"Keith Olbermann was suspended because he refused to deliver an on-camera mea culpa."

[Clio the Leo]

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Network sources tell Playbook that Keith Olbermann was suspended because he refused to deliver an on-camera mea culpa, which would have allowed him to continue anchoring “Countdown.” Olbermann told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly. Olbermann may not hold as many cards as he thinks. He makes $7 million a year and MSNBC's prime time is not as dependent on him as it was before the addition of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, who make considerably less.

http://www.politico.com/playbook/1110/playbook1227.html

[Turbineguy]

1. Of course.

[maryallen]

38. Of course, it's from Politico:

Propaganda Central for the 2% at the top.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Source Noted...Politicorporate

"Network sources"...probably a rushpublican there who doesn't like him. More speculation, but then isn't that what Politicorp does best? IRC, hadn't Keith all but banished their stenographers from his show?

[Clio the Leo]

10. Mike Allen was 1st to report Sotomayor, Kagan and Rahm's departure...

.... take it or leave it.

[KharmaTrain]

14. He's One Of The Worst Stenographers

Yep...and he had a lot of exclusives about the Cheneys cause he was on Rove and Crashcart's speed dial.

My bets his "inside sources" have axes to grind...he's nothing more than a useful tool.

[goldcanyonaz]

3. There's that ego of his again.

I don't think he has maintained a good relationship with any of his former employers and seems to do what is best for him instead of his audience.

He was the only person not invited back for the 25th anniversary of ESPN so that tells you how much others enjoy working with him.

If the rules were that he had to disclose it then those were the rules he should have followed.

I do find it idiotic that anyone (MSNBC) would try to say that he's a "journalist" and not a commentator as we all know him to be.

I wonder if this clause is in all the contracts across the networks?

Keith was recently featured in Newsweek on the Power 50 list of pundits pulling in $7.5 million dollars which seems like a lot until you see what the idiots like Rush, Glenn and Sean bring in.

I'm shocked that there are that many idiots in the world but I guess I shouldn't be.

[Berry Cool]

17. What does it say to Keith's audience if he just knuckles under?

It says he doesn't stand on principle, that's what it says. And then what good is any word that comes out of his mouth?

You say he was the only person not invited back for the 25th anniversary of ESPN. True, but years later he had the chance to make appearances on Dan Patrick's radio show back when Dan was still on ESPN. He earned his way back into ESPN's good graces that way. So he actually REBUILT a bridge he had, as he once admitted, "napalmed."

Oh, people love to continue to judge KO on his "leaves every job he gets on terrible terms" reputation. Sure. If they're his enemies. Or they're not up on the news.

[jeff47]

31. Lovely theory

"If the rules were that he had to disclose it then those were the rules he should have followed."

Yes, and it turns out that's the big "if". MSNBC was only nominally bound by NBC's ethics rules that required disclosure. It was widely known at MSNBC that the rest of those ethics rules didn't apply at MSNBC. So why would this one?

"I wonder if this clause is in all the contracts across the networks?"

It's in nobody's contracts. At least not literally. It's corporate policy. So there's a line in the contract saying they have to adhere to corporate policy, but no explicit mention of what that policy is.

[Contrary1]

43. Olbermann did the right thing by refusing to apologize on camera,

if this story is true. Breaking the rules is one thing. Having your boss demand that you humiliate yourself in such a public manner is quite another.

Nobody's damn business who he makes political donations to.

[malaise]

4. Fuck Politico

:puke:

[Lugnut]

21. +100 n/t

[mmonk]

22. yep.

[SmileyRose]

5. He didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions?

I simply don't believe that. Olbermann is far too intelligent a journalist to not know getting directly involved in any campaign without approval is a huge no no.

Olbermann has a long history of telling his bosses to stick it. This is just another in wonderful life of Keitho.

[Larkspur]

19. My company has a similar policy

but I didn't know it for 12 years. They finally started better advertising the policy a couple years ago, so that we would know it. It mostly hast to do with donations to state and local candidates. Federal candidates we can donate to without their permission. The rules apply to my state and local candidates because my company lobbies my state government. FYI, I'm not a lobbyist or exec who speaks for the company, but the rules still apply to me.

[mzmolly]

27. Olbermann wouldn't lie about being unaware. Do you consider Faux's

Hannity a "journalist"?

