Maddow Hire Speeds MSNBC's Leftward Drift

Well, it's not Rosie O'Donnell, but MSNBC has added a lesbian host to its ever-more-liberal lineup after all. Rachel Maddow, a tough-nosed and witty Air America host whose profile has risen sharply of late, will get a new show at 9 p.m., displacing Dan Abrams and his Verdict.

Maddow is seen within the network as a protégé of its biggest star, Keith Olbermann -- she has often filled in for him as a guest host, and shares his agent, Jean Sage. Her new show will have Olbermann's Countdown as both lead-in and, in its 10 p.m. re-airing, lead-out. (Watch Olbermann's fulsome welcome of his new colleague here.)

This underscores the question of whether MSNBC is taking a foolish risk in over-committing itself to a single point of view. Without a doubt, Olbermann and his spirited Bush-bashing have been the primary engine of the network's ratings growth (including a primetime audience increase of more than 50 percent in the year's first half), so doubling down might seem like the obvious thing to do. But this dance-with-the-one-that-brung-ya mentality could end up looking short-sighted after Nov. 4. Does MSNBC really want to be in the position of covering an Obama Administration with no one more neutral than Chris "thrill up my leg" Matthews in its evening lineup? (As for John McCain, he seems to think accusing NBC News of being biased against him is a useful way of rallying his supporters.)

Of course, Fox News managed the transition from opposition to cheerleader in 2000, when Bush took office. But Fox has shown a steadier hand than MSNBC, which has long seemed over-eager to trim its editorial sails at the slightest shift of the breezes.

There is one clear benefit to giving Maddow a prominent slot, however: It should help to insulate MSNBC next time charges of sexism crop up.

UPDATE, 3:32 p.m.: Gosh, who knew I'd provoke such a response? To everyone who called me a "fool," "idiot" or "stupid right-wing stupidhead" in the comments, well, thanks for the feedback.

I have two points to add: First, yes, there is a person named Joe Scarborough who has an MSNBC show, and who is putatively a Republican. Yes, Chris Matthews is a conservative Democrat rather than a left-winger. The point remains: The entire block of air from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- the block known in most of the TV world as prime time, "prime" meaning of the highest value -- is now essentially programmed by one man, Keith Olbermann. Not that Maddow is anyone's puppet, but she clearly has his stamp of approval, and he wants everyone to know it.

Second: I had no motive in pointing out Maddow's sexual orientation beyond noting the interesting factoid that MSNBC considered, less than a year ago, hiring another liberal gay woman for substantially the same job. As Howard Kurtz notes, there have been, until this point, zero openly gay women hosting prime time news shows. MSNBC has now shown a willingness to break this particular glass ceiling twice in a relatively short span of time. Is it a coincidence, or was the network looking to fill a certain mold? I have no idea. Either way, I think that's great. I realize most of you who are commenting arrived at this post via links from another site, but regular readers know that I'm all for diversity in the newsroom.

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