And guess who it is?
MsNBC has caved to pressure from the McCain camp and the RNC over its coverage of the Republican convention and removed Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from their anchor slots in the upcoming Presidential debates. Instead, David Gregory (perceived to be more “neutral”) will anchor the debate coverage for MsNBC, in an effort to blunt criticism that the network is too liberal.
After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.
The change — which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle — is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left. […]
In January, Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews, the host of “Hardball,” began co-anchoring primary night coverage, drawing an audience that enjoyed the pair’s “SportsCenter”-style show. While some critics argued that the assignment was akin to having the Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly anchor on election night — something that has never happened — MSNBC insisted that Mr. Olbermann knew the difference between news and commentary.
But in the past two weeks, that line has been blurred. On the final night of the Republican convention, after MSNBC televised the party’s video “tribute to the victims of 9/11,” including graphic footage of the World Trade Center attacks, Mr. Olbermann abruptly took off his journalistic hat.
“I’m sorry, it’s necessary to say this,” he began. After saying that the video had exploited the memories of the dead, he directly apologized to viewers who were offended. Then, sounding like a network executive, he said it was “probably not appropriate to be shown.” […]
The McCain campaign has filed letters of complaint to the news division about its coverage and openly tied MSNBC to it. Tension between the network and the campaign hit an apex the day Mr. McCain announced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. MSNBC had reported Friday morning that Ms. Palin’s plane was enroute to the announcement and she was likely the pick. But McCain campaign officials warned the network off, with one official going so far as to say that all of the candidates on the short list were on their way — which MSNBC then reported.
“The fact that it was reported in real time was very embarrassing,” said a senior MSNBC official. “We were told, ‘No, it’s not Sarah Palin and you don’t know who it is.’ ”
Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of “NBC Nightly News,” have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, even while they anchored daytime hours of convention coverage on MSNBC and contributed commentary each evening. […]
According to three staff members, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal, and Steve Capus, president of NBC News, considered flying to the Republican convention in Minnesota last week to address the lingering tensions.
Can you imagine what Fox News and Rupert Murdoch’s response to Democrats would be if they were accused of being too conservative in their approach to news reporting? Oh wait, you don’t have to. We already knwo what it is — a big fat Cheney every time a Democrats complains of a conservative bias at Fox News. I guess only accusations of liberal bias from Republicans matter. At least to media executives, anyway.
And don’t you feel sorry for poor Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams? Their Republican friends probably have stopped returning their calls and won’t talk to them on the cocktail and weenie circuit. The horror! No wonder they won’t defend anyone at MsNBC with a liberal view. It really hurts their ability to enjoy themselves as the perambulate their egos around the Beltway social circuit.
And can you even imagine in your wildest dreams Roger Ailes flying to Denver to apologize to Democrats at their convention because the appearance of outright bias against liberals on Fox News might have offended them? Yes, I share your disbelief and laughter at the absurdity of the idea. But then Roger Ailes doesn’t worry about what Democrats say about him whether or not they are in power. He knows Rupert Murdoch has his back. Anyone with a perceived liberal bias (Uh, is Phil Donahue in the house?) knows that isn’t the case at any other network.
I guess we can now start our own “countdown” on how long Countdown and Keith Olbermann will last at MsNBC. I place it at no more than 12 months, myself. Ratings be damned, he’s a mean old nasty liberal who actually says stuff like blatant political appeals using the imagery of the 9/11 attacks is inappropriate! And sometimes he does real journalism! There’s simply no place for offensive commentary and practices like that on Television News, my friends!
And isn’t it nice to see the New York Times running a hit piece on Olbermann at McCain’s behest? See, even the most liberally biased newspaper on the planet thinks MsNBC has gone to far!
On Olbermann & Matthews — my take, the Booman version
I honestly believe Olbermann’s future depends on who wins in November.
If it’s McSame, he won’t make it to 2009, and neither will Rachel Maddow.
Neither will the rest of her. Palin and minister are counting on it.
This is just one small measure of why it might well be a Herculean task for Obama to pull out this election. This will not be the last such takedown of any seemingly liberal voice, in the media or most anywhere. It is just a continuation of the effort for a permanent Republican majority. It is a fight that will be fought on any front, using whatever tactics are necessary. And I’m just not sure what the hell can really be done about it. I just don’t see a mass uprising in protest of something like this. The sad reality is that it is of no concern to most people, even a lot of those who intend to vote for Obama. People are generally just clueless that this continuous purge is going on. They are just too busy living their daily lives to even be aware of it. Where are they going to hear about it, from the media themselves? In the newspapers? It is completely off their radar screens.
I saw a bumper sticker on car Saturday. It said “Imagine No Liberals, It IS possible”. And that is what is happening. Liberal Hunting Season will never close.
(I posted this in Sideshow comments, but it fits here, too.)
And now Olbermann’s been pushed out of covering the campaigns, as MSNBC creeps rightward. I’ve never been a KO fan, really–yes, he has provided some voice for the left, but it’s been leavened with notable problems, like his shoddy treatment of Hillary and his approval of Obama’s FISA stance. I think he’s in the end just another Village opportunist, sensing a need and filling it because he could get a paycheck out of it.
