Five myths about the Keith Olbermann demotion

[DeepModem Mom]

Kansas City Star: September 12, 2008
Five myths about the Keith Olbermann demotion
Aaron Barnhart

I've gotten a lot of feedback to my earlier piece about Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews (but mostly Keith) getting bumped off main anchor duty at MSNBC....I've been booked on CNN's "Reliable Sources" this weekend to defend my position with Howie Kurtz and Eric Deggans and S.E. Cupp. And that position is that MSNBC needed to move Olbermann off the center seat in order to get that fig leaf reattached by which it can continue to do news and commentary without damaging its brand or that of NBC News. Doing so, I argued, will actually help Keith as well as MSNBC....

MYTH #1. Olbermann is the equivalent of Brit Hume, yet Hume gets asked to anchor presidential debates -- proof positive that a double standard exists between liberal and conservative journalists.

....(Salon's Glenn) Greenwald didn't pause long enough to consider that the people bestowing legitimacy on Brit Hume by asking him to moderate a Democratic (debate) were Democrats....Also, unlike most journalists of his generation, Hume has actually been selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates to ask questions at a debate. Granted, it was 20 years ago and Hume was still at ABC, but his conservative views were well known in Washington then....

MYTH #2. There is a double standard in the way that Fox News is treated and the way MSNBC is treated in the mainstream media. Fox can be as right-wing as it wants to and no one ever calls them on it. But when MSNBC dares to put a single anti-Bush anchor on in prime time, it's accused of injecting "partisanship" into the news.

This oft-repeated criticism reflects a fundamental failure to understand MSNBC's relationship to NBC and the unique problems that it creates for its management....Everyone at Fox News was on board with what Fox News wanted to do from Day 1....

MYTH #3. In demoting Olbermann, MSNBC is reverting to its old, bad self, back when it capitulated to the right wing and cancelled Phil Donahue's brave MSNBC program.

Could we please stop these nostalgic reminiscences of "Donahue"? It was a bad show....Progressives are not entitled to their own TV programs. They must earn them. And as we see from the ascent of Keith Olbermann and now Rachel Maddow -- an Air America host only a few thousand people knew of a year ago -- dissident voices can make their way to the mainstream....

MYTH #4. MSNBC isn't even that left-wing; that's a lie spun by the RNC to force MSNBC over to the right

....Again, this conclusion is what happens when you fail to grasp the culture clash going on at MSNBC....(I)f MSNBC wants to take on the Republican Party and Fox News, they will have to do it on terms that don't cause needless troubles for NBC News, because those will have repercussions that have nothing to do with some "right wing double standard" and everything to do with MSNBC's desire to share resources with a powerful member of the mainstream news establishment. If MSNBC truly wants to be the anti-Fox News, no compromises, then let it break ties with NBC and start from scratch....

MYTH #5. This is a way of silencing Olbermann.

...(T)he most obvious reason to make the change is that it was obvious Olbermann should be wearing one hat, not two. I know the left is treating this like a demotion, but in reality it's a reassignment that will help him and MSNBC in the long run. He will be able to sit to Gregory's left and dole out his usual mix of tough commentary and acerbic analysis of the news without worrying about playing traffic cop....

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008/09/five-myths-abou.html

[Eric J in MN]

1. "Donahue" was a good show.

It was cancelled because MSNBC didn't want to have an anti-war show.

Regarding what the author writes about MSNBC needing to reign in liberalism from Olbermann to protect the neutrality of NBC News broadcast, Fox has local news broadcasts which are relatively straightforward, and apparently Fox isn't worried that Fox News hosts being too conservative will hurt the brand.

[ladjf]

3. I personally like Donahue. He is a good man. But, I agree with

the poster, I thought that his show was a dud. He seemed unprepared. He never seemed like he had move forward in time from several years before. Out of touch would be a good way to describe his
demeanor.

Keith has shown that he is the exact opposite. His piece on 9-11 was the high-water mark of TV
reporting. It was brilliant and courageous. We desperately need a few Democratic politicians
who would be willing to take some chances in order to protect America. (Kucinich is already there.)

[ErinBerin84]

2. shitty article.

:rofl:

[AllHereTruth]

13. Care to elaborate...

I personally found it right on.

[baldguy]

4. #1 - Olbermann is 10 times the journalist Hume is.

