Bloomington, Indiana native David Shuster is profiled by his hometown paper, The Herald-Times (subscription required).
Shuster talks with reporter Mike Leonard about becoming anchor of MSNBC’s 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “It is a hard transition, which is why I’ve been lucky in a way,” he says. “When you’re like the sixth man on the bench, it’s different than being a starter. But I’ve had the opportunity to be the starter, to be the guest host, so now that I have my own show, it’s not totally unfamiliar. I’ve been in the starting lineup before and now I’m starting every night.”
He says his program will not try “to do a straight newscast,” instead focusing on taking “a couple of big stories…and go into more depth than you’re going to get elsewhere — even among our cable competitors.”
And as for his personal appeal to viewers, he tells Leonard that “when you have a Midwestern personality, hopefully with some intelligence and wit, it plays better than an upright, serious, East Coast personality. Not that all East Coasters are like that, but I think there is something to the Midwest that makes us a little more easygoing and friendly.”