CT Blue

Apparently David Sirota is a possibility for the 10:00 just after Rachel Maddow slot on MSNBC. Currently that slot is occupied by a repeat of the 8:00 Countdown show. He sent out a mass email about it, and I reproduce the bulk of it below. It certainly can’t hurt to have another progressive voice on the idiot box. It is worrisome that these news networks are becoming something akin to party organs, though MSNBC does have some heretics. The fact that “they started it” doesn’t make the development any more welcome. That being said, it’s the way the battle is being fought, and there’s no principle involved big enough to justify staying aloof from the fray.

David’s email:

Last month, the New York Times ran a story about MSNBC looking for a
host to fill its open 10pm time-slot and many of you encouraged me to
apply for the job after seeing me on programs like The Rachel Maddow
Show, Bill Moyers Journal and The Colbert Report. Of course, I didn’t
really know what that meant – after all, how the heck do you “apply”
for a TV show? Well, today, my friend and fellow OpenLeft.com writer
Chris Bowers launched a formal campaign to ask MSNBC to consider me
for the slot, and now I’m asking for your help – and the good news
is, I’m not asking you for money, I’m just asking you to take 1
minute of your time to send an email, join a Facebook group and tell
all your friends to do the same.

MSNBC president Phil Griffin told the New York Times he wants the
process of selecting a host to be “organic.” That means I need as
many of you as possible to send an email to MSNBC at
letters@msnbc.com with a simple message: Tell them you’d like them to
bring me on for the 10pm job. It also means you forwarding on this
email to as many people as you know asking them to do the same. It
means blogging about this, Twittering this message to friends, and
joining the Facebook group about this campaign at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53711796165

Griffin has told reporters he’s not sure MSNBC is going to fill the
slot with a progressive, but that he is watching to see viewer
response for feedback. That’s why your help in this campaign is so
important – and I wouldn’t ask for your help unless I was sure it
could make a significant impact.

As many of you know, I’ve appeared on MSNBC many times as a guest
with my friend Rachel Maddow, and appear regularly on other networks.
I also have a syndicated newspaper column, two bestselling books and a
blog, thanks in no small part to all of your support over the years.
So, after a lot of scratching and clawing (and help from you), my
work is starting to get out there. And in all of those forums, I try
to focus on the economic and political issues important to regular
folks – the issues that get short shrift by so much of the media.
Over the years, I’ve worked with so many of you – you’ve given me
ideas, provided leads for stories and critiqued me. It’s improved my
work so much, and now we have a chance to take it to the next level –
and if we do, our work together will only intensify.

At this moment of economic crisis, we need as many populist
progressive voices in the media as possible. If we make this happen –
if you help me in this campaign – we can bring all of those issues we
care so much about to the forefront of the national media
conversation.

Let me close by saying that while I’ve never been bashful about
promoting a campaign, a cause, a candidate or a book, campaigning for
myself is new to me. It feels a bit uncomfortable, because I’ve tried
to make all of my work about the issues, not about me personally. But
MSNBC has made clear that it wants viewer input in this process of
selecting a host for 10pm, so I decided to swallow my pride, get over
my unease, and do whatever I could to make a real go at this, because
this opportunity to amplify all of our work is real and achievable if
we make our voices heard.

Chances like this come around so rarely-so I hope you’ll take a moment and email letters@msnbc.com and ask them to bring me aboard, and then forward this email to all of your friends, join the Facebook group and blog/twitter about it where you can.

As I said before, I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t
important, and if I wasn’t sure it would make a huge difference. With
your help, we have a real shot at making this opportunity a reality –
one that can boost all the causes we’ve been pushing for so long.

I’m twitter and Facebook-phobic, but I do have a blog and I’ve sent an email. MSNBC could do far worse than David, so if you’re so inclined, send an email or twitter, etc.