A Quiet Campaign for Rachel Maddow to Host "Meet the Press"

by Michael Jones · 2009-10-19 13:32:00 UTC
Topics:

Rachel Maddow

If I were David Gregory right now, I'd certainly be looking behind my shoulders to see if I could spot any Rachel Maddow sightings.

For a few weeks now there has been a quiet, simmering push that Rachel Maddow -- one of the most popular television journalists on the block -- might be the medicine necessary to help NBC's "Meet the Press" emerge from rather slumpish ratings in the wake of former host Tim Russert's passing. That push became an outright shove this past weekend, with Brian Donovan at True/Slant arguing that while Russert successor David Gregory is a nice guy, Maddow has better news chops to take Sunday morning political television to a whole new level.

"What used to be Sunday morning’s hardest-hitting, most compelling politics show has become a little soggy," Donovan writes. "It’s nothing personal against Gregory, he does a respectable job. But Tim Russert’s shoes were ridiculously hard to fill, and most anyone would’ve been a let down. Which is why it’s time for MTP to make another change...And that person is Rachel Maddow."

Maddow, who is certainly the most prominent openly LGBT person in television news, might just be a force to be reckoned with if she were given the opportunity to shine on Sunday mornings. Her ratings at MSNBC, as of September 2009, were a bright spot for the network, and she's hugely popular with the coveted 25-54 age bracket -- those folks who will be watching Sunday morning television shows for many, many years to come. Her show on MSNBC is also the fastest-growing cable news show in prime time, with viewership up more than 92 percent from last year.

Good ratings. An ability to draw an audience and a following. Popular with a large age demographic. Yup, sounds like all the right ingredients for someone who deserves a promotion. And hey, wouldn't it be nice to finally have a woman (let alone someone openly LGBT) hosting a Sunday morning television show?

True/Slant hits one other nail on the head. With Maddow, it's not about political ideology, gender, or sexual orientation that necessarily makes her popular. It's that she's not afraid to go after the truth, whether that means targeting Republicans or Democrats.

"Maddow is ruthless when it comes to the truth. She goes after anyone – liberal or conservative – when they try to deceive the public," Donovan at True/Slant writes. "She challenges her guests to be forthright, and makes them pay when they attempt anything less. Maddow could, without a doubt, bring the fire back to Sunday morning..."

I think we'd all like to see that.

(Photo courtesy of MSNBC.)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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