The Young Turks hires former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan

Progressive online news network The Young Turks (TYT) has hired former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan, radio host David Sirota and former MSNBC producer Jonathan Larsen. 

TYT has been on a streak of hiring pundits and reporters after a crowdfunding campaign raised more than $1.5 million. The proceeds of the campaign are being used to invest in adding staff to the network.  

Ratigan is the former host of “The Dylan Ratigan Show” on MSNBC, the network’s highest-rated program outside of prime time from 2009 to 2012. Prior to MSNBC, he was a host on CNBC and served as Bloomberg News’s global managing editor. 

The 44-year-old is also the author of the New York Times best-seller “Greedy Bastards.”  

Ratigan will serve as a news commentator, according to a network announcement. 

Larsen most recently served as a senior executive producer for politics at Al Jazeera America. Before that, he was a producer for Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” on MSNBC and Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central.

In his new role at TYT, Larsen will oversee the editorial and programming direction for the network’s investigative journalists and commentators. 

Sirota joins TYT as a part-time news commentator. The former Huffington Post contributor will remain as the senior editor for investigations at The International Business Times.

Sirota had been slated earlier this year to join True Blue Media, an investigative site backed by Democratic mega-donor David Brock, but he backed out in February.  

The Young Turks originally launched as a Sirius radio program in 2002. It launched its YouTube channel in 2005.  

“One of YouTube’s top partner channels, TYT Network has over 173 million views a month across platforms and more than 6 billion total views on The Young Turks YouTube channel and Facebook page,” according to the network. 

TYT was created by Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz.

–This report was updated on March 26 at 12:48 p.m.