MSNBC appeals to a liberal audience. They focus on covering largely political news that is highly opinionated. These opinions are almost always left leaning with a focus on democratic opinions. You can see this in their coverage of Trump. They never try to stay neutral when discussing the policies or actions of Trump and will normally find a way to attack Trump. A site that was attempting to just give news, or even appeal to a wider range than those of a more moderate or right leaning demographic. They focus primarily on this demographic because it is a corner of the market that was not at the time covered. In 2008 Fox had largely cornered the conservative and republican demographic, however, there was no news organization in which liberals were the main audience appealed to. Focusing on this demographic allowed MSNBC to become a major powerhouse in the news world.