Only FOX Can Have Them
Yes, MSNBC has committed the sin of having “biased” journalist covering poltics on television. Unfortunately, they were biased for the wrong side:
MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat
MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts,Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election.
That experiment appears to be over.
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.
David Gregory. The same David Gregory that threw softballs at Bush during the run up to the war in Iraq. David Gregory, McCain’s sock puppet. Yep, can’t have the biased Olbermann and Mathews handling the job. It seems that the tipping point was when Olbermann took exception to the RNC in Minnesota showing a “tribute” to the 9/11 victims. Oh and a nice little “historic” recap of terrorism that forgot to mention our helping hand in developing them and ignoring them.
How dare Olbermann take exception to the GOP pandering, fear mongering and capitalizing on our national tragedy? Clearly the answer to his reasoned and heartfelt response is to can him and put a right wing hand job in his place. And Mathews may as well go as well cause even though he is totally whack, sometimes he is a meany head to some Republicans.
No, as the piece in the NY Times points out:
“The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what’s supposed to be straight news programming,” said Davidson Goldin, formerly the editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin.
MSNBC which is co-owned by NBC which is owned by GE, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world and cashed in with incredible profits from 9/11. NBC which is one of the most censored TV channels in America cannot have a “biased” host doing commentary. The right wing pitched a bitch fit and the station jumped. The piece adds:
The success of the Fox News Channel in the past decade along with the growth of political blogs have convinced many media companies that provocative commentary attracts viewers and lures Web browsers more than straight news delivered dispassionately.
And what is the success of the Faux Fox News Channel in the past decade based on? Non partisan and unbiased reporting? The Times piece says this about Olbermann:
As Mr. Olbermann raised his voice, his ratings rose as well, and he now reaches more than one million viewers a night, a higher television rating than any other show in the troubled 12-year history of the network. As a result, his identity largely defines MSNBC. “They have banked the entirety of the network on Keith Olbermann,” one employee said.
Well, here’s a news flash for those that don’t study media. Phil Donahue had a show on MSNBC and was let go because he was a real journalist that asked hard questions, let guests speak without shouting them down or cutting their mike and challenged the lead up to the war in Iraq like the “Main Stream Media” should have been doing. He was replaced by Micahael Savage and Joe Scarborough. Two right wing hacks if ever there were. Donahue was undermined by his own station and until Olbermann he was the only good thing about MSNBC. Now Rachel Maddow has her own show and there are two bright spots at MSNBC. The reason her and Olbermanns ratings are so high is because America is sick of the monopolistic voice of conservatives that constantly cry “Liberal Bias!” while they spew their party talking points virtually uncontested.
To get an idea of how pathetic MSNBC was in their formative years I recommend the book, “Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures In Corporate Media” by Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. It is also an excellent overview of the cable “news” industry in general and NBC and MSNBC in particular.
So for the rest of the campaign season get ready for Puff Ball Pieces and Pap. Stand by for Cutting Edge Commentary Guaranteed Not to Offend …Republicans. Hold on for the Excitement and Introspection that David Gregory is sure to bring. Yawn….
