Joy Reid will be the new anchor for MSNBC’s 7 PM hour starting July 20, and the internet is celebrating. The veteran journalist has been an MSNBC anchor, host, political correspondent, analyst, and commentator for over six years.
Last month The Wall Street Journal reported Reid was in negotiations with the cable news network for the 7 PM slot, calling her “combative and inquisitive and not afraid to challenge guests.” Thursday morning The New York Times announced Reid will take over the slot once held by Chris Matthews.
Her new show will be called “The ReidOut,” and will be based in Washington. Reid will be the first Black woman in four years to anchor a major network nightly news show. The last was PBS’s Gwen Ifill.
“I am a Black mom, a Black woman, a Black daughter,” Reid told The Times in an interview. “I am also a journalist who can conceptualize that pain from a unique point of view. Every day I’m in this job, I’m very conscious of that responsibility to make that collective voice heard. It’s unique to do that as a Black woman.”
MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow, who behind the cameras is responsible for helping to shape the network and reportedly was instrumental in the recent “stepping down” of now-former NBC News and MSNBC Chairman Andy Lack threw her support behind Reid.
“African-American journalists, African-American women in particular, are woefully underrepresented on TV in all hours of the day,” Maddow says. “But particularly in prime time, it’s just a desert. Joy more than deserves this time slot and this kind of national platform.”
The Times credits Reid’s promotion to “new leadership at NBC News.”
“Ms. Reid’s promotion is a significant programming move by Cesar Conde, the new chairman of NBC’s news networks,” The Times reports. “Black women, including Gayle King of CBS and Robin Roberts of ABC, hold leading roles in morning and daytime television, but none currently host a nightly evening show on a major network. The last to do so was Gwen Ifill, who co-anchored ‘PBS NewsHour’ until shortly before her death in 2016.”
On Twitter, where she actively engages and has 1.7 million followers, many expressed their excitement and congratulated Reid.