Olbermann Suspended From MSNBC for Campaign Donations
By BRIAN STELTER AND BILL CARTER
3:58 p.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the top anchor on MSNBC, was suspended on Friday after the channel discovered that he made campaign contributions to three Democrats last month.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/olbermann-suspended-from-msnbc-for-campaign-donations/?src=tptw3:58 p.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the top anchor on MSNBC, was suspended on Friday after the channel discovered that he made campaign contributions to three Democrats last month.
The MSNBC president, Phil Griffin, issued a statement saying: “I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.”
No one at NBC News, MSNBC’s parent, would speculate about what this might mean for Mr. Olbermann’s future, though one NBC executive privately suggested this was not a step toward firing him.
...Mr. Olbermann did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the suspension was announced Friday afternoon.
There was some head-scratching about MSNBC’s decision, since it is well known that Mr. Olbermann is a liberal newsman. There were defenders, including a writer for the libertarian magazine Reason, Michael C. Moynihan, who wondered why MSNBC had a “one-size-fits-all policy” about contributions.
Mr. Moynihan asked, “Isn’t it unfair to hold Olbermann, who is one of the most partisan people on television (if not of Earth), to the same standards as, say, Brian Williams? Countdown exists to promote Democratic candidates and liberal policies, which is just fine by me. So why shouldn’t Olbermann, as a private citizen, be allowed to donate money to those candidates he plumps for on television?”
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