MSNBC President Phil Griffin Threatened To Fire Keith Olbermann

[Amerigo Vespucci]

MSNBC President Phil Griffin Threatened To Fire Keith Olbermann

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/15/msnbc-phil-griffin-fire-olbermann_n_783459.html



MSNBC President Phil Griffin vowed to fire Keith Olbermann if he went on other networks to discuss his suspension, The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz reports.

Kurtz writes that the threat came during a conversation with Michael Price, Olbermann's manager, on Nov. 7, two days into Olbermann's suspension. Price told Griffin that, if the suspension was not resolved quickly, Olbermann would appear on "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live" and David Letterman's "Late Show" to air his side of the story.

"If you go on GMA, I will fire Keith," Griffin reportedly replied. Minutes later, though, Griffin released the statement announcing the lifting of the suspension and preventing an even more serious showdown. When Price asked Griffin why he had made such an extreme threat, Griffin told him, "we are at war."

Kurtz also writes that many within the broader NBC News organization had raised serious concerns about Olbermann with the top management. Chief among these, he says, was Tom Brokaw, who was one of several top NBC News stars to worry that Olbermann "has badly damaged MSNBC's reputation for independence."

[CBGLuthier]

1. And then everybody laughed at him and said Phil Who?

I don't worship the big O the way some do here but without him msnbc is.... well... CNN. Barely.

[Oceansaway]

2. Brokaws a drunk...fug him...nt

[KingOfLostSouls]

3. LOL, the mainstream media destroyed itself.

when they resorted to covering up the iraq war and handing out bullshit softball questions to george w. bush.


1000 teabaggers show up to see sarah palin, its on every fucking channel.

700,000 people storm new york in protest of the war, it doesn't even get a soundbite.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Ths Story According To Brokaw...

First of all when I heard "MSNBC Independence" I had to :rofl:

This is a network owned by major corporates...and was once overseen by Jack Welch; a highly partisan owner who made Mr. Brokaw a wealthy man. The hypocrisy here reeks worse than the ego games that participated this entire debacle.

Of course Whorie needs to get his digs in. He has no love for Olbermann either...a major cheerleader of the false equivelency meme others pick up on.

[EFerrari]

31. As Told To HOWARD KURTZ.

:rofl:

[Kalyke]

5. What "news" has Brokaw broken in... um.. a decade or better?

Seems to me that all the old guard at NBC are a bit pissy-pants jealous of their MSNBC anchor. He shines light on the corporatists that put money in their pockets.

[tsuki]

6. Tom who? nt

[rocktivity]

9. Not to mention

"Phil who?" and "Howard who?"

:eyes:
rocktivity

[tsuki]

22. People say Phil who to me, I say Donahue. ;)

[mymomwasright]

7. Brokaw must see Olbermann...

as a threat to his tax status.

[rocktivity]

8. "...the Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz reports..."

And this is the thanks Keith gets for having him on Countdown?

:boring:
rocktivity

[Pab Sungenis]

10. MSNBC's "reputation for independence?"

MSNBC shouldn't have a reputation for independence; it should be proud to have a reputation for standing up for what is right.

[Kingofalldems]

11. Was Griffin or Brokaw upset when David Gregory did the bump

with Karl Rove?

[marmar]

12. Tom Brokaw is a worthless POS

nt

[Coyote_Bandit]

13. KO's journalistic standards and methods

aren't a whole hell of a lot different than those employed at Fox News. Same shit. Different agenda. KO uses his position to influence viewers. We ought not pretend otherwise.

For anybody who has forgotten, KO clearly preferred one Dem candidate over all others - and one in particular - during the last Dem Presidential primaries. Very inappropriate in my opinion. I quit watching him then. I personally think he deserves a permanent assignment to the sports desk.

[Kalyke]

16. Why? He's a commentator not a reporter.

For anyone who knows the difference, the appearance of impropriety does not translate to opinion writers.

Sorry your inability to tell the difference between reporters and commentators caused you to stop watching him. He does get his facts right before he expresses his opinion. Faux News commentators just make shit up and then talk about it.

