Joy Reid Makes History As She Takes Over Chris Matthews Slot With New MSNBC Show

Joy Reid

Joy Reid has been tapped to take over the 7 p.m. time slot on MSNBC, recently vacated by Chris Matthews, on July 20 with The ReidOut, the network announced Thursday.

Reid will be MSNBCโ€™s first Black anchor in prime time.

Hereโ€™s a statement Reid gave to The New York Times about her show:

Evening and prime-time news has been a universe of white men really since I was growing up. For somebody who grew up as a nerdy kid obsessed with news, watching โ€˜Nightlineโ€™ and โ€˜Meet the Press,โ€™ the idea of being a part of that family has always just been kind of overwhelmingโ€ฆI am a Black mom, a Black woman, a Black daughter. I am also a journalist who can conceptualize that pain from a unique point of view. Every day Iโ€™m in this job, Iโ€™m very conscious of that responsibility to make that collective voice heard. Itโ€™s unique to do that as a Black woman.

Reid previously hosted the daytime MSNBC show The Reid Report and has been a political columnist, blogger and commentator, as well as managing editor of the news site TheGrio.com.

Last month, she hosted the special, The Road to Reform: A Special Report with Joy Reid, which aired in the 7 PM time slot.

In a statement, Reid said, โ€œIโ€™ll always be proud of the work we did on AM Joy by pushing the envelope and tackling pragmatic conversations. Iโ€™m eager to carry that same energy into the 7 p.m. hour where we can continue to build on bringing in diverse, smart, and accomplished voices to the table on topics that are important to our viewers.โ€

MSNBC president Phil Griffin said that Reid is โ€œthoughtful and brings so much depth to her reporting. Sheโ€™s made for this moment.โ€