When MSNBC fired Phil Donahue in 2003 we had no other anti-war voices.

[madfloridian]

When it happened it was very upsetting, like we had lost a good friend who opposed the war just as we did. It was sudden, and it was shocking.

And Chris Matthews appears to have played a role.

From Peter Hart at FAIR.

Chris Matthews' Role in MSNBC's Donahue Firing

Gabriel Sherman's piece in New York magazine (10/3/10) on the cable news wars includes a bit of history on MSNBC's firing of progressive host Phil Donahue in 2003; an internal memo at the time worried that the show would be "a home for the liberal anti-war agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." Sherman focuses on MSNBC personality Chris Matthews--who sometimes claims he was opposed to the Iraq War--and his desire to get Donahue fired:

Donahue's problems only increased when Chris Matthews let it be known that he wanted Donahue off the air. Matthews was a rising force at the network, with a reported salary of $5 million. He cultivated former GE CEO Jack Welch and had the ear of NBC CEO Bob Wright. (The two summered together on Nantucket.) Matthews saw himself as MSNBC's biggest star, and he was upset that the network was pumping significant resources into Donahue's show. In the fall of 2002, U.S. News & World Report ran a gossip item that had Matthews saying over lunch in Washington that if Donahue stays on the air, he could bring down the network.

After the item was published, Matthews showed up at Donahue's office and apologized. "He didn’t deny it," Donahue remembers

And a very interesting Phil Donahue interview with Sean Hannity in 2004...about his 2003 firing.

From Media Matters:

Phil Donahue on his 2003 MSNBC firing..."We had to have two conservatives on for every liberal. I was counted as two liberals."

As The New York Times reported at the time, when Donahue's MSNBC show, Donahue, was cancelled, "he was actually attracting more viewers than any other show on MSNBC."

SEAN HANNITY (co-host): What happened at MSNBC?

DONAHUE: Well, we were the only antiwar voice that had a show, and that, I think, made them very nervous. I mean, from the top down, they were just terrified. We had to have two conservatives on for every liberal. I was counted as two liberals.

HANNITY: You have the force of two liberals.

DONAHUE: I mean, you know, it's a shame, you know? Now, we were replaced by Michael Savage, and now they have Chuck...Joe Scarborough. And by the way, I wish them all well. A lot of the people who worked for me, incidentally, a wonderful crowd of very young, bright people who worked for me, some of whom have now matriculated to other programs on MSNBC. So I want them to do well, but I certainly wasn't -- it was a very, very unhappy time for me.

..."HANNITY: You were the highest-rated show on the network.

DONAHUE: Yes. And we were told to leave.

I don't think we should kid ourselves about this. Keith Olbermann did not toe the line as he should.

Think about it. One by one anyone who speaks out too much or not quite cautiously enough will end up either doing so or not being on TV.

Oh, and that is just the left...not the right. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh et al have free rein because they are righties..or whatever you would call it.

Seems like it has always been that way.

So Keith is gone, Donahue was gone during a very dark time for those who opposed the war. My hubby sat in shock tonight, not saying a word when he heard Olbermann's announcement. It's like we lost another friend just like in 2003. Hubby's been quiet all night.

We delude ourselves if we think that is the end of moves to make our side be proper and cautious while the other side spews vitriol.

[madfloridian]

1. Donahue still speaking out...last year in NJ

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/phil_donahue_speaks_at_nj_pea.html

"Phil Donahue, the liberal icon and godfather of daytime talk television, knew he was preaching to the converted. But he did it anyway at NJ Peace Action’s 53nd Annual Dinner tonight, he said, because inspiration is what the converted need to get out there and fight the good fight against a bad war.

"What you can hope is that you can energize the hard-core base and then they’ll talk to somebody who’ll talk to somebody, and maybe they’ll be here next year," Donahue said during an interview, while 200 pacifists dined on salmon, chicken or vegetarian fare beneath glass chandeliers at the Regency House in Pompton Plains. And he seemed to succeed, getting a standing ovation as the headliner for the peace group’s main annual fund raiser and awards dinner.

...""I really love seeing people of his stature -- nationally known celebrities -- that speak out for this side of the conversation, because the loudest voices seem to be on the other side," said Rosalie Donatelli, 55, of Scotch Plains, a Peace Action member whose son, Army Pfc. Ivano Pizzorno, is due to deploy to Afghanistan in June.

Donahue has been off the small screen as a talk show host since 2003, when MSNBC canceled "Donahue," a cable reprise of the nationally syndicated, "Phil Donahue Show," which ran for 26 years until 1996, winning 20 Daytime Emmys. The preternaturally boyish 76-year-old is now a filmmaker, having served as executive producer of the 2007 feature-length documentary, "Body of War," which garnered him this year’s Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award from the New Jersey peace group."

[no_hypocrisy]

20. I was there. I even got to sit at his table. An amazing man.

[madfloridian]

29. I'm jealous. And that is a great picture of him. Looks the same.

Doesn't look like he's aged a bit.

[robinlynne]

2. similar stories today about Tom Brokaw with Keith...

