Joy Reid Reflects on MSNBC Exit, Media Challenges, and New Ventures
Joy Reid revealed that MSNBC canceled her show, The ReidOut, in February as part of a network-wide programming shakeup. Eight months after the cancellation, she launched The Joy Reid Show on YouTube and expanded her outreach through platforms such as Substack, TikTok, and Instagram. Reid highlighted that corporate media operate under significant restrictions due to business interests, FCC oversight, and donor influence, naming Comcast, ABC Disney, and CBS Paramount as examples involved in funding or pressuring news coverage. She expressed concern about potential FCC actions by Brendan Carr that may further influence media practices.
Reid criticized the limited coverage of the Gaza conflict, stating that newsroom reluctance within MSNBC contributed to a sense that reporting on the genocide was discouraged. Emphasizing journalistic responsibility, she maintained that journalists have an obligation to cover such events even if they entail risks. Reid also noted that her staff were laid off following the cancellation, a move she considered unusual; however, most were later able to secure other roles within MSNBC.
She commended colleagues such as Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Stephanie Ruhle for publicly challenging Comcast donations to the East Wing ballroom project and expressed that she would have done the same had she remained at MSNBC. Addressing shifts in media consumption, Reid pointed out audience fragmentation as viewers move towards streaming platforms. Along with her husband, she runs a production company with a small full-time core team, including their daughter, emphasizing independence over maintaining a large newsroom overhead.
Reid also tied the reduction of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in newsrooms to a conservative backlash following Barack Obama’s election and George Floyd’s killing. She argued that media leaders retreated from diversity measures under pressure, reshaping newsroom policies accordingly.
