Chris Matthews: 'Group pressure' at MSNBC forces partisanship on talent

In an interview on "Larry King Now," MSNBC's Chris Matthews said that internal pressure at MSNBC (as well as other cable channels) forces on-air talent to be more politically partisan.

"I'm watching Fox [News]," Matthews said. "Will [new primetime anchor] Megyn Kelly be able to stay in the middle or will she move over? Will she have to move over? Look at Greta [Van Susteren]. Greta was more center left now she's moved over. There's a lot of group pressure in those places. In any place you work."

Asked by Larry King if there's specifically any pressure to be partisan at MSNBC, Matthews said yes. "Oh, I feel it," he said. "I think it's there. I think you know your audience. You know who you're talking to. I always know who I'm talking to. But I always want to keep a chunk of Republicans as well as Democrats."

Matthews' admission came as part of a larger discussion about the evolution of cable news into an evermore opinionated medium. "The viewer comes home and they have an attitude," Matthews said, "and they want to enjoy that attitude. They want somebody else to voice it."

Watch the full episode...