Ed Schultz: champion of unions and the working class, getting booted is one more

[Ninga]

symptom of how the shrinking middle class is being left in the dust. I am not smart enough to know if his 8PM time slot was the best use of his voice, but damn it all, to marginalize and diminish his passion is a huge loss for working class issues.

Schultz needs to be used as a roving guest on Morning Schmo, to challenge the sockless, laid back ass kissers who do not give a shit about unions, teachers, safety forces, working poor and jobless.

Rendell, Harold Ford, and all the other hacks..need to be replaced.

It is incumbent on MSNBC to figure out a creative and visible way to keep his positions and passions in the mix.

[BootinUp]

1. Booted?

I guess he will still have a show no?

[Ninga]

4. Booted from prime time, booted from a daily show, booted off to the week-end....

His work on the SB5 union busting bill, in Ohio, was stellar, and visible because he took his evening program to Ohio and other states with union fights.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

2. What the hell do you mean by "getting booted"? eom

[Ninga]

5. Demoted, moved, diminished, kicked out......booted.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

6. He isn't getting booted though. Did you watch the show? eom

[Ninga]

8. Yes, big fan. And yes he IS getting booted from a highly visible, daily evening time slot.

His new week-end time is not prime time, nor daily.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

11. See post #9. eom

[Ninga]

13. See post #12. Nt

[Laurian]

3. +1000. I hate that he's being relegated to weekends.

While I like Chris Hayes weekend shows, I probably won't watch him every evening. I really did like Ed's different approach and thought it made for a good mix in the evening lineup.

[fadedrose]

7. Ed's show is similar to Rachel's

because they both do exposes'. What msnbc needs is a straight news program somewhere in the evening with all kinds of national/worldwide news....

Without a program like that, I say keep Ed where he is, but I love the idea of doing a jail breakout...

[Sheepshank]

9. WTF are you talking about?

He repeated several times it was his choice...Rachel emphasized it too.

Please provide anything to substantiate your assertion....instead of just making up shit.

[Ninga]

12. The fact that his pro union, pro working class voice will no longer be heard on

prime time is a huge issue for me....how it came about is secondary. Because a loss is a loss.

It feels to me like he was booted and responded in a gracious way.

If I am wrong and Schultz welcomed the change with open arms, then I apologize for being passionate and using the word "booted".....

Gone is gone, that doesn't change.

[Sheepshank]

14. An issue for you does't make "booted" a fact.

it's still just making up shit based on a personal impression or perspective.

For those of us that work long days and have family, homework, kids, games, sports etc all week long, an Ed Shultz break on the weekend is very welcome.

[randome]

16. The 'chatter' from MSNBC is that he was booted.

That sounds likely to me because I think he enjoyed being on daily, despite what he said last night.

[Ninga]

19. Are you finished beating me up?

[Sheepshank]

24. WELL...you've made the point to state the same thing over and over on several posts

It was my intent to iterate my own statement over and over. Fair's fair.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

15. But he isn't "gone" and his message isn't gone either. I'm a union member and

supporter and have always appreciated what Ed has done.

[Tarheel_Dem]

32. Hey, the internet would die without conspiracies & made up shit. I hear the WH is behind it.

[olddots]

43. TV & radio work in strange ways

after Air America's musical chairs and tuning into Oberman one night where he was gone---no explanation we have reasons to wonder what is going on.

[clydefrand]

10. I really think we will see some memorable shows from him on the weekends,

shows that he doesn't have time to put together on a daily basis. He will remain one of the top journalists
on TV. Yes, we will miss him on the evening shows, but look forward to watching on the weekend.
I think it will end up giving '60 minutes' a run for their money.

[Ninga]

17. Frankly, I am disheartened that this discussion did not generate more support

for the prime time loss of Schultz's working class voice ...

I am so sorry that I used the word "booted" because it allowed folks to hijack my OP and make it about my stupidity, rather than the important loss of Schultz's voice in the 8pm time slot.

