Keith Olbermann Is Wrong, MSNBC Has A Diversity Problem
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Last night Olbermann tried to defend 
MSNBC against charges that its lineup wasn’t diverse enough.
The people he cited are great, but that doesn’t excuse the problem.
From a July 2008 study done by Media Matters (where I work).
In total, 67 percent of the guests on these cable programs were men, while 84 percent were white.
MSNBC showed the greatest gender imbalance, with 70 percent of its guests being male. CNN and Fox News were not far behind; each of those networks featured 65 percent male guests.
Fox News was the whitest network, with 88 percent white guests. CNN and MSNBC were close behind, with both featuring 83 percent white guests.
Latinos were particularly underrepresented. Though they now comprise 15 percent of the American population, they made up only 2.7 percent of cable news guests. The worst of the three networks on this score was MSNBC, which featured only six Latino guests out of 460 prime-time appearances during the entire month.A number of ethnic groups were shut out entirely, or nearly so, on some networks. During the month of May, Fox News and MSNBC each featured a single Asian-American guest. Across the three cable networks, there were only four appearances by guests of Middle Eastern descent, two on Fox and two on CNN. There was not a single appearance by a Native American during the entire month.
Though white men make up only 32 percent of the population, they made up 57 percent of the guests on prime-time cable during this period. Every prime-time cable news host is white, and all but two — Greta Van Susteren of Fox News and Campbell Brown of CNN — are men.
Even with the addition of Rachel Maddow to that lineup, still male and white.
22 Responses to “Keith Olbermann Is Wrong, MSNBC Has A Diversity Problem”
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The views on this site are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect the views of my employer, Media Matters for America
© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Wow! Those are some interesting statistics! Who’d'a thunk white males make up only 32% of the population! Certainly is a new way of looking at the crazy-quilt patchwork that is American, huh? Nevertheless, regardless if the KO show doesn’t have the kind of “diversity” sought after by the author of this piece, at least he’s still the guy I prefer to listen to when I lock myself into the echo chamber that is Cable News. His heart’s in the right place even tho the diversity of is guests may not be…!
“All but two” Is Maddow’s air time not considered primetime?
Ya know what other network needs more diversity?
BET.
Here’s the truth: White people are statistically just more interested and involved in politics than most. Kinda like the show Jeopardy.
It’s not some sort of racist conspiracy. It’s just…the way things are. The NBA is mostly black. Any cries for more diversity there? No. Should there be? No. Why? Black kids statistically have more of an interest in that sport than everyone else.
I don’t expect collectivists to understand or agree with my point however. You’d have to look at people as individuals instead of members of a group that need to be represented in some way.
Such childish behavior.
Well, I’m pretty sure there’s a built in market for “Markos and Pals” (to replace Hardball, or maybe Morning Joe), but I suspect there would be criticism of a different sort if MSNBC went in that direction. Plenty of people of color I can think of who could pull off a show, let alone an appearance, but I think there does tend to be a stock pull list, for Olbermann, for example:
Howard Feinman
Richard Wolfe
Jonathan Turley
Markos Moulitsas
etc.
What they need to do is rotate some more diversity into that lineup, but I think the quickest way to get that done is probably to replace JoeScar or Tweety with a solid “diversity pick”. Keli Goff comes across well and seems to know her stuff.
Interesting the way you count the GUESTS to determine diversity, rather than the hosts, who are all vanilla.
Frank, there’s just no pleasing you. Do you not know how to respond when Oliver criticizes someone on the left?
“Oliver… oooh, he’s ALWAYS wrong. And Olbermann, don’t even get me started on Olbermann!… waitaminute… If Oliver is criticizing Olbermann… umm… *system overload*….”
I hear your fuses popping and your circuits frying all the way through the intertubes, Frank.
MediaMatters considers Maddow to be a dude.
My field (painting) has had a diversity problem, too. When I got a federal grant some graduate student sent me a form, wanting to know my ethnicity, the implication being that greater diversity was needed in the dispositon of public funds. I filled out the form (checking white, male) and wrote back that the ethnic breakdown of the APPLICANTS should be considered, too, not just their proportions in the total population. White, male artists then were probably 10:2 or 10:3 in their ratio to other groups, including women.
Of course, talk show hosts aren’t selected from a group of applicants, but I would bet that that highly qualified hosts from underrepresented groups don’t grow on trees. MSNBC should be urged to keep scouring the countryside, but if they’re half as enlightened as their hosts they probably are already. Schultz, Olberman, and Maddow are all remarkable to keep up the gruelling, demanding pace, and the minority talents I can think of probably wouldn’t want the jobs.
However, if you can find someone other than another white male to replace him, I say lose Matthews.
mambo, I have taken graduate courses in diversity counseling , and diversity workshops while on the job.
No one measures diversity by the population you serve, without taking into consideration the employees.
It has been pointed out on many occasions that the the MSNBC prime time lineup is lily white, so rather than face that uncomfortable fact , lets COUNT THE GUESTS!
What’s next ? The demographic makeup of the people walking by the studio while the show is on?
Well, what do you expect, these are political news shows, I guess maybe if they did more prison inmate interviews, things would be more equal. If it was female prison stories, it would be equal,
Listen, dummy, Oliver is essentially agreeing with you. Who exactly are you taking exception with here? What are you getting your panties in a bunch about?
There are no cries for diversity because it comes down to how well you can put the ball in the hoop, and little else. It wouldn’t matter if you were purple. Not so much who’s interested in it at an early age.
mambo,
Why don’t you lead the charge to get Oliver on Olby’s show? Show some intitiative. I’ve seen several libbie blogs all band together to bombard MSNBC with enough emails to get Rachel Maddow her own show. Surely you can get him air on for an interview if enough of you wrote in to KO.
I would be very happy for Oliver if he got interviewed on Olbermann’s show. However, I don’t really watch KO, nor MSNBC in general. And I am not terribly concerned about the “diversity problem” at their network. I use up all my annoyance and outrage on other issues.
Not really a fight that I feel is worth my effort.
MSNBC needs to quit being lazy with the reruns before 11. Give Cenk Uygur a slot and bring back Alison Stewart
Listen, a-hole … I am responding to some prolix half wit saying stupid sh*t like , “I hear your fuses popping and your circuits frying all the way through the intertubes, Frank.
Even better, replace that airhead Scarborough.
Poor Frank.
Well, Greta’s a Cylon, so that should count.
A.
So why not protest the lack of diversity in the NBA? What’s the difference?
Is the Anchor Baby still on Fox? She’s a filipina, right?
White people can’t speak with authority on issues that mainly affect minorities. I live in the south, I can read/learn about cold weather, but I’d rather listen to someone who lives in North Dakota tell the story. It seems Michael Eric Dyson only comes on air to talk about race, why not the stimulus or stem cell research – Richard Wolfe speaks about more than just issues affecting Europe.
I don’t seek out Mexican restaurants that are white owned here in south central TX – Mexican people make better Mexican food, that’s not a racist statement, but to say black people are better at playing basketball, well thats borderline racist. Our perceptions of language get in the way too.