Olberman, Impartiality and MSNBC --by David Carr - New York Times

[Mira]

Olberman, Impartiality and MSNBC
by David Carr - New York Times

MSNBC, worried that its reputation as a fair broker of the news hung in the balance, sent Keith Olbermann to the woodshed on Friday for an unpaid suspension because he had donated $7,200 to some of the Democratic politicians he had championed on his hit show “Countdown.”
Golly, that ought to take care of everything.

If MSNBC were really worried about coming off as impartial, don’t you think it would have chosen somebody besides Mr. Olbermann, one of the most rabidly partisan figures in national news, to anchor its election coverage? Even Fox News knows better than to do something like that.

MSNBC is new to the network-as-political-identity game, and its parent company, NBC, is far less comfortable with pure play political programming than the News Corporation — and it shows. MSNBC backed into its current identity, driven by the outsize ratings of Mr. Olbermann, and the success of Rachel Maddow’s frankly liberal take on the world.

So what message is being sent by the suspension, which will end on Tuesday? Apparently, Mr. Olbermann is supposed to fire up the base like a convention keynote speaker at 8 p.m., but conduct himself like Brian Williams the rest of the time.

The lines separating politics, entertainment and news were already fading. This election obliterated them. Both Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart held well-attended and well-received rallies on the Mall in Washington, and Fox News had three Republican presidential hopefuls — Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin — on the payroll as commentators.

finish reading the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/business/media/08carr.html?_r=1&ref=business

[Skidmore]

1. That is utter BS.

You don't have a Republican shill on your channel and other opinion programming on the liberal side and claim to be a broker for unbiased news. It apparently is only biased if from a left leaning person.

[City Lights]

2. What a pantload of crap.

"Even Fox Nooze knows better than to do something like that." :eyes:

Fox Nooze is propaganda straight from the Rethuglican party 24/7.

Dear NYTimes: You make me :puke:.

[KharmaTrain]

3. It's Not The Politics...It's The Demographics

Keith loves to refer to how his rating numbers do very well in the lucrative 25-54 age demographic. Faux does poorly here (most of their viewers require walkers to get up and change the channel) and this is where the network scores best and makes a lot of money. It's the "libruls" that bring that younger audience and a reason that the network has expanded its "librul" shows from just Countdown three years ago. Lose that demographic and they might as well run lock-up shows 24/7. Methinks they got a strong message over the weekend not to fuck with things.

That said, this is an entity as many have pointed out here that is own by a conservative corporation. As long as the dollars roll in, they'll hold their noses for some of things said and done.

[Enthusiast]

4. It's that liberal NY Times again!

:sarcasm:

[Waiting For Everyman]

5. The RW always hates (and kills) competition yet claims to love it.

They are such liars. If they had to live by their own words, they'd fold in a second.

[FormerDittoHead]

6. Every line is bullshit, just like every one of their ideas. n/t

[prodigals0n]

7. This was pure partisan political manipulation from the start

Griffin and Scarborough have both got to go. These two cooked up this clearly politically motivated attack, cynically using partisanship to advance their own partisan view of MSNBC and broadcast news in general.

It's well known Scarborough is MSNBC's own Iago in residence.

"Rules" selectively applied are worse than no rules, and in the workplace it's illegal as hell. I'm certain that in any of several corporations where I've worked Griffin and Scarborough would be suspended immediately pending further investigation.

[Skidmore]

8. I posted this a few days ago.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. I think there have been some major manipulations going on with Scarborough involved. He's trying to clear a path to a candidacy and to rehab his image to be "fair and balanced" in a FOX sort of way.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9498544

[prodigals0n]

10. Yes, another dangerously compromised Republican stooge

Being aided and abetted by the likes of Griffin. I like this take from Daily Kos, another liberal voice silenced by Scarborough and Griffin.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/11/5/917893/-Olbermann-suspended-by-MSNBC
Olbermann suspended by MSNBC

If Scarborough and Griffin were liberals and they did this they'd already be fired and "disgraced". Yet Scarborough and Griffin, typical of the double standard conservatives continually take advantage of, just skate as always. But that's the core problem in all realms of politics today. Conservatives have been able to frame the debate, demonize liberals, and paint the press as liberal while they dominate it with conservative bat shit crazy policies and outright lies.

I'm concerned that when Comcast takes over NBC the situation will become much, much worse. As reported at Think Progress, former Bush fundraiser, Steve Burke, will be running the show at MSNBC.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/05/burke-comcast-msnbc/
UPDATED: Before Bush Donor Takeover Of MSNBC, Network Selectively Applies Rules To Suspend Olbermann

[Kalyke]

9. Who is this twit?

And, if he really thinks Faux News has a time slot where the anchor isn't partisan (with the maybe, possibly, but barely exception of Shep Smith), then he needs to get out of his media bubble more often.