This week, Rachel Maddow defended Keith Olbermann on her show. She also took the opportunity to take another slap at Fox News. What was outrageous in her statement was to say that MSNBC is a news organization-not a political organization like Fox News.
Whether or not Fox News has a prohibition against its commentators contributing to politicians is besides the point. It was Olbermann who made a big issue of people like Sean Hannity contributing to Republican politicians-an expose, if you will-before he went out and did the same thing.
But for Maddow to imply that MSNBC is anything less than a de facto arm of the Democratic Party is disingenuous at best. This network consists of five far-left anchors (excluding Joe Scarborough in the morning). Every night, for five solid hours, these five partisans bash Republicans, conservatives, tea-partiers and anyone who disagrees with their liberal vision for America. Their guests are almost always fellow-liberals. While I concede Fox News tilts conservative-especially with Hannity, Fox can stack up their balance against MSNBC every night. MSNBC even goes so far as to use these five liberal anchors as election eve commentators. Last week's coverage of the election was a total embarrassment. They might as well have donned Dallas Cowboy cheerleader garb.
In a sense, Maddow is right. MSNBC should put Olbermann back on the air. For them to suspend him for violating some sense of "professional impartiality" is a joke considering the content of their nightly political coverage. Olbermann, however, has a habit of burning bridges wherever he goes, sort of the Randy Moss of journalism. It appears that the network was just using the contributions as an excuse to get rid of what has been a long-standing embarrassment for them.
3 comments:
Maybe MSNBC can try and beat Fox by doing some real journalism...nah, that'd never get ratings.
Sour grapes all around. EVERYONE wants to gloat about the tribulations of their most hated, jump in on behalf of their friends, and ignore the beam in their own eyes.
What business does any news organization have interfering with the right of an individual employee to make political donations, to the extent permitted by law? EVERY such employee should candidly disclose these individual acts, and then proceed to deliver whatever news or commentary their fans and detractors expect of them.
I don't watch much MSNBC, but Rachel Maddow gave a hilarious and well documented presentation last August on the "old" Sharron Angle running in the Republican primary, and the "new" Sharron Angle advised by the RNC to say the exact opposite if she wanted to win the general election.
MSNBC, the Air America of TV land
Post a Comment