MSNBC Cans Only Cable TV Host Who Extensively Covered TPP

MSNBC announced on Thursday that "The Ed Schultz Show" would come to an end, to be replaced by a show hosted by political analyst Chuck Todd. Reportedly, two other programs, "The Cycle" and "The Alex Wagner Show," will also be cut as part of other programming changes.

The loss of Schultz is particularly troubling because he has managed a television program that has been more attentive to issues focused on economic inequality, labor unions and the wider economy than perhaps any other cable television show.

In particular, he covered the Trans-Pacific Partnership more often than the rest of the network's programs combined, as Craig Harrington and Brian Powell, researchers with Media Matters documented:

[During an 18 month period] CNN and Fox News each mentioned the TPP during two broadcasts. MSNBC's The Ed Show discussed the trade agreement on 71 broadcasts, but the TPP was mentioned on the network's other evening programming only twice (once by host Ed Schultz during coverage of the president's State of the Union speech and a passing mention by All In host Chris Hayes).

It has to be noted that Comcast, the company that owns MSNBC, is a big supporter of the TPP. Comcast hired a phalanx of lobbyists to spearhead a targeted campaign to push for Trade Promotion Authority, which recently passed. Included among the individuals it was paying was the former chief of staff for former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).

Media Matters illustrated the coverage with the following graphic:

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