I seriously hope, however, that his removal would pique him enough that he has some response. (Hell, I seriously hope that he steels his nerve with the better part of a bottle of Bushmills and goes on air and tells a few Tales Of The Corporate Media Überpolitik.)
If we liberals don’t push back, scream, letter write, do whatever we can they will indeed win. My letters have already gone out to NYT and NBC>
I guess that it would have been too much trouble to keep at least one of them on the coverage.
The Sith Lords have returned and are moving to control all the media. The liberals (read Jedi) are in trouble and are fighting a rear guard action from the various blogs. The war is not over yet, however, and we can still continue our resistance. If we lose our freedom to blog, then, the dark empire will prevail. Guess I better send BooMan some $.
The WaPo article was actually a bit more informative, noting that the move was initiated by Olbermann to allow him to be more candid as a commenter. As an anchor he had to bite his tongue many times. I think this is a good move in the end. Countdown is not going anywhere:
Olbermann and Matthews will remain as analysts during major political events, and officials at both networks, who declined to be identified discussing personnel moves, said Olbermann had initiated the discussions to clarify his role. They said Olbermann’s influence at MSNBC would in no way be diminished and that the shift would enable him and Matthews to offer more candid analysis during live coverage. Olbermann confirmed yesterday he had initiated the discussions.
In some ways these kinds of obvious attempts at overt censorship are better than more subtle attempts because they are so much more obvious.
The problem is that 90% of Americans don’t notice that even the most obvious propaganda is propaganda.
And even more subtle is what the MSM chooses to cover or not cover. How much coverage will be about how “hot” Palin is, or the big Sunday story in the SF Chronic that Mr. Palin is “hot” and in a union and will therefore attract union voters to vote Republican. Meanwhile, no one in the media seems to care about what books Palin wanted to ban, or why. That’s a look into her soul and yet everyone is afraid to look.
There are all sorts of things that need reporting. For ex, everything about the anthrax attacks points to a psyop run by our government to justify a war against Iraq. You can add Ivins’ death to the list of murders in that caper. And yet the best you get are republished FBI press releases. It is established fact the Bush Administration lied us into two wars. If BushCo lied us into a war, if the anthrax caper originated in Dugway/Battelle to pass the Patriot Act, then why continue to presume that our government had nothing to do with 9-11? An unfettered press would be hammering this every day.
But no one has to answer when no one asks the questions.
Bob, you keep pricking holes in the American fantasy bubble and people will not like you. Come on, we have all seen videos of old buildings being demolished by carefully placed explosives, of how they fall right into their footprints, just like the structures on 9/11. Excepting building seven (forty–seven stories) which was the first skyscraper in history to collapse from fire. Wow, what a coincidence.
Maybe I need to go chill out somewhere, total information blackout, but for the first time in this campaign I’m really worried. I feel we’re watching the same movie all over again. I want to vomit.
During primary season, I found the best way to combat that feeling was to go register voters and knock doors for team Obama. Do you have a headquarters near you?
We found their coverage of the DNC to be overly focused on the non-story of PUMAs and to be incredibly lenient in questioning Palin and McCain. And we saw nothing on Ron Paul’s “refuse’ ” convention in Minneapolis.
They are all biased. Which is why we get almost none of our input from TV, and watched the conventions on CSPAN. Spouse wanted to hear what the pundits had to say. I listened briefly and bailed. I cannot handle non-stop propaganda in the guise of informative reporting and commentary. Journalism in this country is gone. And I say this as a member of a journalism family that is sickened by the changes we’ve seen in our lifetime.
Palin wasn’t named until after the DNC, what are you talking about?
I am talking about their coverage of both conventions. I thought it was terrible.
initiated the move, it came about because the whing cheaters can’t take the heat. They live in the same Faux News bubble as W. We are in deep trouble if they have this must influence. We need to stop this right here and now. There never has been a “liberal media” folks. That is just another great repug frame and everyone including the media has bought into it. What the hell is happening? We need for Obama to speak up. This is seripus shit. This is not the time to play nice. Put the gloves on BArak. Start calling these whackos what they really are.
Please.
Here:
As The World Turns. As The TIDE Turns. Watch.
Corporate control of the media.
Obama was PLACED in position.
In position to have his ass kicked.
Read it.
And watch.
Clinton eliminated from contention even as VP was the first successful move.
Palin (and the overwhelmingly positive media reaction to her nomination) was the second move.
This is the third.
Watch.
And LEARN this time.
To tell you the truth, I have not seen so masterful a media campaign since the runup to the Iraq invasion.
They are GOOD, these bad guys!!!
Real good.
Bet on it.
AG
I don’t know who they think is watching MSNBC, who has it on their remote’s favorites, etc. I’ve had workpeople come into my house where I’m watching MSNBC, even when it’s on Andrea Mitchell or something, and say, "You’re a liberal, huh?"
NBC execs are in for some low ratings, but I guess that’s alright, as long as Republicans don’t complain.