UPDATE: More than 10,000 viewers have signed our petition to MSNBC, urging them to reconsider canceling Mehdi Hasan’s network and Peacock shows since it launched on Thursday.

The petition was prominently featured in the Washington Post and Politico. Representative Maxwell Frost wrote on Twitter, "I just signed this petition and you should too!"

Backlash to MSNBC’s decision filled social media on Thursday from prominent media, cultural, and political leaders including:

• Bipartisan congressional voices like former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, and Reps. Frost, Pressley, Omar, and Khanna
• Major media voices like NYT’s Jonathan Swan, NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen, xxxxxx Editor-in-Chief Charlie Sykes
• Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill
• Former Obama speechwriter Tommy Vietor
• Former NAACP President Sherrilyn Ifill

Sign the petition: MSNBC, we need MORE hosts and guests who challenge power and conventional wisdom -- not less. Keep Mehdi Hasan as a host of his own show.

TWITTER REACTIONS:

New York Times Reporter Jonathan Swan:

Former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh:

Representative Maxwell Frost:

Longtime NAACP President Sherrilyn Ifill:

Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill:

Obama Administration Spokesperson Tommy Vietor:

Representative Ro Khanna:

Representative Ayanna Pressley:

xxxxxx Editor In Chief Charlie Sykes:

Attorney General of Minnesota Keith Ellison:

NBC investigations reporter Ben Collins:

NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen:

Editor of Press Watch Dan Froomkin:

Washington Post Media Reporter Jeremy Barr:

Daily Beast Columnist Rotimi Adeoye:

Longtime media columnist Margaret Sullivan:

Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent:

Media history is littered with voices that got in the door, resonated with the public, and were shut out because they challenged just a little too much power. Ed Schultz was kicked off MSNBC when he was a little too pro-union and too pro-Bernie at the time.

It’s also a huge step back for our democracy, which is increasingly challenged by misinformation and top-down voices. We need more independent voices in the conversation, trying to find the truth, even if we don’t agree with everything they say.

Sign the petition: MSNBC, we need MORE hosts and guests who challenge power and conventional wisdom -- not less. Keep Mehdi Hasan as a host of his own show.

Thank you.

-- The PCCC Team

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