Cenk Uygur

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Cenk Uygur's Biography

Cenk Uygur (pronounced [ˈdʒeɲc 'ujɡuɾ]; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish-American radio talk show host and political commentator on the MSNBC cable television channel. He is the main host and co-founder of the liberal talk radio show The Young Turks.

Early life, education, and early career
Uygur was born in Istanbul, Turkey; he and his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old. He grew up in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey, where he graduated from East Brunswick High School. He later graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Law School, and is a former associate at the law firms of Drinker Biddle & Reath in Washington, D.C. and Hayes & Liebman in New York City.

Television career
Uygur first appeared on television as a talk show host on a weekend radio show on the WWRC station in Washington, D.C. and the WROK station in Boston. He later wrote for, produced, and appeared on the WAMI-TV news show The Times in Miami. It was after this that he started The Young Turks on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Political views

1980s–90s
Uygur was a registered Republican in his youth and a supporter of President Ronald Reagan, as well as a member of the Republican student group at the University of Pennsylvania, and the conservative Federalist Society, describing himself as a "Northeast moderate Republican", and a former hawk, having supported the Gulf War and until 2009, the War in Afghanistan (though he has strongly opposed the Second Iraq War). When covering the 2010 midterm elections on November 2, 2010, Uygur stated that he had previously worked for a time for Republican former New York Congressman Joe DioGuardi, who was defeated by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that night in his bid for her Senate seat.

Social issues
On social issues, Uygur has long maintained a pro-choice position with regard to abortion, and has been supportive of LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage. In 2009, he advocated the legalization of drugs, in response to his view that the War on Drugs has failed to achieve its objectives given the continuing violence in Mexico and the border region, as well as his opposition to imprisoning non-violent drug offenders for marijuana possession. He previously supported the death penalty, but has turned away from that position largely due to continuing exonerations of death row inmates since reinstatement.

Economic issues
Uygur has expressed support for a return to Clinton-era income tax brackets, and criticized the Obama–GOP compromise which provided for a temporary extension of the Bush tax cuts, as well as stating that he favored welfare reform as enacted under Bill Clinton. He has been critical of excessive regulation, but has argued that in recent decades regulation of the financial sector has been inappropriately decreased, particularly the deregulatory policies of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, such as the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act Clinton signed into law, which he views as a major contributor to the recent economic recession.

Foreign policy and national security issues
On national security and civil liberties issues, Uygur has strongly opposed the practice began under the Bush administration of indefinite detention, warrantless wiretapping, and extraordinary rendition, and has identified waterboarding as an illegal torture technique.

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Electoral support for Democratic candidates
He has stated that he voted for George H. W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election, again in 1992, and for Bob Dole in 1996; the 2000 election was the first time he voted Democratic, supporting Al Gore. Uygur has supported Democratic congressional candidates since then, as well as supporting John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.

Criticism of Democratic congressional leadership
Despite this support, Uygur has been frequently critical of Democratic congressional leadership, which he views as having insufficiently opposed the administration on civil liberties and foreign policy issues; in part because of these concerns, Uygur had raised the possibility of supporting a possible impeachment of George W. Bush. Early in the Obama campaign, Uygur had expressed skepticism of the Obama suitability for the Presidency, particularly regarding Obama's limited experience at the nation level and what Uygur views as limited achievements in the Senate; nevertheless, he moved to a position of strong support later in the campaign. Uygur has criticized Blue Dog Democrats and other centrist and conservative Democrats, some of whom he has labeled as "corporatists". However, he has described former Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, a Democrat, as "probably the only guy in the whole entire Senate we can trust"; when Feingold was defeated for reelection in 2010 by Republican Ron Johnson, Uygur said Feingold had been "the best Senator we had, and we no longer have him, so enjoy Ron Johnson - my sense is, you won't". He has also effusively praised former Florida Congressman Alan Grayson.

