The Anatomy of MSNBC
More than any other media outlet, MSNBC embodies the politics and sensibility of Trump-era liberalism. But the network that many call the “liberal Fox News” wasn’t always liberal.
MSNBC president Phil Griffin, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Chris Matthews speak during an MSNBC panel on August 2, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)
During the Obama era, MSNBC emerged as a liberal challenger to Fox News, in some ways succeeding where earlier efforts to duplicate the reach of right-wing media had failed. But the history and politics of the network are more complicated than those who first became aware of it during the mid-2000s probably realize.
These themes and others were explored by writer and media critic Michael Arria in his 2014 book Medium Blue: The Politics of MSNBC, a study that has arguably become more prescient since its publication thanks to the network’s prominent role in shaping liberal discourse in the Trump era. Jacobin’s Luke Savage spoke to Arria — who is currently the US correspondent for Mondoweiss — about his research, the book’s themes, and what the history of MSNBC has to teach us about American liberalism.
Luke Savage
Medium Blue opens by recalling the first scene from Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, in which the show’s main character — portrayed by Jeff Daniels — delivers a long-winded soliloquy about the state of America. I’m sure most people will be familiar with it. Why did you choose this particular anecdote to begin a book about MSNBC?
Michael Arria
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