Olbermann: NBC Execs Don't Like The Administration Criticized!

[RedOnce]

Olbermann: There are execs at NBC "who do not like to see the current presidential administration criticized at all"

Media Matters - Mar 13, 2006

Summary:
Keith Olbermann, appearing on C-SPAN, said: "There are people I know in the hierarchy of NBC, the company, and GE, the company, who do not like to see the current presidential administration criticized at all. ... There are people who I work for who would prefer, who would sleep much easier at night if this never happened. On the other hand, if they look at my ratings and my ratings are improved and there is criticism of the president of the United States, they're happy."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200603130006

[jsamuel]

1. yeah, we knew that already

[NYCGirl]

2. Here's the ENTIRE quote:

OLBERMANN: I don't think so. I haven't met a lot of flying monkeys at NBC. I have met people who -- and by the way, this is the great freedom and the great protection of American broadcasting, commercial broadcasting -- we made a mistake in the '20s. We let broadcasting in this country develop with commercial broadcasting taking the lead and all other kinds of information on radio or television secondary or tertiary. But the protection of money at the center of everything, including news to the degree that it is now, is that as long as you make the money, they don't care what it is you put on the air.

They don't care. There are people I know in the hierarchy of NBC, the company, and GE, the company, who do not like to see the current presidential administration criticized at all.

Anybody who knew anything about American history and stepped out at any point in American history and got an assessment of this presidential administration would say, "Yeah, I don't know how much they need to be criticized, but they need to be criticized to some degree."

There are people who I work for who would prefer, who would sleep much easier at night if this never happened. On the other hand, if they look at my ratings and my ratings are improved and there is criticism of the president of the United States, they're happy.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200603130006

[wordpix2]

3. your stock's going up, KO & don't worry, you've got job security-somewhere

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Olbermann talked about this on his program

Liveoaktx has it posted at Can O Fun, but I don't know the url. Olbermann said his statements were taken out of context-he said that but added that the NBC brass was more interested in making money, and would allow bad things about Bush to be put out there as long as ratings were good.

[mnmoderatedem]

10. KO was a little PO'd as well

he didn't like being taken out of context like that...

[bryant69]

5. That's not really a revelation either

Network Executives can't create - they can't develop shows on their own. But they have to do something to earn their large saleries - so part of that is worrying about what shows are doing and telling them when they think they have gone too far.

I don't know that this is even specific to this administration - although yeah, you slam into a Republican and the Republican base gets pissed. You slame into a Democrat and the Democratic Base nods and says "Right on!"

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[depakid]

6. GE needs to be divested of its broadcast and cable holdings

And if by some miracle the Dems ever manage to regain power, media re-regulation need to be item #1 on their agenda.

[blm]

11. Amen. Dem party needs to target GOP control of media BEFORE elections.

There is no chance of democracy when most broadcast media is pushing the fascist agenda.

[leveymg]

12. Public funding of elections and media.

Wouldn't it be nice to be paid for adding content?

[datadiva]

7. If he ever looses his job

he can come live with me. I'll find some way to explain it to my husband. :loveya:

[AlCzervik]

8. we can share him. One week with you and yours, one week at my house

:D

[Selatius]

9. Money dominates the corporate news media

Above all, it's all about money, even if it comes at the expense of informing the public and, as a result, the truth. He's right on that point. Olbermann is lucky in that his avenue has proven profitable to the board of directors, but if he were less profitable to them, Olbermann would've been silenced a while back.