Former ESPN host and writer for The Atlantic Jemele Hill joined a gaggle of other black media members in castigating left-wing cable network MSNBC for firing Tiffany Cross from her show, The Cross Connection.
The 40 authors of the letter to the network, including Hill, proclaimed their “deep disappointment” for its firing of Cross and demanded a meeting with network President Rashida Jones to “discuss a path forward that is restorative to the reputation and dignity of” Cross, who was fired this month over a failure to “meet the standards of MSNBC or NBC News.”
“Given the undeniable rise of fascism and persistent threats to democracy we face in the current moment, NBC should be an unrelenting force for truth and a safe harbor for voices like Ms. Cross as well as those with whom she shared her broad and popular platform,” the authors wrote, according to HuffPost.
“While other networks give voice to election deniers, Ms. Cross featured voting rights champions. Where other shows spread disinformation, The Cross Connection spotlighted justice,” the group added. “Where other outlets catered to the country’s worst instincts, Ms. Cross elevated the discourse and taught audiences how to protect democracy.”
Hill, whose CNN+ career lasted less time than the average NBA games she reports on, took to Twitter on Nov. 4 to express her “outrage” that MSNBC fired the notorious Cross.
“I’m outraged by the news that @MSNBC is ending @TiffanyDCross’ brilliant show #CrossConnection. It’s the highest-rated weekend show. Tiffany’s departure looks even funnier in the light because it comes after she rightly criticized white supremacist poster boy Tucker Carlson,” she wrote.
Others who signed onto the letter include Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation; Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP; Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood; and Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, political commentator Angela Rye, and journalist Roland Martin.
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