MSNBC has been broken in the midst of a crisis. Rachel Maddow hosts her prime-time show “The Rachel Maddow Show” only once a week thanks to her contract renewal. Wagner was recently on the HBO show “The Circus,” where some of the presenters reported on the Democratic primary while “analyzing” Donald Trump's presidency.
“Alex Wagner Tonight” has averaged 1.6 million viewers during the 2 weeks on her program. By contrast, “The Rachel Maddow Show” averaged 2.6 million viewers in the course of two weeks, and Wagner was able to lose more than 30 percent of the audience.
Wagner's message came before her time slot in primetime on MSNBC:
“I want to garner the largest audience we can, and I want to do that by putting a really quality show on the air.”
“I am not going to not pay attention to the situation of Asian American people in this country … My mother, who's 78, isn't comfortable walking along the streets in the swing district in which she lives. This is a problem not only for myself, but also for our society. Many people think they'll be pushed off a train track or taken off the subway platform due to the way they dress.”
Karen K. Ho of ” The Cut” requested Wagner to describe what it was like to be part of the group and Wagner responded:
“It's insane. I feel honored to be among them. It's also a fact that needs to change.” Ho responded saying “it's taking place. You're part of the group now.” Wagner said, “I am sure. We'll see if I can remain here.”
In fairness, Wagner was a good choice for the prime time slot and was a great anchor for the HBO show “The Circus,” but I'm sure her downfall came when she launched the doors of her MSNBC show and criticized Christianity. It seems that bigotry based on religion is not a popular topic even for MSNBC viewers. Wagner's show appears to primarily be about blaming DeSantis as well as other Republicans she is not a fan of. That's fine, but the issue with her style is that she says she was a “journalist.” A journalist should report as objectively as is possible, give credit to the extent that credit is due, and provide the truth. At present, Wagner is biasedly reporting the news on a regular basis. Much like the majority of Fox News hosts don't claim they're journalists, Wagner, and most mainstream media hosts should not be either. Television personality is an appropriate description for her.
Some say she doesn't inspire Democrats to cast a vote. The role of a journalist is to present the facts. She is claiming that she is a journalist therefore, her work isn't intended to inspire voters to cast their ballots.
There is a chance to change things but only if they provide the facts in the same way that NewsNation is reporting on news and try to avoid talking about DeSantis incessantly and denigrating Christianity. If she continues to indulge in blaming religions and slandering GOP members, her ratings will fall and not just with regular MSNBC viewers; however, among the viewers who watched “The Circus” because she did not appear to be the same as she is on MSNBC.
