It took less than 24 hours—and being a Twitter trending topic—to get political commentator Joan Walsh back on the air. (TVNewser)
Walsh is moving to CNN after MSNBC said Friday it would not be renewing her contract as a paid contributor. MSNBC’s decision caused an uproar on social media. Earlier in the morning, Walsh revealed that she learned of the New York-based network’s decision while baking pies with her daughter. Her followers expressed their dismay with the trending #KeepJoanWalsh tag. MSNBC hosts Chris Hayes and Joy Reid have also tweeted in support of Walsh. (THR / AP)
Walsh, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and a former editor in chief of Salon, had been a regular on MSNBC for 12 years, six of them under contract as a contributor. (Variety)
Officials said she would be welcome on MSNBC but as an unpaid contributor. Officials said the decision not to renew her contract was made based on the network’s budget and a desire to keep a diverse set of voices on the air. (NYT)
In her tweet announcing the move, Walsh implied that the flood of tweets on her behalf had influenced CNN’s decision to snap her up. Earlier this month, MSNBC was roundly criticized for firing Sam Seder, another contributor and the host of The Majority Report, after right-wing personality Mike Cernovich publicized a tweet Seder had posted in 2009 about Roman Polanski. The network ultimately reversed its decision, electing to renew Seder’s contract. (Vanity Fair)