Six months after MSNBC promoted anchor Joy Reid to weeknights, the cable-news network has finally settled on a replacement for her on the weekends. Actually, make that replacements: Veteran political analyst Tiffany Cross and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart have been tapped to fill the vacancy left by Reid’s departure last July, Vulture has learned. Starting next week, Cross will take over the Saturday 10 a.m. to noon ET shift, while Capehart will work the same hours on Sundays. AM Joy, which has been kept alive even after Reid exited, will be retired and replaced by two separate, as-yet-untitled shows.
The selection of Capehart and Cross won’t come as a surprise to regular MSNBC viewers. Both journalists were regular panelists during Reid’s run as host of AM Joy, and the duo have been part of the rotation of guest hosts who’ve been anchoring the weekend slot since she left. In announcing the new shows, MSNBC president Phil Griffin said Capeheart’s “steadfast dedication to great journalism, along with Tiffany Cross’ fresh expert analysis, offer our MSNBC weekend morning audience the best of both worlds from two very different life and worldview experiences.â€
Cross, currently a resident fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, previously worked as D.C. bureau chief for BET Networks and as a field producer for CNN. She is also the author of Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy. Capehart joined the Washington Post’s editorial page in 2007, having previously worked in a similar role at the New York Daily News. While at the News, Capehart was a key part of the team that won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. In addition to writing for the Post, he also hosts the podcast Cape Up. Capehart joined MSNBC as a contributor in 2009. Last month, Capehart interviewed President Barack Obama and members of My Brother’s Keeper in an exclusive prime-time special event on MSNBC.