The Smithian

MSNBC doesn't opt for the "sprinkling" of diversity. On any given day, viewers are exposed to journalists, business experts, political analysts, scholars, academics and authors who are...also a diverse group based on race, gender, lifestyle and religion. Diversity-hungry black viewers are no doubt drawn to the network when they see the African-American anchor and host of her own show, Melissa Harris-Perry with her signature braids, moderating a roundtable of people of different hues and expertise -- a black Ivy professor wearing an unstructured "natural do," a gay woman from Pakistan who heads a large non-for-profit agency and an Asian journalist—who are chatting up politics, social-justice topics and issues that speak to a broad audience, but are particularly relevant to the black community. Props go to the direction that comes from the top.