Olbermann suspended for refusing on-air apology: report

[babsbunny]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/olbermann-suspended-refusing-apology/

By Daniel Tencer
Sunday, November 7th, 2010 -- 1:36 pm

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was suspended for refusing to apologize on air for donating to Democratic candidates, according to a report from Politico.

Mike Allen cites "network sources" who told him that Olbermann would have been allowed to continue hosting MSNBC's Countdown had he agreed to apologize on the air for donations to the campaigns of three Democratic candidates.

"Olbermann told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly," Allen reports.

He notes that "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."

WILL OLBERMANN BE BACK?

[dkf]

1. I imagine he could make an "apology" with some sarcasm and wit.

[Bobbieo]

2. He can retire on that sum!!!! Have time to write his bio and make another 7 million.

[redirish28]

3. He has to apologize for donating to Democrats? So MSNBC is

say that Keith has to apologize for exercising his first amendments right thru a donation to a candidate with like-minded views.



As for saying Keith does not hold as many cards.


He Is wrong!


MSNBC you are going DOWN

[Terra Alta]

4. "I apologize if my bosses at MSNBC were offended by my political donations"

Sounds good enough to me.

[madmax]

6. That's a good one, Hope KO can do it and live with it.

I want him back.

[zbdent]

12. add the fact that General Electric, the Defense contractor, owns MSNBC

[madmax]

5. Oh shit!!

"He notes that "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."

Let's see what he says if we boycott the whole damn station. All the nightly shows. We need to make our voices heard.

[icnorth]

11. Also needing to hear the message...

Microsoft and G.E. and Mike Allen may be surprised to learn K.O. holds thousands of wild cards he doesn't know about. Yet.

[madmax]

14. Yeah, he may even have to go to the Pope for

a special Dispensation. :mad:

[CTyankee]

19. I'm sure he has no lack of offers from lots of other places to do other things!

They're just whistling in the wind...

[tularetom]

7. This article refers to an item that originally appeared in Politico

It might be said that Politico is no great friend of Democrats or liberals.

So I'd be inclined to take it with a few hundred grains of salt.

Besides, Keith is smart enough to craft a dog whistle type of apology, one that on the surface would please the insecure suits that run the network and still contain enough coded sarcasm that his viewers would be snickering at the bosses after hearing it.

[H2O Man]

10. Keith is indeed

smart enough to craft such a message. But this situation involves principle, and Mr. Olbermann isn't willing to bow down and be reduced to making a clever apology.

[tularetom]

18. I'm neither advocating nor opposing an apology by Keith

That's strictly up to him - i support him either way.

I'm simply pointing out that, contrary to the assertions of the hack Mike Allen, Keith does indeed hold a pretty good hand.

He "could" if he wanted, deliver a coded "apology" that would be a real slap in the face to MSNBC.

[H2O Man]

22. Right.

I understood what you were saying. I wasn't trying to say otherwise, and apologize if I came across that way.

My point is that this has reached a point where the powers that be would be watching, very closely, and if KO did not make a statement they deemed acceptable, he'd have no more chance of staying on air there, than the Doors had of returning to the Ed Sullivan Show.

I do not think he is going to either back down, or further aggravate the situation on air. It's attorney time now, and lawyers prefer their clients remain calm before the storm.

[tularetom]

24. I'm guessing there are negotiations going on

I would think it would be inadvisable for him to return without a clear delineation of the latitude he is going to be afforded in his commentary.

Lacking such definition, and given the events that have already transpired, he would be effectively neutered as a commentator.

[grasswire]

8. Mike Allen is a TOTAL TOOL.

Shame on Griffin for sending its messages to Keith through Mike Allen.

SHAME! SHAME!

Phil Griffin: still the Worst Person in the World!

[spooky3]

9. If the problem is that the policy required him to get prior approval, then that's all he should

apologize for.

[madmax]

15. That's again good one.

No freakin groveling involved. No groveling!

[Qutzupalotl]

21. And that does not need to be said on air,

since he would not be apologizing to the viewers but to management.

No, this is an effort to embarrass Keith and "knock him down a peg."

[spooky3]

28. totally agree--my point was just that there's no need to apologize for

donating if that's not against the rules (and from what I've heard, it is not). If he broke the rules in not getting the mgt. OK, that should be the focus.

And the punishment seemed totally out of proportion with the "crime."

[TexasObserver]

13. Mike Allen is an errand boy for the GOP.

[Ian David]

16. Hey, MSNBC, I got your apology right here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8vA0ANTUM0

[NuclearDem]

17. Wait...wtf?

"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."

They realize that a lot of Rachel and Lawrence fans are mostly KO fans too? The same people who are boycotting MSNBC because of this bullshit?

God, these people are dense.

