YES!: Putting Workers on TV: MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Bringing Labor to Prime Time

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/putting-workers-on-tv-msnbc-s-chris-hayes-on-bringing-labor-to-prime-time

While the days when every city paper had a labor beat may be gone, Hayes is finding new ways to get the issues facing workers into the national conversation.

by Amy B. Dean posted Aug 16, 2013

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Photo by MSNBC.

As host of All In, a weekday prime-time show on MSNBC, Chris Hayes has emerged as one of the most prominent progressive commentators in the country. Still in his thirties, Hayes earned distinction in the 2000s as a labor and political journalist for magazines such as In These Times and The Nation. Given that labor journalists are an endangered species in the United States, the rise of someone with experience in the field to a platform with wide popular reach is an encouraging development.

This month, I spoke with Hayes about how he approaches workplace issues on his show, about the state of labor journalism, and about how All In interacts with programs such as The Ed Show, hosted by Ed Schultz, another labor-friendly broadcaster.

Amy Dean: How do you think the prospects for labor journalism have changed over the past decade?

Chris Hayes: Labor coverage has shrunk dramatically. Unions have shrunk. I think there has been a new crop of excellent young journalists writing about labor. Sarah Jaffe is really, really good—as are Mike Elk and Josh Eidelson, to name just three. They are writing about the frontiers of labor.

FULL story at link.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Labor news back at 8pm!

[femmocrat]

2. Thanks Steve.

I did not know that about Chris Hayes. I really don't watch his show very much. I do love Ed Schultz though! I always catch him on the weekends.

[Bolo Boffin]

3. This is great news.

A very welcome development.

If he ever looks at DU and sees this, I'd suggest a ongoing series on the history of labor. It would be something to help fill all that time and actually be informative. I know I appreciate those posts over at Lawyers, Guns, and Money.

[mountain grammy]

4. Very sharp young man.

[limpyhobbler]

5. he's a good egg.

He had a lot of good things to say about Ed Shultz in there too.