Joy Reid is known for many things — she is a master storyteller, a distinguished journalist and a persistent truth-seeker. And now, you can add history-maker to her impressive list of achievements. 

On Monday, Reid made history as the first Black woman to host a nightly news show with the debut of The Reid Out on MSNBC. It’s a momentous moment in media and a much-deserved opportunity for Reid, who is unequivocally one of the sharpest and most diligent journalists in America. Prior to her new role, Reid was the host of AM Joy — a brilliantly-produced morning news show that tackled everyday issues impacting communities across the country. She led that team and was the face of the show for four years and prior to that held a managing editor role at TheGrio. Her work showcases a long-standing record of advocating for and amplifying marginalized voices in mainstream spaces. 

Today, Reid is very vocal on Twitter and is one of the most prominent people in the media. Her debut week of The Reid Out is a reflection of her influence and impact, as she interviewed high-profile and heavy-hitting guests like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Rep. Maxine Waters, Senator Kamala Harris, former Attorney General Eric Holder and many more. However, her vision for the show expands beyond providing a platform for politicians, but also everyday activists and people who are being impacted by the policies the aforementioned put in place. 

In an interview with Blavity, Reid discusses what this history-making moment feels like for her, her vision for the new show and advice to young Black people on pursuing and achieving their dreams. 

Blavity: Congratulations on The Reid Out and for making history as the first Black woman to host a nightly news show! What does this achievement in this moment feel like for you? 

Reid: Thank you! It’s a huge opportunity, a huge responsibility. I looked up to people like Gwen Ifill and Carole Simpson, when they were doing it on nightly news and I know what that meant for me to have that representation. There were so few Balck women that I could look up to as someone who was interested in the news and cared about the news, but really saw it mostly told to me by white men. So I think that this change matters because we as Black people, Black and brown people, we’re the emerging majority in this country and we need to have a voice. We need to have the world told to us by people who look like us. 

You came out swinging on your debut night with heavy-hitting guests! What’s your vision and hope for the show, what do you hope it accomplishes? 

I love a good conversation so we asked for everybody — can we get Oprah, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama?! We just threw it out there because all people can really do is say no and if they say yes, then what we want to do is not just have them share talking points but get them to tell us what they’re actually going to do. Politics can seem really boring and irrelevant to a lot of younger people, but politics is nothing more than getting what you want and the only way you’re going to get what you want is if people in power know what you want and that you push them to give it to you and go get it for you because that’s what we hire them for. Even if you’re fresh out of college and you have your first job, you’re still paying these people. They are your employees, too. So what I feel like my job is is to ask them the questions that YOU would ask them. Ask them how they’re going to get younger people, who are saying what they want, and are in the streets marching for what they want. I can actually ask these people how they’re going to get it for them and I think that’s an important role that I can play.

What is your approach to journalism and storytelling? How do you determine which stories to prioritize or unpack each day?

That’s very difficult to do because there’s always a thousand things happening at one time and you don’t want to forget that have happened so really what we do is examine what’s the thing that’s hitting us most viscerally in that moment. Now, it is the ongoing police violence, that now includes federal police violence. This is something I’ve never seen before in America, it’s not supposed to happen in a democracy. 

I feel like at this moment, that story and the ongoing death toll that is disproportionately affecting black people as well, those two stories are so important that we have to tell them. 

As we go forward, picking the stories and booking for the show, we also want to have activists on the show – the regular people who are getting arrested and doing the work so we want to balance between just having politicians with real people and real activities. 

What are your general thoughts on the media landscape today and the role social media plays? 

I started in journalism as a morning TV producer and then went into digital and came into the NBC news world as a digital producer. In the early 2000s, the media was very reluctant to use social media because they felt that it undercut the brand and it gave information that should wait for the 6 o'clock news. But, most young people don't watch the 6 o'clock news, and not everyone watches TV or gets their news from TV so I love Twitter. It’s a way to reach people who are not necessarily parked in front of the TV but still want and need information. I get as much information from Twitter as I share. I first saw the Mike Brown story because people were tweeting pictures of his body in the street. The only reason we know about George Floyd is because a brave 17-year-old girl filmed his death. She was brave enough not to move and she posted the video on Facebook and that Facebook post is why we know about George Floyd. The killings of citizens by police, specifically black people, is still happening at the same rate but the thing that is new is that social media lets everybody know what’s going on, and let’s nobody question that it’s real. It’s critical, it’s crucial, it’s changed journalism forever and it’s made it much more accessible and real. 

What was one of the most challenging moments in your career and how did you overcome it? 

Probably the most challenging period was covering the Trayvon Martin case. I was covering it on the road, we did that for about a month. And covering the story of a kid, who is the same age as my middle child and who’s a beautiful young kid who gets killed and to watch the world try to vilify him and his mom and dad, that story was very difficult for the whole family. We all felt it viscerally. And then to interview Sabrina and Tracy, they were so familiar to me — we lived in Florida in 14 years, we even had mutual friends. 

I think the hardest day I ever had in journalism was covering the memorial service for Trayvon at his home church in Miami Gardens and since I was covering it I had to be inside and was sitting on the end of the front row because I was going to interview Sybrina for the first time. Sybrina is sitting in the middle and the whole family is there sobbing and crying and it was so difficult to sit there. That was rough and then I had to pull myself together and interview her for the first time. She was so sweet — and said to me, “We’re wearing the same colors” because we both had on a pink blazer. She put ME at ease in that moment and I just wanted to hug her. So, that story and the Tamir Rice story I think were the most difficult stories I’ve ever done. 

What are you most proud of? 

I’m very proud of the work we did at TheGrio. I was always proud to give our presentation on what TheGrio was doing because it was always distinct and different from what everyone was covering. We gave [NBC] an opportunity to have news that came from a different perspective. 

I’m amazingly proud of AM Joy – it was four years ago April when we launched that show and it was brilliantly produced and I’m very proud to say we had a majority minority cast of producers, it was primarily written by women, people of color, LBTQ people and young people. I'm very proud of everything we did at AM joy and of course I’m proud of this job and breaking that glass ceiling as a Black woman doing The Reid Out. I know my mother would be very proud, because she was a news junkie like me. And hopefully Gwen Ifill, because I’m a Gwen Ifill STAN. 

What is one practical piece of advice you can share to every Black millennial on accomplishing their dreams? 

There’s a saying that you should “speak it into existence.” I say “write it into existence.” 

Write down what you want to do. I think it’s important to hold yourself accountable for the things that are your dreams because if you just think them up and let that thought go away, you might not do it. But if you write it down, you’ve made yourself accountable. 

Also, try to always be prepared and raise your hand for opportunities. White guys raise their hands for everything, and we should do the same thing. So don’t be afraid to raise your hand, but once you do make sure you’re prepared — because when it’s time for you to shine, you will shine. 

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