[eleny]

20. How about one of those non apology apologies?

"*If* I offended any of the brass at MSNBC by not realizing that I couldn't donate to some fine Democratic Party candidates - then I deeply apologize." :rofl:

[Me.]

23. Damn The Man For His Blatantly Criminal Act

This is the crime of the century and he needs to be publicly shamed. Lucky for him we no longer put people in stocks but maybe they'll water-board him for that apology instead.

[Pab Sungenis]

25. Considering how his ratings compare to Parker/Spitzer

CNN would be wise to snap him up immediately.

[sabrina 1]

26. Let's show him how many cards he holds.

This is not just about Keith's donations. I have just been reading about GE's attempt to influence, believe it or not, even Fox, whose Bill O'Reilly once did one very good thing. He revealed GE's dealings in Iran. That prompted GE to contact Murdoch asking him to make sure there was no more of that kind of reporting. Murdoch agreed, providing GE would use his influence at MSNBC to stop Keith Olbermann from slamming O'Reilly every night.

I guess Billo didn't understand how willing his boss would be to make a deal with GE. Although he probably was pleased it was on his behalf.

Apparently there was a meeting, with Charlie Rose moderating or something. MSNBC agreed. Apparently Keith's attacks on Fox were having an effect.

He still has the highest rated show on MSNBC according to reports, over one million viewers now.

Sorry to have to turn off the other good shows, but this Corporate influence on our media has to stop.

Rachel and Ed will be next as soon as Keith is gone, if people don't take a stand now.

They want a totally controlled media and when they are even offended by Fox, that shows just how controlled it is.

[madmax]

27. This part of your post is very disurbing...

"This is not just about Keith's donations. I have just been reading about GE's attempt to influence, believe it or not, even Fox, whose Bill O'Reilly once did one very good thing. He revealed GE's dealings in Iran. That prompted GE to contact Murdoch asking him to make sure there was no more of that kind of reporting. Murdoch agreed, providing GE would use his influence at MSNBC to stop Keith Olbermann from slamming O'Reilly every night".


And yet, some take offense when we write that we're headed towards fascism. :crazy:

This whole thing stinks so bad it needs to be addressed by more than an apology by Keith. No matter what happens to Keith apology or not, this 'in bed' relationship between those who control the vast and various media outlets needs to be investigated. Conflict of interest, something with that pesky damn Freedom of Speech? Hell, I'm not a scholar or lawyer but, if it looks like a duck...

I agree with everything in your OP. This is bigger, much bigger.

Is there a link to the references you made in your post. I would like to send this out to friends and foe.

[Poboy]

29. I agree. This needs more exposure. -nt

[sabrina 1]

33. Yes, Glenn Greenwald did some great coverage of

it at the time. Here is one link to some of his reporting and I believe he has links to others who covered the story GE's silencing of Olbermann and MSNBC's sleazy use of Richard Wolffe

He continues the coverage in the following link:


The scope -- and dangers -- of GE's control of NBC and MSNBC

And that was before Comcast made the deal to buy NBC which will be finalized pretty soon. I personally think Keith's days are probably numbered once that happens and in fact, this suspension may even have been influenced by the impending takeover. Look up Comcast's replacement as head of MSNBC and his political background and contributions.

Whatever we call it, fascism, capitalism, free market etc. what is obvious the more we learn is that the U.S. does not have a free press and the American people need to do something about it before it's way too late.

[chill_wind]

30. And while it's not really in the same league, we talked yesterday about Geithner

visiting Jon Stewart in April, because Geithner wanted to plea "to his influence".
I'm still not sure whether to laugh or cry about that one.

[Poboy]

31. That is VERY interesting. -nt

[chill_wind]

32. Linky-dinks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-04/geithner-visited-jon-stewart-last-april-to-talk-about-economy-not-comedy.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/11/04/yes-jon-stewart-is-the-most-powerful-economic-force-in-the-us/

[Poboy]

35. This should be an OP! -nt

[chill_wind]

36. It's all yours

and anything else you might want to add to the whole general subject.
(most of my OP's tend to sink like a rock, lol.) TIA if you do.

[sabrina 1]

34. Yes, that was very disturbing and makes me really sad as I

thought Stewart actually was independent. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe they all start out with good intentions but then once they are successful, are in danger of being coopted.

It definitely erodes trust especially considering his remark about Keith, which is beginning to look less and less like a coincidence or likely to be for any of the reasons given as excuses once he got the backlash. Bill Maher's response this week was the best yet, if you didn't see it, it's worth reading. He said it all regarding how ludicrous it was to lump Keith et al in with Fox.

If Geithner thinks Steward is 'influential' so must others in high places, others who would prefer to see people like Keith off the air. What a disappointment if one of the people most trusted turned out to have tried to help with that. It definitely seemed like a smear job to me.