Colleagues Shower Alex Witt With Accolades After Anchor Announces MS NOW Departure
MS NOW
Colleagues, journalists, and pundits took to social media to express their respect for MS NOW’s Alex Witt, who announced her plans to leave the network Friday after nearly 30 years.
Witt joined MSNBC in 1999, and has been helming weekend daytime programming for nearly 15 years and expects to exit MS NOW later this summer, she said.
Ali Velshi, who recently moved from weekend mornings to host The 11th Hour weeknights at 11:00 p.m. ET, wrote a heartfelt post praising Witt for her accomplishments.
“When I joined @MSNOWNews, @alexwitt was already the institution AND (some people forget) my first co-host,” Velshi wrote. “She made me feel like I belonged LONG before I’d earned it. Nearly 30 years, more hours on air than anyone in network history. Thank you with all my heart. ”
Political reporter Ali Vitali hailed Witt as a journalistic icon.
“@AlexWitt is an icon. A consummate pro who has seen and done it all,” Vitali wrote. “But she also built a whole generation of TV reporters. The Saturday and Sunday hits I did with her made me a better reporter and broadcaster. She was gracious, encouraging, & helped me get better. They don’t make ‘em all like Alex and we’re all better off for having her guide us thru the news all these years.”
U.S. Diplomat Michael McFaul, a regular guest on MSNOW, posted, “I have loved working with @AlexWitt. Will miss our weekend conversations.
Senior legal reporter Lisa Rubin wrote, “@AlexWitt was the first MS NOW anchor to invest in me as a guest, and our team is littered with journalists she has mentored and taught. I’m lucky to be among them.”
Scroll down for more reactions:
Anchor Antonia Hylton, who currently helms The Weekend: Primetime is slated to take over Witt’s 1-4 p.m. time slot on Saturdays and Sundays.
Deadline reported that MS Now is moving away from live broadcasting on weekends in favor of taped podcasts and other content after 6 p.m. ET on weekend nights. The network cited its success with content provider Crooked Media for its decision.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