Thanks to Digi for finding this!
CHRIS & KEITH 'LEFT' OUT AT MSNBC
September 8, 2008 --
THERE'S been a coup against the leftists occupying MSNBC's election anchor desk. Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have been bumped by the Peacock Network, beginning with the upcoming presidential debates and continuing through election night, a spokeswoman said.
David Gregory will be the new political anchor, while Matthews and Olbermann will return to their nightly shows, "Hardball" and "Countdown," respectively.
The benching of the blowhards comes amid accusations that the pair has been shilling for the Democratic ticket.
When Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination, Matthew's hard-hitting critique of the speech was that it sent a thrill up his leg.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell recently called MSNBC "the official network of the Obama campaign."
Angry Republicans made their feelings known during Sarah Palin's vice-presidential acceptance speech. When the Alaska governor got to the media-bashing section of her speech, the GOP faithful could be heard chanting, "NBC! NBC!"
But the hatred directed toward Matthews and Olbermann by Republicans is nothing compared to the daggers they've been hurling at each other and their NBC colleagues.
During the Democratic convention, Olbermann appeared to be upset by Matthew's long-winded analysis of Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech. Olbermann made a hand-gesture imitating a flapping mouth. Matthews shot back, "I can do the same to you!" and defended his commentary, saying, "That's what I thought, all right?"
The bickering and infighting has caused embarrassment among colleagues and may have caused the ax to fall.
NBC news legend Tom Brokaw recently said, "I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far."
An insider told The Post that Olbermann responded by pushing to have Brokaw banned from MSNBC.
2 comments:
I consistently don't understand the claim that there is a "liberal" or a "conservative" press.
There is a campaign at The Point that is intended to bring Olbermann back to the commentator position (commentator, not journalist, whatever that means anymore), which, as far as I can tell, is intended (in the arena of cable news, at least) to be more or less an entertainers role, anyhow:
http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/bring-back-olbermann-and-matthews
The idea that there is a liberal or conservative press seems moot considering the only indicators of this are the beliefs of the commentators/writers and other personnel who put their opinions out there. It is not, however, based on the beliefs of the owners or the shareholders, or on the interests represented by press conglomerates being protected by mis-information or suppressed stories.
Alex,
Thanks for stopping by. You are right, the liberal or conservative press is a moot point, but there is generally a liberal bias to the reporting. If you were to go back through the records over a period of, say even 50 years, I think you will find some basis for the perception that the press is more liberal. If you just look at the political endorsements and editorials (which are opinion based but also influential)you will surely see a pattern of liberal opinions, but there are media with a more conservative perspective as well, but they are fewer. Like with anything there can be personal bias, it seems that the most mainstream are more liberal.
You are also right that in the arena of cable news, the commentators are entertainers, but I bet they would argue the title, they see themselves as reporters. Most claim to be unbiased and there are those in the viewing public who believe this to be so. When I still had a television, there was at least one cable news network that claimed to be fair and impartial as part of their slogan. If they are claiming to be news, then they should be unbiased, if they are claiming to be entertainment, that is different. When you tune in for entertainment, you expect opinion, jokes, laughs, and you may even expect to be offended sometimes.
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