NBC News' Sharpton: Maddow and Matthews Aren't Journalists

It only took a few days for NBC News’ newest star Al Sharpton to insult his colleagues and further undermine the already diminished journalistic credibility of MSNBC.

In an interview with The Daily Beast the controversial activist turned TV news anchor defended himself against criticism from the National Association of Black Journalists. (emphasis mine)

“To be fair about it, the NABJ understood that if I didn’t get it, it wouldn’t have gone to a journalist,” Sharpton tells me. “It’s a moot point. There are no journalists [as hosts] after 5 p.m. on MSNBC. Everyone after 5 deals with opinions. So the argument is kind of apples and oranges.”

In an effort to defend himself from the obvious observation that there are many more qualified journalists (of any color) to fill a nightly anchor spot at MSNBC, Sharpton has inadvertently “outed” Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell and Ed Schultz as mere commentators voicing opinions rather than legitimate journalists presenting news as well as ideas and opinions to their audience. For the sake of this column, let’s forget O’Donnell and Schultz for a moment because their shows do border on the brink of pot and pan banging temper tantrums, let’s just focus on Matthews and Maddow.

One has to wonder how Chris Matthews feels about his new workmate telling the world that he isn’t a journalist. Matthews spent fifteen years writing for the San Francisco Examiner. He’s covered politics for decades on behalf of newspapers and television news bureaus. I bet if you asked him, he’d say he was a journalist.

And Rhodes Scholar Maddow (a title Sharpton could never dream of acquiring) also has her share of opinions on her show, but she also prides herself on her excellent team of researchers who painstakingly dig for stories and facts to present news to their viewers. Look how she presented herself in her first “Lean Forward” ad. Surely you can see that she considers herself a journalist obsessed with details and facts, not opinion:

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Furthermore, what does Sharpton’s statement say about the members of the NABJ? CNN’s Roland Martin and the Washington Post’s Eugene Brown (also an MSNBC contributor) are members of and honorees of the the NABJ. They certainly are journalists and they are certainly qualified to have a nightly show on MSNBC.

When Sharpton said “To be fair about it, the NABJ understood that if I didn’t get it, it wouldn’t have gone to a journalist,” does he mean that Martin or Robinson wouldn’t have gotten a nightly show because MSNBC didn’t want journalists like them, they wanted someone to voice their opinions? It’s a question that needs to be asked considering Martin and Robinson have no shortage of opinions and they are both currently hired to voice them on television. They also do it much more coherently and professionally than Mr. Sharpton does.

It’s a nifty bank shot Sharpton achieved here. In one defensive statement trying to rationalize his inexplicable new job as a nightly host of a cable news program Sharpton insulted not only the National Association of Black Journalists but also his new colleagues Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow. The question is: Will anybody dare say anything about it and risk having Mr. Sharpton on their front lawn with a bullhorn?

One last note: Many on the right will be tempted to agree with Sharpton and take this as proof that what Maddow and Matthews do isn’t journalism. I beg you not to fall into that trap. There is a long history of Opinion Journalism in America. Don’t buy this false construct that only a news person who has no opinions, no biases and operates as some mindless automotron is a true journalist.

Just because a journalist’s opinions find their way into their final product does not mean they are not journalists. Was Robert Novak a journalist? Of course. Is George Will a journlaist? You bet. Is Brit Hume a journalist? The best. And yes, you may disagree with Maddow and Matthews, but they are journalists. Even if the newest member of their company softball team doesn’t think so.

Now, pop the popcorn. This is going to be fun to watch.