Over the past two years, MSNBC has proven to be an unfriendly place for Black female anchors.
This time last year, we witnessed the ugly public split between the network and Melissa Harris-Perry.
After nearly four years as the face of weekend morning news working diligently to invite diverse voices to the table, Harris-Perry parted ways with the network, saying her show had in effect been taken from her, ”without comment or discussion or notice."
”After four years of building an audience, developing a brand and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced," she wrote in an email to colleagues that later went public.
An NBC News spokesman responded to news of the email with surprise, confusion and a feeling of disappointment. All of which proved tone-deaf to Harris-Perry's central grievance: she felt ”worthless" on her own show.
Shortly thereafter, Joy-Ann Reid's Am Joy replaced Harris-Perry. Critics skeptical about NBC's handling of Harris-Perry were surprisingly mum about the transition since Reid, a Black woman, replaced another Black woman. However just months before Reid started her new weekend gig, she was booted from her mid-afternoon post on The Reid Report on, you guessed it, MSNBC.
Unlike Harris-Perry, Reid's show cancellation was swift and quiet. Her return was well received and apparently satisfied the big-wigs who continue to support Reid's program almost a year later. Luckily for Reid, she remains a part of the MSNBC News roster. She and Sheinelle Jones are currently the only Black female anchors at the MSNBC.
All the more reason Tamron Hall's departure is significant––not just because there is a suspicious pattern of sidelining Black female anchors, but because there is a broader issue about representation.
In a 2014 interview with Essence soon after Hall landed her position as a Today Show anchor, she recounted the moment she knew she would pursue a career in journalism. Her late father turned on the television and pointed to Iola Johnson––the first African-American news anchor to work for a Dallas television station––looked at his daughter and said, ”That could be you."
