{{short description|American journalist}} {{about|the journalist|the mathematician|Joan E. Walsh|the Irish actress|Joan Brosnan Walsh}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Joan Walsh | image = Joan-walsh-smwknd2018-4032.jpg | image_size = | caption = Walsh at Social Media Weekend 2018 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|9|18}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | education = University of Wisconsin (BA) | spouse = | occupation = Journalist | children = 1 }}
'''Joan Maureen Walsh''' (born September 18, 1958) is a liberal American political pundit and journalist. Walsh is national affairs correspondent for ''The Nation,'' and was previously an on-air political analyst at CNN and MSNBC. She produced the 2020 documentary ''The Sit In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show.'' She is a former editor-in-chief of ''Salon'' and author of the book ''What's the Matter with White People?''<ref name=nyt>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/business/media/joan-walsh-msnbc-contract.html |title=Joan Walsh's Contract at MSNBC Is Not Renewed |last=Stevens |first=Matt |date=December 23, 2017|work=The New York Times |access-date=December 24, 2017|language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Walsh was born in Brooklyn, New York<ref name=Matter>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLck7DWaLx0C&pg=born|first=Joan|last=Walsh|title=What's the Matter with White People?: Finding Our Way in the Next America|pages=72 |date=April 16, 2013|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781476733128}}</ref> to an Irish Catholic family.<ref>{{Cite web|last1= North|first1= James|last2=Weiss|first2=Philip |title= Joan Walsh discloses her religious investment in a political issue |publisher=Mondoweiss|date=April 21, 2011|url=http://mondoweiss.net/2011/04/joan-walsh-discloses-her-religious-investment-in-a-political-issue/ |quote=The choice issue is a very tough issue, especially for those of us raised Catholic}}</ref> In 1960, her family moved to Oceanside, Long Island.<ref name=Matter /> She has one brother and one sister. At the age of 13, her family moved to a northern suburb of Milwaukee where she attended high school and was editor of the school's newspaper.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=September 18, 2017 |title=BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Joan Walsh, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and MSNBC political analyst |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/18/playbook-birthday-joan-walsh-242825 |access-date=July 9, 2024 |website=Politico}}</ref><ref name=SalonZeff>{{Cite web|last= Zeff |first= Blake |title="I've had a really fun life": Joan Walsh opens up on her childhood, career — and online critics |publisher=Salon (website)|date= March 19, 2015|url=https://www.salon.com/2015/03/19/ive_had_a_really_fun_life_joan_walsh_opens_up_on_her_childhood_career_and_online_critics/ }}</ref> Her mother died when she was 17.<ref name=SalonZeff />
Walsh is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where she was the Campus Editor for ''The Daily Cardinal''.<ref name=SalonZeff /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Rumage|first=Jeff|title=Journalist Joan Walsh among Shorewood alumni honored|url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/shorewood/2018/04/17/journalist-joan-walsh-among-shorewood-alumni-honored/515087002/|access-date=October 12, 2021|website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Media career ==
=== Print media === After graduating from college, she joined a liberal weekly paper in California, the Santa Barbara News and Review, where she went on to become editor-in-chief.<ref name=":0" />
When the online magazine ''Salon'' launched in 1998, Walsh became its first news editor.<ref name="HuffPo2015">{{Cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joan-walsh-salon-the-nation_n_56029ef4e4b08820d91ad2db |title=Joan Walsh Leaves Salon For The Nation Magazine |last=Arana |first=Gabriel |work=HuffPost |quote=The Nation magazine has hired Joan Walsh, a prominent Salon contributor who previously served as Salon's editor-in-chief for six years. Walsh, who started at Salon as the site's first news editor in 1998, joins The Nation as national affairs correspondent. Walsh will continue her role as an analyst at MSNBC |date=September 23, 2015 |access-date=September 24, 2020}}</ref> She was editor-in-chief from 2005 to 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/salons-editor-chief-joan-walsh-steps-down-22364/|title=Salon's Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh Steps Down|date=November 8, 2010}}</ref> In 2015, she left ''Salon'' for ''The Nation'', and would become the publication's national affairs correspondent.
