SHARPTON ON MSNBC? BLACK JOURNALISTS FIGHT IT

Criticism of MSNBC’s rumored plans to hire controversial civil-rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton to anchor its 6:00 p.m. time period has come from an unexpected source — the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Although the imminent agreement would undercut complaints from African-American organizations that not a single black journalist is visible on broadcast or cable TV from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the NABJ observed on Thursday that Sharpton had no qualifications as a journalist. Richard Prince, who writes the “Journal-isms” column on the Maynard Institute’s website, quoted an unidentified NABJ member as saying, “This would still be just another non-journalist media ‘celebrity’ receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent.”