[Coyote_Bandit]

17. Which puts him in the same league

as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Pat Buchanan, and a host of other unsavory characters.

Same shit. Different agenda.

[Paladin]

28. Yeah! Because God Forbid......

...there should be a forceful, articulate liberal presence in the national media, right? Liberals ought to do our typical fetal position thing and just cede the field to the likes of Limbaugh, the most effective spewer of far right-wing tripe since Joseph Goebbels, right?

"Same shit. Different agenda." Yeah, right.....

[glinda]

33. Less lies than Limbaugh, Beck & Buchanan. Huge difference in approach and intent.

[ShamelessHussy]

19. i am glad he is on my side, very few in the media are these days

[Coyote_Bandit]

20. Do you only listen to

those who verbalize what you already think?

[Dappleganger]

32. I don't...

but KO has his place and is quite effective. I watch him one night a week, more often if there is a compelling reason. Rachel Maddow's style is more investigative so I watch her more often, but KO is a passionate commentator/opinionist and his work is valuable.

If that's not your style that's ok. ;)

[Renew Deal]

27. How do you find his "standards and methods" acceptable in general

but inappropriate when you disagree with him?

[EFerrari]

30. Apples and grenades.

Keith is an out liberal with a viewpoint but that doesn't mean he's anything like Faux. Fox claims to be unbiased and they run fake stories as they serve as the PR arm of the Republican party. Keith has an admitted viewpoint, his stories are transparently sourced and when people send him talking points, he outs them on the air.

[Radical Activist]

36. Facts matter.

No, I won't go along with equating the non-stop deception at Fox with one hour of opinion programming that has some standard of accuracy.

[boston bean]

14. Tom Brokaw moderated a private meeting between Obama and Goldman Sachs. nt

[Poboy]

15. Brokaw is a corporate lacky who has sold his soul to the establishment.

[Swamp Rat]

26. That about sums it up.

[nc4bo]

18. ROFLMAO - Brokaw, NBC worried KO would damage their reputation for "independence"

:rofl: OMG - now THAT'S hilarious!

[Greybnk48]

21. Coming from blatantly Repug Brokaw! Really???

Fuck off Tom, you conceited asshole. You're not as "beloved" as YOU like to think.

[WinkyDink]

23. And he can write his name in the snow, too.

[oldlib]

24. Griffin should be

more concerned about the weekend show "Lockup" or is it "Lock down". MSNBC doesn't even offer news on weekends and what they offer is meaningless crap.

[AC_Mem]

34. MSNBC Weekends

I agree on being disappointed with MSNBC and the prison thing. On the one hand, we have really really good shows with Rachel, Keith, Larry, Ed, etc. telling the truth about politics and THEN you get to the weekend...

and you get to watch thieves, liars, murderers, rapists...

sigh. What are they thinking? If they had something worthwhile on, I would tune in. Do they not want viewers from Friday night to Sunday night? I don't get it.

Annette

[Renew Deal]

25. I agree that there are problems with journalistic ethics in general

And I agree that what Olbermann did was ethically "wrong." I don't agree that what he did damaged MSNBC's reputation. That is MSNBC's reputation.

It's a problem with media in general. Not just Olbermann.

[leveymg]

29. BEWARE THIS SOURCE: Howie Kurtz did not get a raise when he left the WaPo in October.

Howie was a hack at the WaPo, but he's now an even more underpaid hack at Tina Brown's rag. He may be right about the threat to fire Olbermann, but, otherwise, I wouldn't give this one a lot of credibility. Kurtz is undoubtedly looking to make a splash in his new media, and I do not believe he's a big fan of Keith. http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/10/howard-kurtz-leaves-washington-post-for-daily-beast-18107.html

Well, did you get a raise, Mr. Kurtz? "The decision was not made on a financial basis." According to the media-beat vet, the appeal of the jump was to be able to shape the Beast site, in a way that he could never hope to at the Washington Post. "It's a smaller battleship than the Washington Post," he says.

[Radical Activist]

35. General Electric has a very conservative agenda.

The fact that the liberals bring in money only counts for so much. Things are getting out of control and the hammer will come down soon.