March 6, 2016
After Uproar, Melissa Harris Perry Splits With MSNBCBy Frederick H. Lowe
Melissa Harris Perry is no longer in the picture at MSNBC
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Dr. Melissa Harris Perry, host of a weekend news commentary show on MSNBC, has parted ways with the network because her show has been preempted so the network could focus on breaking political news associated with the presidential election.
An MSNBC spokesperson said the network has ended its relationship with Melissa Harris Perry, host of the Melissa Harris Perry Show. The show was also known as a broadcast from Nerdland. “Here is the reality: our show was taken — without comment or discussion or notice — in the midst of an election season,” Perry wrote in 1 1/2 –page letter to the show’s audience.
“After four years of building an audience, developing a brand, and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced.” Perry went on: “I have stayed in the same hotels where MSNBC has been broadcasting in Iowa and New Hampshire and in South Carolina, yet I have been shut out from coverage. I have a Ph.D. in political science and have taught about American voting and elections at some of the nation’s top universities for nearly two decades, yet I have been deemed less worthy to weigh in than relative novices and certified liars. While MSNBC may believe I am worthless, I know better.”
Harris Perry teaches at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, South Carolina. Previously, she taught at The University of Chicago, Princeton and Tulane. Academics call her a public intellectual. MSNBC officials described her comments as ‘surprising’ and ‘confusing.’
The National Association of Black Journalists said the organization was disappointed Harris-Perry had left the show. She called NABJ’s offices and said, “of course I am very sad to lose this platform…”