[Samantha]

41. I don't consider his new time slot as "prime time"

Ed Schultz is not going to come out and say this was not his choice, whether it was or was not. He wants to remain on MSNBC, so if it were not his choice, he would be diplomatic about his words. And by the way, where is Dylan Ratigan now?

I like Chris Hayes, and I like Ed Schultz. What really bothers me though is this catering by MSNBC to the advertisers' preferred target audiences. To heck with viewer opinions. Obviously, there has been a number of situations in which popular commentators suddenly left which resulted in a huge backlash to the host network (I won't start naming those because it will result in a distraction to the point I am trying to make).

My point is Ed Schultz had about a million viewers, and that younger age group constituted a small portion of that number. So in order to make the lower number increase, they wanted a younger commentator. Making age a priority in the selection of who sits in what time slot is something I see as age discrimination. There is quite a bit of that around today, and it does a disservice to everyone.

None of this is meant to disparage Chris Hayes' work in any way, but I have to wonder, why was not Martin Bashir given the opportunity? Was it because he could not attracted the target age group MSNBC advertisers wanted? If so, that is pretty lame, to put it mildly.

[grantcart]

45. what evidence did you bring that this was not related to his wife's illness?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179618/MSNBC-host-Ed-Schultz-reveals-wife-mother-children-battling-ovarian-cancer.html



‘Doing a radio and a TV show isn't exactly what I'm thinking about right now,’ the 58-year-old talk show host said. ‘I'm going to be with my wife through all of this.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179618/MSNBC-host-Ed-Schultz-reveals-wife-mother-children-battling-ovarian-cancer.html#ixzz2NZ4uUg10
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[sufrommich]

18. Like every other TV channel,demographics

matter more than content. My guess is that MSNBC is looking for a younger white collar,college educated audience.

[Ninga]

20. I agree,and said in my OP that I wasn't smart enough to know if 8pm slot was the best..

[Glitterati]

22. There's no "conspiracy" in that

And, quite frankly, I prefer the Chris Hayes/Melissa Harris Perry programs over these guys.

I'm sick of political "news" being 1 Democrat, 1 Republican and 1 Host all shouting over each other. That's not anything but "green room" BS trying to attract an audience to a boring show that does not inform.

The younger group of hosts manage to create a discussion that leads to a more informed electorate. Plain and simple.

And, frankly, I'm not part of your supposed demographic - I'm 60 years old and tired of the screech fest political "news" has become. That format has never served to inform people, just keep score on who landed a knock out punch last night.

[sufrommich]

25. where did I say anything about a conspiracy? It's

just a fact that television programming is about demographics and content is based on attracting the chosen demographic.

[Glitterati]

26. You're right

my apologies.

[sufrommich]

28. No problem. nt

[lonestarnot]

21. What bullshit. Booted my ass.

[RZM]

23. Schultz is a boomer and Hayes is Generation Y. Times does march on

It's TV, after all. Not like this is the first time something like this has happened.

Besides, Schultz does have a radio how and from what I know, his wife has had health issues. If you run both a TV show and a radio show every weekday you're not going to have a whole lot of time for anything else. Maybe he wanted to take a step back? Plus it's not like they are firing him. He'll still have weekends.

And Hayes is pretty liberal. He's not the same type of liberal as Ed Schultz, but it's not like he's a conservative.

[Little Star]

30. This boomer loves Chris Hayes......

Though I love what Ed says he is too histrionic for me.

Ed makes me go "you tell it!". He does have a way to piss off any republican that happens to see his show. I guess some may think that's a good thing but I think there are better ways to get at republicans, jmho.

Chris, Rachel & Lawrence make me go "thanks for showing, explaining and teaching people something". I always wish that my republican family members and friends (few though they are) will accidentally click on one of their shows and learn something.

[madinmaryland]

27. Has anyone suggested that he may just be burning out?? I don't think he was booted.

He has a three hour afternoon radio show in addition to a one hour program at night. Don't you think that is quite a load? Both shows take quite a bit of preparation.

Additionally his wife had a cancer scare within the last few months.

