Joy Reid Is Cable’s First Black Woman Prime Time Anchor

MSNBC anchor Joy Anne Reid is making major moves within her organization, going from the weekend spot into a prime time, weekday slot.

The host of the cable news network’s show AM Joy has been appointed to succeed former Hardball host Chris Matthews in the 7 p.m. EST time slot each day during the week.

“We are going to try to fire out of the gate with whatever is the most important thing that’s happening that night, and try to frame it and contextualize it,” Reid said in an interview, according to the Associated Press. “Hopefully, I have a very unique frame.”

Prior to Reid’s positioning, MSNBC’s weekday evening lineup (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.) included hosted programs by five white men and one white woman, a surprising oversight considering the network’s mostly liberal audience.

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“She’s earned this, spot on,” said Cesar Conde, NBC Universal News Group Chairman. “I happen to think she’s the right person for the right moment in time.”

Conde has previously stated his goal of creating a workforce composed of 50 percent people of color at NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC.

According to the AP, Reid said she grew up a news junkie, and as a sixth-grader, who convinced her mother to let her stay up late to watch Ted Koppel’s Nightline as he reported on the Iran hostage situation in 1979.

“It almost didn’t even sink in until I was older that I was watching a parade of white men tell me what’s happening in the world, explaining the world to me,” she said.

Chris Matthews also tweeted his support for the move. “Joy will prove once again her commitment to telling the truth about our country’s history, our present challenges and her hopes for America’s future,” he wrote. “She’s the real deal.”