The Writers Guild of America East responded to what it called “mass layoffs” at MSNBC Tuesday, slamming the “devastating” move at the liberal news network as an irresponsible decision while democracy is “under attack” by the Trump Administration.
“News of layoffs comes against the backdrop of the President of the United States making direct threats against MSNBC, among other news outlets, and at a time when it has never been more crucial to have a fully staffed newsroom to cover a democracy under attack,” a statement from the union obtained by TheWrap said.
The union said that layoffs of 99 staffers across nine different shows began rolling out this week — as seen in part by the Monday shuttering of such programs as “TheReidOut” with Joy Reid and “The Katie Phang Show” with Katie Phang. Anchor Alex Wagner was also replaced during the 9 p.m. spot Tuesday-Friday, though will remain with the network as a correspondent.
The cuts were spearheaded by the newly-appointed MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler. An expansion of former Joe Biden Jen Psaki’s show “Inside with Jen Psaki” will take the Tuesday-Friday slot vacated by Wagner. Reid’s show will be replaced by a new one hosted by “The Weekend” anchors Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez. That program will air at 7 p.m. ET Monday-Friday.
A person familiar with MSNBC’s decision told TheWrap the layoffs are not widespread across the channel, and that it is aiming to reallocate personnel to support new shows and priorities. To that point, the person said MSNBC is looking to hire nearly as many positions as it let go; those new jobs will be made available internally to MSNBC staffers who are being hit by the cuts, before being made available to external candidates.
Read the WGA East statement in full below:
Over the past two days, we learned that MSNBC is starting mass layoffs of 99 of our union colleagues from at least nine different shows. This devastating news comes after the slow, painful trickle of announcements regarding a near-total overhaul of the network’s broadcast line-up.
Although the Company has acknowledged that there are plenty of job openings at MSNBC, it has cruelly insisted that the workers slated for layoff must reapply for their jobs to remain employed. The MSNBC Union demands the Company not lay off any of the employees it has slated to be laid off but rather reassign them as needed. In the event that any employees are not retained, we demand the Company follow the layoff provisions of the collective bargaining agreement that it entered into with the Union.
The news of layoffs comes against the backdrop of the President of the United States making direct threats against MSNBC, among other news outlets, and at a time when it has never been more crucial to have a fully staffed newsroom to cover a democracy under attack.
The changes to MSNBC’s lineup announced on Monday come after the channel’s ratings took a big hit following the 2024 election — although they have started to climb higher in recent weeks, following the president’s inauguration.
MSNBC on Monday noted its primetime viewership has increased 77% since Jan. 20, with the cable channel averaging 1.4 million primetime viewers between Jan. 20 and Feb. 14. Fox News, for comparison, averaged 3 million primetime viewers the week of Feb. 10., and CNN averaged a little less than half a million viewers during that same time.
President Trump on Monday mocked MSNBC’s parent company, Comcast — which he called “Concast” — over the cable channel’s struggles. He also ripped Reid over her firing, calling her a “mentally obnoxious racist” who should have been “canned” years ago.
MSNBC joins a growing list of media companies that have laid off employees this year. IndieWire let go of three top editors last week, Forbes cut 5% of its staff in late January, and Vox was recently hit by its third round of job cuts in just two months; The Washington Post and the Huffington Post also laid off employees last month.
This recent stretch follows an ugly 2024 in which nearly 15,000 media jobs were eliminated.
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