Britt Hume can't clean the shit out of his mouth long enough to ask a coherent question - mush less an unbiased one.

#2 - This is a classic obfuscation. What does MSNBCs relationship to NBC have to do with Fox's obvious propaganda? Nothing! But the fact that MSNBC and Fox are treated entirely differently is proof of the double standard.

#3 - All of the corporate media have been cowed into soft balling any Republican they're confronted with - not just NBC. Guess what: FOX DOESN'T HAVE THAT PROBLEM! They can take a Dem, shoot him & grind him up into peanut butter and while so-called "journalists" will be shocked & dismayed, they wouldn't lift a finger to help. BUT if some brave soul have the temerity to ask a real question of a GOPr, then heads literally roll - as Donahue and Olbermann has found. Again: a double standard. (Also: Remember that at the time it was canceled, "Donahue" was MSNBCs highest rated show.)

#5 - With Keith directing the election traffic there was a small chance the his viewers would get the truth. But the GOP doesn't want a traffic cop - they want an escort who enables them to commit their crimes with impunity. David Gregory does that and more.

[AndyTiedye]

5. What the GOP Wants, and Gets from the MSM is…

This kind of coverage for Democrats:


and this kind of coverage for Repubicans:

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Calling Olbermann a "journalist" always cracks me up. Where's...

his objectivity? Where's his straight reporting creds?

Comparing him to a tool like Hume isn't the point-- Olbermann is as opinionated as Hannity but the fact that we like his opinions doesn't make him a "journalist."

Olbermann is a commentator, and a biased one at that. He's on our side most of the time, be thankful for that, but don't confuse him with journalism.

And, yes, there is a problem with MSNBC obviously leaning too much to one side that Fox doesn't have. Fox is political from the top down and every knows it. However, whatever some might think of it, NBC has serious problems sharing its straight news resources with a sister entity seen as being an openly liberal bullhorn.

Whatever you might think of Gregory is irrelevant-- he's not going to get into an unprofessional pissing match with a motormouth on prime time TV, and he's not going to interject his personal opnion of the goings on.

BTW, when Donahue was cancelled, it may have been their highest rated show, but the network was dead last in the ratings and Donahue's show wasn't going up to anywhere near the numbers needed to pull it out.

[Berry Cool]

7. Here are his straight reporting creds.

From NBC's bio:

Olbermann began his NBC career in 1997, when he was anchor for NBC Sports, hosting the World Series and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, and contributing to pre-game coverage of the Super Bowl. During that time, he was also host of two primetime news programs on MSNBC, “The Big Show” and “White House In Crisis.” Olbermann returned to MSNBC in 2003 as a substitute host on “Nachman” and an anchor for MSNBC’s coverage of the war in Iraq before launching “Countdown” in April of 2003. Previously, Olbermann provided twice-daily commentary, “Speaking of Sports” and “Speaking of Everything” for ABC Radio Network. Prior to that, he was a regular contributor covering news and sports on CNN. His last network sports assignment was as senior correspondent and sportscaster for Fox Sports Net and host of Fox’s postseason baseball coverage in 2001.

Olbermann is well known for anchoring ESPN’s “SportsCenter” from 1992 to 1997, when his inimitable style made the blend of pop culture and sports a hallmark of the modern television sports reporter. While at ESPN, Olbermann helped launch ESPN2 and ESPN Radio network and wrote the critically acclaimed book “The Big Show” with Dan Patrick about his experiences working on “SportsCenter.” Costas, who also worked with Olbermann on NBC Sports’ MLB coverage in 1997-98, wrote the foreword to “The Big Show.”

He is the recipient of numerous distinguished awards in radio and television broadcasting, including the 1995 Cable Ace Award for Best Sportscaster and 11 Golden Mike Awards for excellence in television and radio. Olbermann also received two Edward R. Murrow Awards, one for his coverage of the events of 9/11 and another for the anniversary coverage of 9/11.

In addition to his extensive broadcasting experience, Olbermann has written for dozens of publications, including The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Time, Sports Illustrated and Playboy. His first book, “The Major League Coaches,” was published when he was 14.

I would add a small detail to this: his reporting of "the events of 9/11" consisted of 40 straight days spent at Ground Zero, covering events for a radio station in Los Angeles.