[Botany]

29. He left the show of his own free will

He was working 14+ hour days. A 3 hour national radio show and 1 hour national
TV show ...... Ed also wants to spend time in his home country of N. Dakota and Minnesota
fishing and hunting along w/just hanging out w/his wife who just got through 1 year of
cancer treatments.

Ed will also have 2 hour long weekend shows that will let him cover stories in depth too.
Ed will also continue w/his national radio show too.

To be on Morning Joe Ed would have to be in NYC and I don't think he wants to do that.

[Greybnk48]

31. Yes. He said last night it was his choice.

He does not like being tied to the desk 5 nights a week, he wants to be out with the people. I think each show on Sat. & Sun. will be 2 hours (correct me if I have that wrong). He will be keeping his radio show he said "until I die."

He was not enjoying the format and it was a ton of work. I don't know why people are saying he "got the boot." He did not.

[otohara]

33. If They Wanted Him Gone, He'd Be Gone

trust me.

He has enough clout to do what he wants to do and I say good for him and bring on Chris Hayes.

[Honeycombe8]

38. I think so, too. His ratings are high, he's popular. His wife had cancer...

I think he had a "come to Jesus" moment about his lifestyle...at least that's very common in those circumstances. He works 13 hr days and doesn't want to give up radio. I think it was his choice. He stayed thru the election year, maybe his contract came up for renewal. I'd guess he told MSNBC a long time ago that he wanted out, adn MSNBC came up with this arrangement.

Two hour shows, two of them, is not something you give to someone you want to get rid of.

Not sure if a weekend evening show will be successful. A lot of people go out those evenings. But older people don't, so maybe that's who they're going after. Baby boomers. ?

[marions ghost]

34. Stupid Move MSNBC

Ed

"It is incumbent on MSNBC to figure out a creative and visible way to keep his positions and passions in the mix."
I totally agree--OK so Ed is rearranging his schedule, which I understand, but then replace him with another Ed on weeknights. Ed really has been the voice of the working class--passionate, direct, delivering the message in a way that cuts to the bone. I am SURE he helped elect Obama as much or more than any other pundit. He was crucial in 2012.

My MIL loves Ed. Her whole neighborhood watched Fux until she started convincing them that Ed was more on their side. I don't know what she'll do in the evenings. She has no computer and has to get everything from TV or a conservative daily newspaper. She worked in civil service, has no college degree but keeps up with politics and is smart. Ed really kept her informed and on track, on a daily basis. She looked forward to the show.

You are absolutely right, Ninga. Ed is THE alternative to Fux for a lot of people who want news & opinion direct and from the heart.

It's a loss.

Chris Hayes is fine. But they also need an Ed. "An Ed" IS out there....

[Ninga]

35. Thank you so much, not for agreeing with me, but for comprehending the true nature of my

concern, which his unique voice for unions and the working class gone from prime time TV

[Ninga]

36. I still think Schultz gone from prime time is a blow to the working class and working poor. nt

[Honeycombe8]

37. What makes you think he's being booted? nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. He chose that

He'd lie to have a little more time to be with his wife who's been sick.

[Ninga]

42. Really? At least with MSNBC he had his week-ends. Now, 5 days a week on the radio and 2 hrs. on

Sat and Sun are going to result in more time with his wife?

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. He explained yesterday that he has been working 12-14 hour days

And his first love is radio.

This will let him go deep into issues and be with Wendy.

[Ninga]

40. OK I should'nt have said booted. I was wrong to say booted, he has said he wasn't booted.

But does it really matter what the reason is, if he is not replaced with another working class champion voice?

Who will speak with the same passion as Schultz about the working poor? It is his passion. His work on the anti-union fights in Wisconsin and Ohio was stellar.

Who else would take the fight to the site?

[olddots]

46. We still have Amy Goodman-----Amy who ?????

Amy and Thom Hartmann are on a direct tv station in the ozone I wish they were on MSNBC (owned by GE)

[just1voice]

47. MSNBC is a propaganda network, it's not incumbent on them to do a thing but lie

Maybe one day people will figure that out.