her the could have cancelled her show like they did to so many others. What seems clear from the information available is that her "I won't be a mammy or brown bobble head" was more like a "I won't be a yes ma'am whatever you say ma'am" broadcaster. I understood her position to be more of a "I won't be owned by the company store" rant than "they are doing this to me because I'm black" which she clearly disavowed.

Her comments do sound like playing the race card, but I used to compare my agreement to certain demands of HQ as corporate flatbacking. I didn't literally mean they were asking me to prostitute myself. I also believe that she may have had some sort of gag language in her contract. She didn't publish the email or respond publicly to any of this until she has her former producer publish the email on her behalf. Seems iike an odd strategy for someone with such a high public profile unless there were constraints on her speech.

Link:
https://medium.com/@JamilSmith/melissa-harris-perry-s-email-to-her-nerdland-staff-11292bdc27cb#.m4b03rtcb

[MadDAsHell]

11. Good analysis; her approach has been interesting to say the least. nt

[LiberalArkie]

28. That is the way I understood it also.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Brian Williams got a job, so yeah, they'll hire anybody with ratings. nt

[Matrosov]

14. Mammy = Yes! person

I didn't take her comments about not being a 'mammy' to mean MSNBC was singling her out as an African American. Rather she was saying that she is not a Yes! person that blindly agrees to everything she's told.

MHP deserved a certain amount of respect from MSNBC. She had a popular show and was one of the most well-known people on the network. She was an asset, one you don't just tell 'Do as you're told! Know your place!' However, it seems like MSNBC thought they could just boss people around without question. Yes, technically it's their channel but again I'd argue she deserved a certain amount of respect.

I would also argue race might not play a role in her firing but MSNBC certainly tried to use it to their advantage when they thought it might translate into ratings. One of the reasons MHP was so popular was that she was unapologetic about tackling the subject of racial discrimination, and she was willing to deeply examine matters of race that most everyone else on the news networks would barely touch.

MSNBC loved for MHP to talk about race before, now they want to go in a different direction and it was 'Shut up and do vanilla political coverage insead'

[MadDAsHell]

16. Not criticizing your view, but not buying the "mammy" excuse, especially with "token" thrown in.

I think she knew exactly what she was saying and what purpose she was saying it for.

[WillowTree]

24. Not to mention the "brown bobble head" reference.

[TheDormouse]

31. Maybe in another context, but not with "token" & "brown bobble-head"

Especially since she also mentioned that the change in the racial makeup of the network's on-air talent has not gone unnoticed.

"Mammy" was clearly meant to connote a very negative racialist concept.

As I posted in another thread, I would really like to hear MHP elaborate on what she meant when she used those terms and to hear her explain what has been going on at MSNBC that led her to feel that way. Hopefully, she will be able to explain it more clearly and forthrightly in time when emotions aren't so raw (and when whatever is going to play out with her contract and the future of her staff at the network has concluded).

[MowCowWhoHow III]

15. She might get a gig at TYT

[craigmatic]

17. She didn't commit career suicide. The networks have been purging the black hosts because

Obama is leaving office and they don't need black faces on the air anymore. It's doubtful she'll get another job on the network but that wasn't going to happen anyway. Sharpton is probably next.

[NWCorona]

18. I commend Melissa for having the strength to know her worth

[S_B_Jackson]

20. I think not....

more than anything, I think she engineered her firing to free her contractually to contribute elsewhere - perhaps BET might be a fit for her - and I can't think they'd be too concerned about her having "played the race card".

[monmouth4]

21. MHP has loads of class. MSNBC evidently doesn't...n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. There are but loads of coded racism

In the media. So yes, pretty much. More should by the way

[Warren Stupidity]

23. Oh fuck that. She stood up and said NO in a strong and clear voice.

Did you read what she had to say about her "career" at MSNBC? Perhaps this might help:

Dearest Nerds,
As you know by now, my name appears on the weekend schedule for MSNBC programming from South Carolina this Saturday and Sunday. I appreciate that many of you responded to this development with relief and enthusiasm. To know that you have missed working with me even a fraction of how much I’ve missed working with all of you is deeply moving. However, as of this morning, I do not have any intention of hosting this weekend. Because this is a decision that affects all of you, I wanted to take a moment to explain my reasoning.

Some unknown decision-maker, presumably Andy Lack or Phil Griffin, has added my name to this spreadsheet, but nothing has changed in the posture of the MSNBC leadership team toward me or toward our show. Putting me on air seems to be a decision being made solely to save face because there is a growing chorus of questions from our viewers about my notable absence from MSNBC coverage. Social media has noted the dramatic change in editorial tone and racial composition of MSNBC’s on-air coverage. In addition, Dylan Byers of CNN has made repeated inquiries with MSNBC’s leadership and with me about the show and what appears to be its cancellation. I have not responded to reporters or social media inquiries. However, I am not willing to appear on air in order to quell concerns about the disappearance of our show and our voice.

Here is the reality: our show was taken — without comment or discussion or notice — in the midst of an election season. After four years of building an audience, developing a brand, and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced. Now, MSNBC would like me to appear for four inconsequential hours to read news that they deem relevant without returning to our team any of the editorial control and authority that makes MHP Show distinctive.

The purpose of this decision seems to be to provide cover for MSNBC, not to provide voice for MHP Show. I will not be used as a tool for their purposes. I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by Lack, Griffin, or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back. I have wept more tears than I can count and I find this deeply painful, but I don’t want back on air at any cost. I am only willing to return when that return happens under certain terms.

Undoubtedly, television nurtures the egos of those of us who find ourselves in front of bright lights and big cameras. I am sure ego is informing my own pain in this moment, but there is a level of professional decency, respect, and communication that has been denied this show for years. And the utter insulting absurdity of the past few weeks exceeds anything I can countenance.