[SmileyRose]

48. Well, we don't really know what Olbermann's statement is, do we?

Politico is not exactly a trusted source and although I've been out of touch a bit, I'm not aware Keith has made a public statement on this. In other words, I'm not saying Olbermann is lying - I'm saying I think Politico is lying. It could be NBC simply did not inform Keith he was considered NEWS not ENTERTAINMENT. I just think of lot of Keith Olbermann and would be surprised if he and his lawyers didn't clarify that at contract signing.

[mzmolly]

50. Either way, it's a lack of

awareness/communication/understanding.

[ThomCat]

42. If this was an NBC rule that had not previously been applied to

MSNBC employees, that they were only suddenly applying just to try to snare KO then it makes perfect sense that he wouldn't know. How could he know? They were setting him up.

And people are falling for it.

It's very, very odd for a parent company's rule to suddenly be applied to employees at a subsidiary company this way. They are different companies! Usually, if the subsidiary is going to apply the same rules as the parent company they re-issue the same rule under their own letterhead in their own employee handbook. So it would have been and MSNBC rule, not and NBC rule.

This smells of a political sting to get KO fired, and it's really silly that so many people are believing whatever a corporations says without asking for any evidence.

[Old Codger]

6. But

Without Keith the whole evening is shot, O'Donnel's show is not that great so that leaves Rachel and I won't set aside an hour to watch just her, before it was the 2 in a row that made it and the re-run of Keith after Rachel was sometimes the only way I got Keith anyway.. I can do without TV without that lineup.

[HipChick]

8. O'Donnell show is disappointing

as much as I like Lawrence. Apart from when he took the 4 Teabaggers apart, I've been disappointed.

[Old Codger]

37. Too Much

Way to much airtime to people I do not like, I turn Rachel and Keith off when they have those idiots on also but O'Donnel gives them more than they do by a long shot..

He would not have to make much change in his show to get it on faux.

[asjr]

7. Apologize for donating to a political

campaign??? I do not blame Keith. I would not either. It is his right to donate. Of course this came froi Politico, aptly named.

[Moosepoop]

9. "Olbermann may not hold as many cards as he thinks."

What does Politico's Mike Allen base this assertion on? Has KO made any statements as to what "cards" he "thinks" he might "hold"? Sounds like mindless speculation and attribution of thought on the part of Allen, but then again, this IS Politico.

[David Zephyr]

47. Bingo. Allen clearly didn't just reveal one of his own "cards", but his entire hand of bias.

You zeroed in on Allen's prejudice. Exposed.

[pacalo]

11. MSNBC thinks we're stupid & shallow enough to continue watching without Keith.

"MSNBC's prime time is not as dependent on him as it was before the addition of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, who make considerably less."

Not in my house. I know this is coming from Politico, but if it is indeed factual, they've underestimated the substance & character of progressive viewers. Hell, I'll have my cable yanked out, because if they get rid of Keith, they'll either get rid of the rest of the lineup or have them change their views to the right. Not acceptable.

[maryallen]

39. Nor in mine:

Keith's show is first in my household, followed closely by Rachel's. They are both terrific, delivering excellent programs, surprisingly, by offering a uniqueness that has never been seen in political/news programming.

[Raven]

12. I think Keith should take a pay cut and go to work for TruthOut. n/t

[RamboLiberal]

36. Who the heck even heard of most of these alternates

everyone is suggesting but some liberals? Only one that even has an inkling of any presence is Huffington Post and even that is mostly net.

Nope, KO needs to stay on MSNBC or CNN.

[Oceansaway]

13. Politico=Human Waste.....nt

[Coexist]

15. I think anyone linking to Politico should have to say so in their headline

[Me.]

16. KO Should Apologize, Bad Boy That He Is

This is practically the crime of the century and he should be shamed for it. He must go before the cameras and say how naughty he was. Maybe he'll even, like so many others, find Jesus along the way.

[AndrewP]

28. It's the worst thing that anyone has ever done!

This whole thing is silly, isn't it?

[SayitAintSo]

18. I hear Joe "dead intern" Scarborough donated with impunity...

Any truth to that ?

[NorthCarolina]

25. It's true

but Scarborough's donations to GOP candidates are likely more in line with management preferences. Olbermann on the other hand chose to not only donate to Democrats, but Progressive Democrats at that. I suspect that fact was the bridge too far for management at MSNBC.

[AngryOldDem]

34. He did, but supposedly he had management's OK.

Keith, apparently, did not, and I too find it hard to believe he was unaware of the policy.

I like Keith, but I think this could be correctly be termed insubordination (at the very least) on his part.

