(My better-late-than-never email sent this morning. MSNBC has lost their way.)
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You guys are fucking up.
You persist in diluting your brand and your content. You got rid of Keith Olbermann. You got rid of Ed Schultz. You killed Al Sharpton's regular show. Joy Reid was reassigned. "Morning Joe" has turned into a joke -- Scarborough and Mika are running three hours of free daily publicity for their buddy Donald Trump.
And now you've told Melissa Harris Perry to go away and be quiet until the elections are over. You intend to fill her slot with endless, breathless, up-to-the-minute, meaningless "coverage" of the campaigns. All you're really doing is running the same hour of stories, videos, polls, and speculation/analysis over and over all day long. You're hellbent on homogenizing your network into just another CNN. And who needs that?
What once set you apart were your intelligent hosts who could take an hour or so and cover a handful of issues in relative depth. Some remain, but their numbers are dwindling. Chris Matthews is still good, Rachel Maddow is great, Chris Hayes and Lawrence O'Donnell are pretty good too.
Melissa Harris Perry is most definitely one of those intelligent hosts, and she's a real asset to your network's lineup. Her expertise in racism and the black experience is unequalled. I was a regular viewer of her weekend morning shows. Those discussions were always relevant, and a welcome break from the droning, constant regurgitation of the day's "top" stories. But in the past couple months, I couldn't help but notice that the MHP show was increasingly pre-empted by inferior programming. When her show returned, she dared to cover the conservative backlash to Beyonce's Super Bowl performance, and you yanked her off the air completely.
Your decision to bench her looks awful. It gives the appearance that someone at MSNBC decided Ms. Perry was just too black for comfort. You will deny that motivation, but it will be the perception nevertheless. (FYI, I am a 62 year old white man.)
You can correct that perception by immediately reversing course, apologizing, and reinstating Melissa Harris Perry's show on its normal days and times. She is under contract. Bring her back. Let her fulfill that contract by doing her job. And if you have a shred of good sense, you'll offer her a contract extension and a pay raise while you're at it.
Sincerely,
Buster Gammons
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