Now, the question needs to be asked of you: Who ever convinced you that opinions and commentary were not part of legitimate journalism?

"A biased commentator"? What do you mean?

Why is there "a problem with MSNBC obviously leaning too much to one side that Fox doesn't have"? You say "Fox is political from the top down and every knows it"--I think you meant "everyone knows it." What a double standard! That's like saying that it's OK for a well-known schoolyard bully to beat a kid up, because everyone knows he's a bully and beating up kids is what bullies do--but that nice kid with the good grades, if HE beats up the bully, then HE needs to be punished because he's a good kid and no one expects him to beat someone up!

And you say "NBC has serious problems sharing its straight news resources with a sister entity seen as being an openly liberal bullhorn." That's more nonsense. NBC doesn't have "straight news resources"--it's a complete myth. Brian Williams has even admitted he's a fan of Rush Limbaugh. Yeah, I got your "straight news resources" right here. That's just a bunch of posturing by the NBC crew so they can hold themselves up above the MSNBC staff and feel that they exist on a "higher plane" with a long and glorious history of "integrity." It's really just plain old-fashioned workplace jockeying, with the old guys feeling threatened by the popularity of the new guys, so they make lots of noise about how "Well, those new guys may be popular, but they're destroying our institution's longstanding reputation for integrity and reliability." Translation: "We're afraid someone may get rid of us and replace us with them."

MNSBC is "an openly liberal bullhorn"? Yeah, that's why they give Joe Scarborough three hours in the morning!

And what people think of David Gregory IS relevant. How can a man who served as backup dancer to Karl Rove at a correspondents' party be trusted not to "get into an unprofessional pissing match with a motormouth on prime time TV" or "interject his personal opnion of the goings on"? Olbermann doesn't even GO to those events, because they just encourage journalists and their subjects to regard each other as buddies under the skin, rather than adversaries!

And you can try to justify the cancellation of Donahue all they want, but Olbermann's explanation that the expense of its live audience made it too pricey to be worth keeping makes a lot more sense than your low-ratings excuse.

I'm tired of people ripping Olbermann for his alleged lack of reporting credentials. They don't bother to do any research of what he's done, they just get online and ask OTHER people "Where are his credentials?" or say "He has no credentials." It's bullcrap, but they keep repeating it anyway. Stop being so damn lazy and presumptive, and look them up yourself.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. I know about his sports background, but what about...

his contacts, digging, straight reporting and whatever on what he's doing now?

Historically, sports guys had a pretty high station amongst the old ink-stained wretches because of all the desks out there, the sports desk was the one that could never, ever, let a mistake get through-- miss something in a game and their heads were handed to them. If Keith got through that wringer, more power to him.

But, he's on a national stage talking about policy now-- who are his contacts? How does he dig out a story? Does he even bother to dig out stories? Seems like most of his show is him commenting on stuff either the rest of the NBC staff or someone outside has already dealt with.

"Journalism" does have a broad meaning, but reporting and editorializing rarely, if ever, go together-- the editorial page was always the publisher's not the editor's. TV news never had editorials and even though Murrow's famous comments ring through the ages, they ring through because they were so rare.

MSNBC does have the unioque problem of being the only cable news network that is sistered with a broadcast news network, and that does cause problems when they jointly use NBC resources. Sure, they can have any shows they want on most of the time, but when doing actual "news" and sharing resources, they have to at least pretend to be neutral and unbiased in their reporting. And they certainly can't be having catfights between their star reporters on the air. Again, say whatever you want about Gregory (understanding that your, or my, opinion is as useful and important as our opinion on bar closing times in Leningrad) he fits the defintion of a straight reporter. (Although he does stretch it by m aking public his personal biases)

Bottom line-- Olberman is a commentator, best left to the TV version of the OpEd pages. And this is not a bad thing, just a different thing.

[Berry Cool]

8. Oh, and while I'm at it,

Aaron Barnhart is full of shit and always has been full of shit when it comes to Olbermann.

If you want someone who knows the score, read Tim Goodman.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Hi, Berry! Sounds like there'll be a discussion on all this with Howie Kurtz tomorrow on CNN...

as Barnhart says he'll be "defending his position."

[tooeyeten]

10. Barnhart?

He's a tv critic. Is he actually a reliable source?

[Imagevision]

12. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews getting bumped? yeah, well, meanwhile...