While it may be unrealistic in this day and age to expect it, people in the media have to be careful about showing any kind of outward support of any political party or candidate. That was the point of Maddow's comparison between MSNBC and Fox News.

[ThomCat]

41. No, Joe didn't have management okay. Management didn't

know about Joe's donations until it was apparently brought to their attention, and then they said that "he's different because he's not a journalist."

But that's a BS excuse because both of them are political opinion show hosts. Any difference between them is artificial and arbitrary because one supports a right wing viewpoint and one supports a leftwing viewpoint.

[AngryOldDem]

46. Thanks for the clarification.

I thought I heard Maddow say (and read elsewhere) that that was the difference between KO and Joe.

But I can kind of see MSNBC's distinction between the two. KO is a news show with commentary, while Joe is strictly commentary. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but I think that's how they rationalize it.

[Nite Owl]

20. Then there is even more reason

to not watch any of the shows. They think it's just about Keith and it isn't. Rachel, Ed, and Larry all owe their shows to Keith and if it weren't for him they wouldn't be working there most likely. It was just a few months ago, before O'Donnell started his show that people were saying that to stand in on KO's show was an interview for their own shows. They need to stand together and so do we.

[TicketyBoo]

24. Don't like Ed--

he's too loud for my taste, and O'Donnell is usually a bore.

Rachel is right up there with Keith, but Keith is the one I couldn't bear to miss. Maybe we'll be going out more these days.

[socialist_n_TN]

30. For SURE the others owe their spots to KO..............

He's the one that showed a cable network that a liberal talker could actually make money.

Keith Obermann was fired (excuse me, "suspended") because he was a leftie firebrand and lightning rod for all the RW nut jobs out there, INCLUDING HIS NEW COMCAST BOSSES!. The other MSNBC guys are as liberal as KO, but they're either not as popular (Ed and O'Donnell) or their style is different (less overtly abrasive=Rachel).

Whether you like Olbermann or not, his "suspension" is a naked political move aimed at silencing passionate voices on the left by big media corporations, i.e. media capitalists. It's fascism, pure and simple.

[Hamlette]

23. Why hasn't he said anything? That is not like him. n/t

[TicketyBoo]

26. Time

for deliberation before speaking.

[obama14]

40. Weighing his options...

Doesnt want to get locked into anything...

[flamingdem]

29. This "info" seems to be an attempt to slip in his salary so viewers see him as over priviledged nt

[gmoney]

32. Rush makes at least 5 or 6 times that much...

but somehow he's a working class hero. :/

[flamingdem]

33. ha ha true

Maybe Keith will get more now!

[tsuki]

35. The Scab to make an apology? nt

[rainbow4321]

44. Idiots=MSNBC execs. If people don't tune in at 8pm

They are not probably gonna be around to tune in at 9 or 10.

And if they are PISSED at network (mis)management, it means they are turning the entire network OFF and be not picking/choosing which to watch...oh, yeah, let's hurt their ratings between 8 and 9 but bump them back up from 9 til 11..UM, NO.

Yeah, it sucks for the other hosts/shows but MSNBC isn't gonna get the point til their whole primetime ratings/commercial sales tank.

[mstinamotorcity]

45. I am getting sick and tired of hearing

about well if those were the rules he should have did what the rules say. Fuck their rules. Their rules say he must say what Repugs want him to say or else. Plain and Simple. And for those who want to placate that bullshit don't tell me about your objections. Keith has spoken with some hard clarity that people are uncomfortable with. So What!!!! It is about time the repug sunglasses come off and let the truth be shouted from the mountaintops. This is a fake set up and there are some of us who do not want to buy into the insanity. No, to go along is to surrender. It is saying if you can't beat them, join them.It would mean not letting the truth be told. And as long as Democrats placate that can't we just get along behavior while they are stealing blind then we will continue to be silenced!!!!!!!!!

[Raine]

49. KO should've apologized and done it with

total snark so that in the end MSNBC would've looked petty and ridiculous. :evilgrin:

[TexasObserver]

51. Olbermann is the Franchise at MSNBC.

The money grubbers at Comcast may decide they can't afford this.

If they don't relent and he doesn't, it's lawsuit time, and that means discovery time. All those big shots at big companies hate being made to sit their ass down in a deposition and talk about all their personal business records like their calendars, and their political contributions, and who on the RNC they took calls from that day.

[spanone]

52. where is politico getting this shit? 'network sources' no thanks.

[WA98296]

53. Petty BS