I have stayed in the same hotels where MSNBC has been broadcasting in Iowa, in New Hampshire, and in South Carolina, yet I have been shut out from coverage. I have a PhD in political science and have taught American voting and elections at some of the nation’s top universities for nearly two decades, yet I have been deemed less worthy to weigh in than relative novices and certified liars. I have hosted a weekly program on this network for four years and contributed to election coverage on this network for nearly eight years, but no one on the third floor has even returned an email, called me, or initiated or responded to any communication of any kind from me for nearly a month. It is profoundly hurtful to realize that I work for people who find my considerable expertise and editorial judgment valueless to the coverage they are creating.

While MSNBC may believe that I am worthless, I know better. I know who I am. I know why MHP Show is unique and valuable. I will not sell short myself or this show. I am not hungry for empty airtime. I care only about substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work. When we can do that, I will return — not a moment earlier. I am deeply sorry for the ways that this decision makes life harder for all of you. You mean more to me than you can imagine.
Yours always,
Melissa

https://medium.com/@JamilSmith/melissa-harris-perry-s-email-to-her-nerdland-staff-11292bdc27cb#.ny5p4a38h

Reducing this to "playing the race card" is pure victim blaming.

[MadDAsHell]

43. Um she's the one who admitted to playing the race card. What are you talking about?

She heavily implied to her colleagues in what was basically an open letter, that she was being moved out because of her skin color.

Within the same 24 hour period she said it had nothing to do with race.

So yes, as a black man I think I'm perfectly qualified to say that's either an admission of "playing the race card" for sympathy and to get the media to cover her, or she was explicitly lying in one of those statements.

Accusations of racial discrimination shouldn't just be thrown around because they can be.

[AngryAmish]

25. Just because she is not going to be Comcast's mammy does not mean her career is over.

She almost got lynched in Iowa. Hate knows no bounds.

[drray23]

26. I dont think so.

She pointed out the hypocrisy of the MSNBC management. She was not playing the race card, rather pointing out how she felt they were viewing her and using her. I think she was right on target with the assessment.

[MadDAsHell]

44. Then why did she also say within the same 24 hr period that it had nothing to do with race?

Either she was lying to her colleagues or she was lying in her public statements about MSNBC. And if she really felt MSNBC wasn't racist, why would she have protected them and retracted what she said in her email?

It doesn't smell right.

[islandmkl]

27. who the hell is a TV journalist these days?....I can think of one you can see every Sunday on CNN...

and one that the MSM barely gives airtime to...

Fareed and Amy...that's about it...

entertainment is the new journalism...ratings are the new expose....

[rogerashton]

29. Melissa has another career.

MSNBC needs her more than she needs MSNBC. Congrats, Melissa, on standing for something more important than the cameras.

[Skittles]

30. never, never call or email or tweet when angry

no indeed

[jberryhill]

32. Or post to DU

Like some people I know

[yuiyoshida]

38. oh gosh

You are in trouble now!!

[Skittles]

42. people using their real names

that's the clarification

[tularetom]

33. Good for her for telling them where to stick their network slot

But its disingenuous of her to claim she wasn't playing the oft referenced "race card". If you ever watched her show, 90% of it was a discussion of racial matters from a black perspective. Many times I turned it on to see four African American guests. Once I even heard a one hour discussion of black women's hair styles.

The show was obviously aimed at a very narrow audience. And thats fine, it just didn't happen to be my cup of tea. Or actually, very many other people's cup of tea either, since it ran at 5 am here on the west coast on weekends while most people were still asleep. If the network told her to target African American viewers and then dinged her for doing it, they deserve to be exposed for hypocrisy. But my impression is that she was given a lot of latitude in determining the direction of the show and she was the one who elected to narrow the focus to include a small percentage of the overall audience.

[TheDormouse]

36. "obviously aimed at a very narrow audience"?

I didn't watch her show, so I can't speak from personal experience about it.
But I have to wonder about the assumptions that go into saying that it was aimed at a very narrow audience. Why assume that the audience interested in hearing about issues of racial justice and gender equality is very narrow?

And consider for a moment that if a panel of guests discuss (white women's) hairstyles for an hour, it's just a panel of guests discussing hairstyles; but when a panel discusses black women's hairstyles for an hour, then it becomes a 'discussion aimed at a very narrow audience.' Isn't that kind of myopia exactly what MHP was trying to raise awareness about with her show in general?

[tularetom]

39. I don't know about you

But I'm not the kind of TV viewer that would get up at 5 in the morning to watch people talk for an hour about any kind of women's hairstyle. And even if I was I would not expect it on a network that claimed to be "the place for politics".

[TheDormouse]

40. lots of viewers have DVRs, etc; & "the place for politics" also shows Prison Pron nt

[tularetom]

41. They can call it whatever they want, if they talk about women hairstyles or show dumbass prison show

I will not be watching.

In fact, I no longer have the option of watching MSNBC at all since I pulled the plug on my satellite provider in April 2015.

They can have Donald Trump on 24 hours a day, I don't care.

[yuiyoshida]

37. I applaud her for taking a stance!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

45. The average person's introduction to her was.....

.....bawling about Mitt Romney's black adopted grandchild after someone made a joke on her show, her random freak out on the semantics of the term "hard work" and some weird rant about Darth Vader being black and bad until he took his helmet off and became white and good which all went viral and were laughed at. All these sideshow antics failed to move the ratings needle, so she immolated herself and exited stage right with as much bluster as possible.

I, for one, won't particularly miss her. I think she's a horrible voice for her cause, which as far as I can tell, is all about Melissa Harris Lacewell Perry.