NAACP PRAISES MSNBC FOR ADDING SHARPTON TO LINE-UP

The NAACP has praised MSNBC for hiring the Rev. Al Sharpton

as host of its 6:00 p.m. hour, to be called PoliticsNation. The civil rights organization said that the appointment represents “a positive step toward addressing the dearth of African American voices in prime-time news.” Vic Bulluck, executive director of the Hollywood Bureau of the NAACP, commented: “The addition of Al Sharpton to the prime-time lineup adds a much-needed, unique perspective and is an important step toward diversity in news programming.” In an interview with Lloyd Grove of TheDailyBeast.com Sharpton himself responded to members of the National Association of Black Journalists who had urged the news channel to hire a black journalist as host. “There are no journalists [as hosts] after 5:00 p.m. on MSNBC, Sharpton said. “The NABJ understood that if I didn’t get [the hosing job] it wouldn’t have gone to a journalist.”