Criticism of the Obama administration
Since fall 2009, Uygur has taken an increasingly combative attitude towards the Obama administration, saying recently that, "It's been over two years, [Obama]'s not a progressive...This guy is not going to come on your side, he's just not going to do it. That's not who he is. He is a consummate politician." He has criticized the 2010 health insurance reform law as overly watered-down, owing to excessive concessions to business and conservatives in Congress, noting the deal made between Obama and the drug companies. Uygur has similarly criticized the 2010 financial reform law.
Moreover, Uygur has criticized the overall approach taken by the Obama administration in its dealing with the media establishment and Republicans, where he feels they have too readily conceded to conservative ideological arguments to the point of demonstrating an unwillingness to defend liberal positions. Despite this, Uygur has stated that he intends to vote for Obama's reelection in the 2012 presidential election, deriding his Republican opponents by saying, "What am I going to do, vote for a lunatic?"
After Obama's perceived move toward the political center following the Democrat's major losses in the 2010 midterm elections, Uygur became increasingly concerned the Obama's policies and initiatives were shifting further to the right, and while he was pleased with the departures of Rahm Emanuel and Larry Summers, he was worried about the influence Emanuel's replacement, Clinton veteran Bill Daley would have on the President's decisions. He also criticized Obama's speech to the Chamber of Commerce, in which the President offered, in Uygur's view, unnecessary and preemptive tangible and ideological concessions.

Views on the mainstream media
Uygur has criticized the mainstream media for what he views as having a business model based around access to powerful political figures, and this leading to an unwillingness to genuinely and forcefully challenge orthodox political positions and the conventional wisdom. He has also argued that modern American political journalism fails to meet its obligation of reporting on the news in an objective manner, preferring instead a neutral approach to news stories even when there is a clear distinction between fact and fiction, so as not to be accused of taking sides; Uygur has suggested that this stems from a desire to be viewed positively by conservatives who claim that the mainstream media has a liberal bias.

The Young Turks

Main article: The Young Turks (talk show)
Uygur created the talk show The Young Turks with the goal of starting a moderate liberal political and entertainment show. It launched on the 14th February, 2002. It later became a great success online, and airs on the Sirius Satellite Radio network. He is well known for his mastery in the online game 'Dave Koller's America'.
The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet video news show and states that it is now the largest online news show in the world. Video of the show is streamed daily on their website and available as a podcast.

Media appearances
Uygur has appeared on television on numerous occasions on MSNBC, CNN Headline News, E! Entertainment Television, Aljazeera, ABC News, Voice of America, NPR and the Fox News Channel.
He is a regular guest on The Dylan Ratigan Show for a segment opposite various conservative commentators. On several occasions, Uygur has guest hosted the show in Ratigan's absence, and has also served as guest host for The Ed Show in the absence of Ed Schultz as well as the guest host for Keith Olbermann on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
On August 17, 2010 a clip of Uygur speaking on Internet neutrality (on The Dylan Ratigan Show on August 10) was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; on September 13, 2010 a clip of Uygur speaking on Pastor Terry Jones was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[citation needed]
On October 21, 2010 MSNBC announced that Uygur had been officially hired as a contributor and substitute anchor for the network. Previously, Uygur had periodically guest hosted and appeared on numerous MSNBC programs.[citation needed]
On December 22, 2010 Uygur interviewed Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show.
On January 21, 2011, it was announced that Uygur would take over the 6 P.M. Eastern slot on MSNBC as the anchor of a new primetime edition of MSNBC Live, after the network parted ways with Keith Olbermann, resulting in a rearrangement of the timeslots of MSNBC's other prime time shows. "MSNBC said Lawrence O'Donnell, who formerly filled in for Olbermann and began hosting his own show on MSNBC at 10 p.m. in September, will take over Olbermann's 8 p.m. slot. O'Donnell will be replaced by Ed Schultz's "Ed Show" at 10. Schultz's vacated 6 p.m. slot will be filled by Cenk Uygur." Washington Post
Cenk appeared on George Galloway's political radio show on the February 11, 2011 as an American correspondent, explaining problems he perceives with American politics for a British audience.

Personal life
Uygur was born and raised in a Turkish-Sunni Muslim family. However, he now considers himself agnostic.
His father was born in Kilis, Turkey.

Uygur is married to Wendy Lang Uygur, a social worker by education. The Uygurs are the parents of one son named Prometheus Maximus Uygur, born July 2010. He was introduced live on MSNBC by Dylan Ratigan.

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