[madfloridian]

33. Ah, I had forgotten that. Found a link.

http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/9/the-real-agent-of-keith-olbermann-s-demotion-tom-brokaw

"After Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews were demoted from their co-anchoring duties for election coverage this summer, rumors swirled that GE CEO Jeff Immelt might have been behind the move. But it seems the change was really led by another NBC steward: Tom Brokaw.

NY Times: Mr. Brokaw said that over the summer he had “advocated” within the executive suite of NBC News to modify the anchor duties of the MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews on election night and on nights when there were presidential debates. Their expressions of strong political opinions from the MSNBC anchor desk has run counter to the more traditional role Mr. Brokaw played on “NBC Nightly News” for more than two decades. NBC said earlier this month that the two hosts would mostly relinquish their anchor duties to Mr. Gregory, while being present as analysts.

“Keith is an articulate guy who writes well and doesn’t make his arguments in a ‘So’s your old mother’ kind of way,” Mr. Brokaw said. “The mistake was to think he could fill both roles. The other mistake was to think he wouldn’t be tempted to use the anchor position to engage in commentary. That’s who he is.”

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/9/the-real-agent-of-keith-olbermann-s-demotion-tom-brokaw#ixzz1BnVQCGSX

[Supersedeas]

37. Tom Brokaw is really making a name for himself

[jillan]

3. I immediately thought about this. This whole thing with Keith feels dirty.

The truth will come out and I can't wait.

[madfloridian]

6. Yep, it has a dirty feel to it.

I agree.

[tavalon]

9. Not from Keith

I'm sure he had to sign a basic nondisclosure thing.

[moondust]

4. Did Lawrence O'Donnell have anything to do with KO leaving?

O'Donnell has had a strong line-up of guests. Maybe he wanted a better time slot and had the connections to make it happen, similar to what Matthews did?

Just wondering...

[tavalon]

11. That's a thought too

Here we are thinking this is a firing because of ideology and it could just be the young lion (so to speak) taking out the older one (so to speak). No way to know but I would like to know.

[Tunkamerica]

14. ...nm

[tavalon]

15. Pavulon?

I am confused.

[robinlynne]

35. how could he possibly have the power to do that? no comparison.

[gateley]

13. I keep coming back to this, but who has the higher ratings? I think that's pretty

much always the determining factor except in PD's case, when they may actually have gotten pressure from the government (can't think of why else they would send their top revenue producer packing.)

[sabrina 1]

5. Keith's sudden departure will scare other voices, even Rachel's

for fear they will too will be fired.

We do have the power to stop this but we won't use it.

I won't be watching MSNBC anymore.

I understand how your hubby feels.

Things are pretty sad at our house also.

There will be no progressive strong progressive voices allowed in the land of the free.

[madfloridian]

7. That's my fear as well.

That it is meant to keep folks in line.

[sabrina 1]

8. Yes, he was the one who was the most outspoken over the past

several years against the lies and deceptions of the Bush administration. I am wondering why eg, Rachel has not done anything on Wikileaks eg. Maybe she has, I haven't been watching a lot lately. But that is something she would have covered extensively had Bush president.

It will be interesting to see if she begins to change her tune and become more 'moderate'.

[molly77]

22. Neocons don't forget , Keith was one of the few who spoke out against bush

It isn't about the ratings. It is about control.

[delightfulstar]

31. I see the Comcast deal factoring into this....

Remember, they're very Repuke-friendly...especially Steve Burke, who is rumored to be taking over the NBC Universal holdings:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-mirvish/olbermanns-new-boss-gave-_b_779970.html

And there's also Phil Anschultz, who's on board with Comcast, and in bed with the Repukes, too:

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/what-role-did-comcast-play-keith-olbermanns


These articles were both published around the time KO was suspended in the fall, but they're awfully damning.

[madfloridian]

34. I agree. And more change could be coming.

[radhika]

10. If past is prologue......

Dumping Phil eliminated one media counterpoint to our illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. A nation that was NOT complicit in 911 and posed to viable threat to the US. This left the path wide open for Fox, Rush and all other hawkish voices.

Interesting to think dumping Keith is a similar pre-emptive stroke. Remove a media counterpoint to the upcoming debacle of Darrell Issa and Bagger-style budgets...Rachel and the others will be forced into alignment. Or asked to leave. Comcast plays for keeps.

[Enthusiast]

18. PLUS ONE.

I fear your analysis is on the money.

[Moostache]

25. NO, NO, NO....a thousand times NO!!!

Rachel will NOT abandon her principles to stay on the air...she may well get removed as well (I believe MSNBC will be turned HARD right in a matter of months), but she will not cave on what she believes to stay employed by a corporate whore-master.

If anything, I expect Rachel's show will push further left and more persistently cover liberal issues with increased depth to fill a portion of the void left in Olbermann's wake. She will be fired for it, but if she does take that stand I applaud her for it and my admiration and respect would only double. Caving in to corporate directives to "be less confrontational" would be like waving a huge white flag and acquiescing to Fox News domination of the propagnada airwaves...FIGHT THE POWER Rachel!

[joentokyo]

36. She had little to say about Keith on Real Time

She appears to know who is buttering her bread. She will moderate. If not she would have quit already.

