Voices From Above Silence a Cable TV Feud (MSNBC & Fox)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

It was a media cage fight, televised every weeknight at 8 p.m. But the match was halted when the blood started to spray executives in the high-priced seats.

For years Keith Olbermann of MSNBC had savaged his prime-time nemesis Bill O’Reilly of the Fox News Channel and accused Fox of journalistic malpractice almost nightly. Mr. O’Reilly in turn criticized Mr. Olbermann’s bosses and led an exceptional campaign against General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC.

It was perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade and by this year, their bosses had had enough. But it took a fellow television personality with a neutral perspective to help bring it to at least a temporary end.

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Both moguls expressed regret over the venomous culture between the networks and the increasingly personal nature of the barbs. Days later, even though the feud had increased the audience of both programs, their lieutenants arranged a cease-fire, according to four people who work at the companies and have direct knowledge of the deal.

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Mr. Olbermann, who is on vacation, said by e-mail message, “I am party to no deal,” adding that he would not have been included in any conversations between G.E. and the News Corporation. Fox News said it would not comment.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/media/01feud.html?_r=1&hp

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Boooo on MSNBC execs. Though I thought KO was getting over the top on this at times O' Reilly, Beck, Hannity and the the other Faux News whores need to be critiqued for the bile & lies they spew daily!

[47of74]

1. Damn right

We need Mr. Olbermann to keep shining the light of truth on Faux "News" and the liars who populate the organization.

[Berry Cool]

2. The story is bull.

Keith stopped it, of his own accord. No executive told him to.

[Bumblebee]

3. says who?

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Says Keith. Dr. Tiller's murder was Keith's impetus.

Relevant portions of the transcript at the link. Sorry, it's Newbusters. But I watched the show, and I remember Keith's disgust, and his self-imposed moratorium on O'Reilly.

That I have a commercial conflict of interest here is obvious, so I'll make the first symbolic contribution to this quarantine. One of my pleasures obviously is constantly criticizing him in that Ted Baxter voice. It is the idea of laughter, as a social sanction against inflexible behavior. But this is no time for laughter. This is serious. Serious as death. As serious as George Tiller's death. So as of this show's end, I will retire the name and the photograph and the caricature. The words may still be quoted in the future as developments dictate. But the goal here is to get this blindly irresponsible man and his ilk off the air. We're only in the television news business, a profession that is at times about two inches up from carnival barking. We must again separate it, television from terrorism. And we must again make the world safe for people condemned by the Fox News Channel. That's Countdown for this, the 2,223rd day since the previous President declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. I’m Keith Olbermann. Good night and good luck.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2009/06/01/olbermann-blames-fnc-o-reilly-murder-abortion-doctor-tiller

[lbrtbell]

6. IMHO, that was just Keith's last great act of defiance

If you look at when the meeting of execs took place, it was BEFORE Keith made that announcement on June 1st. Then Billo took one last parting shot at G.E., on June 2nd. Since then? Silence.

I believe Keith is telling the truth about not being a party to such a meeting. After all, he's not an executive, so there would be no reason for him to be there. However, I'd bet money that both he and Billo were pressured by their respective Powers That Be AFTER that meeting, to end the feud.

It's just that Keith handled it better, by using that one last opportunity to speak the truth about O'Reilly inciting wingnuts to violence.

Yes, Keith was positively ill about Tiller's death. But he was also positively ill when O'Reilly blamed a rape/murder victim (he said that Bill had "left the human race" by making that statement). And he was positively ill when O'Reilly claimed that the boy who had been held captive for 4 years by a child molester LIKED being there because he didn't have to go to school, etc.

Keith could just as easily have stopped talking about O'Reilly on either of those occasions. But he didn't. By coincidence, there had been no meeting between Immelt and Murdoch on either of those occasions, either.

I don't believe in coincidence.

I also don't believe in forcing someone to stop telling the truth about a purveyor of lies and hatred, but that's just what Immelt and MSNBC have done.

[PNutt]

5. Dill-Doe The Clown............

Should be put on trial for Dr. Tiller's murder, as an accomplice before the act. The "Harold" should be put on trial for treason. And "No Balls" should be put on trial for just being too damned stupid.