Am I overreacting, or is the Obermann suspension the first salvo in destroying the liberal voice

[BigBearJohn]

in America? This scares me shitless. The beginning of the end.
Next is internet censorship.

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Not overreacting at all. It's in the best interest of corporations to silence

dissenting voices, and to tow the corporate line like other American media do.

Remember ... an united people are a dangerous people ... to corporations.

[Richard Steele]

2. First salvo? More like the final chapter. nm

[bullimiami]

3. MSNBC did fire Donahue when it was their top rated show.

[Richard Steele]

13. Yup. They are so secure in their control, they don't need a TOKEN liberal voice anymore.

Their firing of Donahue was a warning sign to those of us
who pay attention to things, and how many years ago was that?

Olberman was never anything but a DISTRACTION,
a shiny object that grabbed our attention a few times a week
and made us forget that we were ANGRY about the fact
that all of our "news" is blatant propaganda.

[elleng]

4. Yes, overreacting.

Don't believe they'd be as stupid as to play such a game, AND they JUST gave O'Donnell a slot AND have Cenk on a fair amount. Mistake on Keith's part, they want to demonstrate the seriousness of their rules and enforcement and that they are NOT f-x. No big deal ultimately, imo.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

6. I might agree, except . . .

. . . for the fact that MSNBC has shown no interest at all in disciplining its right-wing host, Joe Scarborough, for the considerably larger sums he's donated to Repiglicken candidates. That fact makes the Olbermann suspension look MUCH more suspicious.

[emulatorloo]

31. Per Rachel Maddow, JoScar followed the rule by getting permission first

per Rachel rule is no donations unless you get prior approval.

Guessing KO will be back in a week. He makes lots of $$$$ for the network.

Still letting them know I want him bAck damn soon

[elleng]

34. Ditto, 100%. Thanks

[Richard Steele]

28. Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Ridiculous. Laughably ridiculous.

[slackmaster]

5. You're overreacting

I doubt very much that we've heard the last of KO.

[LibDemAlways]

7. There is so little "liberal voice" that losing

anyone on the left is cause for alarm. Indefinite suspension without pay is serious stuff. As long as Olbermann remains under contract, the suits can continue the suspension and keep him off Countdown. I'm sure there are clauses in that contract that greatly restrict his ability to appear anywhere on tv. I do not think he'll be returning to the airwaves anytime soon.

[tavalon]

16. We haven't lost him

We've lost Phil Griffin. And that ain't no loss. Mark my words.

[Marie Marie]

8. What amazes me is that if not for Keith

MSNBC would be the third rated cable news show behind Fox and CNN. Keith gave us an alternative to Fox and progressives gobbled it up. Suddenly, CNN found itself without a niche audience and slipped into third place. Keith changed the tone of the channel and then came the others, Rachel, Ed, Lawrence. Change the message? Lose your viewers. Without Keith and/or Rachel, there is no need for this progressive to tune in.

[LawnLover]

10. Yes, you're overreacting

This is a simple power play by Olbermann's boss, who felt Keith was getting too big for his britches.

If it they were trying to destroy Keith's liberal voice, they would have fired him outright.

[RagAss]

19. Welcome to DU.....you must be one of our new "Moderate" voices here !

[LawnLover]

32. What's a moderate?

How exactly do you define that? As someone who thinks the media is more about making money than taking sides? That they couldn't care less about Keith's politics and really only care that he brings in ratings?

Then, yes, I guess I'm a moderate. Or I simply look at the world realistically and not through the fog of paranoia.

[emulatorloo]

35. Basic Formula of MSNBC: KO = ratings = MSNBC gets to charge big $$$$$ advertising rates.

That's how I see it as well. MSNBC is still full of Keith's promos, and there were several mentions on Fri night of "Keith will be back soon" on COUNTDOWN.

[grasswire]

23. no -- they silence him by keeping him under contract and silent.

Look what they did to David Shuster. Kept him under contract but off the airwaves and not allowed even to twitter. Muzzled him. They could do that to Keith for the next 18 months.

[Stevenmarc]

11. If you had to ask....well

[Ptah]

12. Yes.overreacting

[RagAss]

14. You are right !!!...... We have 5 voices on the Left...They have 500 on the Right..

And those corporate fuckers went into the bowels of the corporate manual to silence one of our 5 !!!!

[GrpCaptMandrake]

9. Numbers

A couple of years back, the ThinkProgress folks did an analysis of left vs. right broadcasting. They came up with a stunning statistic: for every hour of liberal broadcasting in America, there are ONE THOUSAND hours of right-wing hate.

Once you get your head around that number, you realize how much we have to lose in losing even a single voice.

[BigBearJohn]

15. time will tell

[CLANG]

17. I think MSNBC is being dismantled by REPUBLICANS!

They don't have control over the lefties on MSNBC so they will eventually get rid of them all.

[Lorien]

18. No. That was Reagan's repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. nt

[BigBearJohn]

20. Go ahead and unrec as much as you like -- you're only proving my point

[grasswire]

21. I don't think it's the first salvo.

I think it's just the latest salvo. Never forget the Smothers Brothers.

[madmax]

22. Welcome to the club.

Overreacting? Not a single bit. We need more people who feel threatened and the very least CONCERNED.

Too busy with DWTS and their busy lives, what with the cell phone as a permanent growth in the ear, video games, oh hell on and on.

[deacon]

24. Well, given the corruption and rove tricks during bush, how can something like that not enter your

mind?

[oswaldactedalone]

25. It's one of many salvos

Will the internet be the next media they takeover? Seems to me in a way they have, with the horribly ugly crap right wingers write on Yahoo and plenty of other places. I'll say this, my guess is the history books at some point in the future will say that the Fall of the American Empire took root in 2010.

Unless we somehow find a media voice that people will actually hear, register our voters and remove barriers to voting, the thinking voice in the media, and the thinking voter will become extinct.

[snot]

26. Oversimplification. But internet censorship's already happening.

E.g., http://news.cnet.com/ATT-censors-Pearl-Jams-anti-Bush-lyrics/2100-1026_3-6201759.html :

Bleeping during Lollapalooza cybercast prompts outcry; company says it was "a mistake by a Webcast vendor."

The story "AT&T censors Pearl Jam's anti-Bush lyrics" published August 9, 2007 at 11:18 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

That's from 3 yrs. ago; I wouldn't assume things have gotten better.

[tavalon]

27. First salvo?

Um, no, not even close. Where have you been, these last 40 years or so?

This is a failed salvo actually. He'll be back so fast it will make your head spin. That said, when the corporations finish getting the pesky internets under control, that will be a last salvo.

[Common Sense Party]

29. Completely overreacting

But that's what DU is best at.

[Prophet 451]

30. Difficult to say yet

If Keith's suspension turns out to be a couple of days and he comes bak in full force, no big deal.
If Keith ends up being kept off air for months and they start using the same selective rule enforcement on Rachel and Ed (and Cenk although he has TYT to fall back on and can afford to tell them to stuff it), then yeah, we're entitled to worry. Of course, by that point, it's probably too late already.

[datasuspect]

33. no, msnbc is using this as a marketing gambit