Image may contain Human Person JoyAnn Reid Sitting and HairPhoto courtesy of MSNBCThe nail-biting wait for an outcome to the presidential election extended past Election Day and was currently being monitored by millions worldwide. The countdown to a final decision was marked by constant and contradictory news updates, social media meltdowns, and countless memes. Throughout it all, broadcast journalists have been a voice of reason, while also having to appear on camera for hours at a time. And I, for one, have been turning to Joy Reid for this solace. The MSNBC host’s presence during this round of political warfare has felt essential. Reid, who became the first Black woman to anchor a prime time news show with the premiere of The ReidOut in July, cuts through the noise and offers her viewers factual news, informed opinions, and on occasion humor.Though she’s covered politics for decades, 2020’s race and its subsequent delays created new challenges and a 24-hour work schedule that has made Reid a constant during the news cycle. “This is definitely the most intense election I’ve ever covered,” Reid shared on the phone from Manhattan. “2016 was intense, but in a different way because for most of the election, Trump was just an unpleasant curiosity that no one took seriously as a contender. We were covering so much of what was happening around him from a horrified distance—the Russian intervention, the misogyny, the Access Hollywood tape—it was never-ending. In contrast, the Clinton story was the same as it had been for the last 20 years. You didn’t get the sense that [election] was going to change the trajectory.”