[Paka]

38. As I posted on another thread...

the PTB want to crush the clearest voices for the opposition coming into the election cycle. Keep them on the sidelines just long enough to re-win the Senate and WH. Evil, evil doings!!:evilgrin:

[tulsakatz]

12. I understand the comparison......

...but I don't agree that the same thing is happening now.

When Donahue was fired, it was a very different time. The war in Iraq had just begun and much of the country was supporting that war. We also had the Bush admin and the Senate and House controlled by republicans. It wasn't really popular to be a liberal back then.

I, myself, wrote letters to MSNBC to complain about the direction that network was going in. Remember their pre-Olbermann show called Countdown to Iraq? Lester Holt was the host and it was mainly a kind of cheer leading, propaganda show intended to promote the war. I stopped watching MSNBC at that time because none of the shows tried to do anything other than support the Bush admin!

But this is very different. We now have a democratic Senate and White House. And the mood in the country is completely different. MSNBC's new ad promo 'lean forward' would not even be possible if not for the efforts of Keith and others. Even Chris Matthews is now voicing mainly centrist positions but at least he's not trying to sell the same GOP BS as he used to. More and more he seems to point to the ridiculous hypocrisy of the right!

We now have many other left-leaning programming on MSNBC. And even though I will miss Olbermann, I don't plan to stop watching MSNBC. I have every confidence that we will see Keith again. I don't know where or when but I do know his voice won't be silent for long.....

[madfloridian]

27. They are similar, very much alike.

We have the right wing spouting hate and threats and nothing being done, and we still have the left wing being "cautioned" to be careful what we say.

No, not a lot of the country supported that war.....our side just never got heard. Remember the over a million people who marched and it was covered briefly or not at all?

They took off an anti-war voice and had only pro-invasion voices.

It's even worse now because the FCC under a Democratic president approved such a merger, and there is deafening silence from the Democrats.

The mood in the country is very much the same because our side is not speaking out. Why is that?

Because of fear of what happens when they do?

[DailyGrind51]

16. Both Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay favored curbs on the 1st Amendment, during war time!

Yet, they are the first to lecture Democrats regarding Constitutionality!

[madfloridian]

30. And who was it that said we must "watch what we say"?

ah..Rumsfeld.

[upi402]

17. "HANNITY: You were the highest-rated show on the network.

DONAHUE: Yes. And we were told to leave.


I hope there's something inspiring afoot, but I've also seen too much of this crap over the decades.

[Enthusiast]

19. Bring back Phil Donahue! nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. I met Phil Donahue when he was here to premier his movie Body of War

He's a great guy. Very personable. He is still close to Tomas's family, 5 years after he made the movie.

[molly77]

23. Kind people are not welcome in MSM

War and greed are promoted in many nuanced situations.And there is no way to keep it from being boring. WE do not tolerate boring.LOL

[Karenina]

24. They did it to silence our voices.

[felix_numinous]

26. What a slap to the left

especially after we showed such strong support of him when he was laid off. That must have chapped their behinds.

How dangerous is our point of view to them that we should only be allowed such limited representation? I think we learn a lot about the vulnerabilities of the RW from what they do not tolerate. They absolutely do not want the American people in solidarity against them, that is clear.

[colsohlibgal]

28. Too Much Truth To Power

They wanted to control him more and he resisted so....gone. O'Reilly must be jumping for joy.This does harken back to Donahue. When MSNBC was breaking out their pom poms to cheer on the Iraq invasion they couldn't have Donahue asking hard questions - even though that was what was called for.

I'll be interested in hearing Cenk at 6 Monday, see if he can say what I think he would normally say about this...actually I will be curious to see how they all handle it on air, Lawrence, Rachel, Big Ed. Come to think of it the first thing to listen to will be Ed's radio show at noon.

[madfloridian]

32. Controlling the message....yes, it does harken back to Donahue.

Keith may or may not have "taken a deal", but whichever way involves the new merger....he knew his time was limited.

[DesertFlower]

39. i'd love to have donahue back.

[molly77]

40. Off topic

Just for you Mad Floridian.. I am trying to break the habit of HuffPo..but love Jason Linkins commentary on Sun morning shows. re. education.

But how do you get people to invest in higher education? BECAUSE TEACHERS UNIONS ARE THE DEVIL, YOU KNOW. (I think about how POWERFUL the teachers' unions are every day, when my wife tells me her lunch break was five minutes long and she got to eat a few crackers.) Anyway, we should definitely give a ton of taxpayer money to corporations, to build a ton of sham charter schools, that offer degrees in bowling alley maintenance.

[burning rain]

41. It is sinister how Chris Matthews claims to have opposed the Iraq war from the get-go.

What's even more sinister is that he's never challenged on this falsehood, on MSNBC.

[Swagman]

42. I really admired Donahue-he was shown here in Australia and he really made me

understand that there were sane Americans !:hi:

[madfloridian]

43. I wondered if anyone in other countries realized that.

That some of us were sane. :hi:

[mmonk]

44. Don't forget what they did to Ashley Banfield.