=== TV career === Walsh worked at MSNBC for a total of twelve years, six of them under contract. On December 23, 2017, Walsh said MSNBC had chosen not to renew her contract, which the network described as a decision made because of an annual review. In their statement, MSNBC also said that "Unfortunately we couldn't renew Joan, but she and her distinct perspective will still be invited on our shows."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Canfield|first=David|date=December 24, 2017|title=Joan Walsh joins CNN after being dropped by MSNBC|language=en|work=EW.com|url=https://ew.com/tv/2017/12/24/joan-walsh-joins-cnn-dropped-by-msnbc/|access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref>
MSNBC's decision to not renew Walsh's contract prompted critical reactions from other MSNBC personalities, including Joy Reid and Chris Hayes. Some of Walsh's supporters also protested MSNBC's decision using the Twitter hashtag #KeepJoanWalsh.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Littleton|first=Cynthia|date=December 24, 2017|title=Political Analyst Joan Walsh Moves to CNN After Being Dropped by MSNBC|language=en-US|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/joan-walsh-cnn-msbnc-hired-contributor-1202648543/|access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref>
Later that day, Walsh tweeted that she would move to CNN in 2018, which was soon confirmed by a CNN spokeswoman.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Karlis|first=Nicole|date=December 23, 2017|title=Joan Walsh will move to CNN after MSNBC contract not renewed|language=en-US|work=Salon|url=https://www.salon.com/2017/12/23/joan-walsh-moves-to-cnn-after-msnbc-decides-not-to-renew-contract/|access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref><ref name="nyt" /> While at CNN, Walsh pushed back against former Donald Trump staffer Marc Short for accusing her of being anti-religious.<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 30, 2018|title=Joan Walsh Slams Marc Short for Anti-Religious Accusation|url=https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-joan-walsh-goes-off-on-ex-trump-staffer-marc-short-for-accusing-her-of-being-anti-religion-how-dare-you/|access-date=October 12, 2021|website=Mediaite|language=en}}</ref>
It was announced on December 14, 2020, that her contract with CNN would not be renewed. Walsh stated in response:<blockquote>"I'm grateful to CNN for the opportunity. Nobody is promised a decade of paid TV commentary. Arguably, nobody deserves it! I am certainly willing to contribute to my friends' shows on MSNBC and on CNN too when I'm right for the topic."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Coleman|first=Justine|date=December 14, 2020|title=CNN not renewing Joan Walsh's contract|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/530170-cnn-not-renewing-joan-walshs-contract|access-date=October 12, 2021|website=The Hill|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>
=== Social media activity === On April 1, 2018, Kyle Kashuv, a witness of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, tweeted that Walsh "liked" a tweet criticizing him. She replied, "Are you really policing who 'likes' tweets from a grieving Parkland father who lost his daughter? Good luck handling your stress, Kyle."<ref name="Borchers">{{cite news |last=Borchers |first=Callum |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/04/so-what-are-the-rules-of-engagement-with-the-parkland-teens/ |title=So, what are the rules of engagement with the Parkland teens? |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 4, 2018 |access-date=April 11, 2018}}</ref>
==Personal life== Walsh is divorced and has one daughter,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walsh |first= Joan |title=Confessions of a former self-hating white person – It took a broken heart to teach me that guilty white liberals aren't the solution to America's racial strife, but part of the problem|work=Salon|date=February 17, 2000 |url=https://www.salon.com/2000/02/17/guilty/ |quote=I had a husband, and he was white (Jewish, for the record, which my ex didn't consider white, but my black friends mostly did)}}</ref> Nora Walsh DeVries.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McDermott |first=Peter|title=Family's divide mirrors nation's since '60s|publisher=Irish Echo]|date=October 31, 2012 |url=https://www.irishecho.com/2012/10/familys-divide-mirrors-nations-since-60s/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Nora Walsh-Devries '08 |publisher=Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory|url= https://www.shcp.edu/alumni-profiles/norah-walsh-devries-08/ |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>
In 2017 she told ''Politico'' a "fun fact" about herself: "In 1977, Bruce Springsteen jumped off the stage in Madison, Wisconsin, and danced with me. I was the original Courteney Cox, and Courteney Cox doesn't even know that."<ref name=":0" />
==Books== *(with C. W. Nevius) ''Splash Hit! Pacific Bell Park and the San Francisco Giants'' (Chronicle Books, 2001) *''What's the Matter with White People? Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was'' (Wiley, 2012) *(with Nick Hanauer and Donald Cohen) ''Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power and Wealth In America'' (The New Press, 2023)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.thenation.com/authors/joan-walsh/ Profile] at ''The Nation'' {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Joan Maureen}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American women journalists Category:MS NOW people Category:American political journalists Category:Salon (website) people Category:The Nation people Category:American women writers Category:American people of Irish descent Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni