On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 11:51 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 6:27 PM, Dave Sikula <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I think the heart of the the problem is that MSNBC doesn't have the >> balls to -be- a liberal network. Maddow and Schultz are liberals; >> Lawrence O'Donnell is a liberal moderate, and Olbermann is less >> "liberal" than he's anti-Bush, anti-Fox, and anti-Republican, but the >> rest of the lineup -- from Joe Scarborough to Andrea Mitchell -- is >> pretty straightforward conservative or part of the Beltway mentality >> -- which skews to the right. >> >> I don't mind KO making contributions to anyone he likes, just as I >> don't care if Hannity, O'Reilly, Beck, or any of the "commentators" at >> Fox does the same -- just own up to it. That's where Olbermann screwed >> himself; by breaking the rule to begin with (which brings up the >> question of having to have your employers approve your political >> stands), by not admitting it, for criticizing the Fox guys for doing >> the same thing, and even interviewing someone he'd contributed to >> without disclosing it. >> >> Now, all that said, if he were supposed to be a non-biased anchor of a >> news show giving just the facts, ma'am, he should have been straight- >> out fired. But he's got an opinion show, and anyone whose IQ is over >> room temperature knows that. So make him eat dirt for a week and then >> bring him back and let him give a suitable apology. But don't pretend >> that MSNBC is some temple of non-partisanship. Every anchor on there >> -- and Fox -- has an agenda and does their damnedest to push it -- >> otherwise, they wouldn't be on the air. >> > > I agree with just about all of this (the dirt eating turned out to be for > only 2 shows, not a week, which I think is just about right, and what Rachel > was calling for). I wonder if KO will actually apologize - screw his NBC > overlords, but to his audience. He owed it to them to let them know he was > making the donations. He should not apologize for making the donations > though. And maybe this will help clarify some bright lines for this kind of > thing. Those who are striving to be neutral reporters of the news (Jim Lehr, > Brian Williams, whoever tries to do that at Fox News) should not be involved > in partisan politics at all (though I think they should vote - even though > some of them take pride in never voting); opinion-based reporters can be > involved in partisan politics in a limited way, but should always be > transparent about it. MSNBC's policy of having to get permission from the > overload has to go.
I pretty much agree with this myself. That said, over the weekend the Politico suggested that Olbermann got suspended only because he wouldn't agree to apologize on air Friday (unclear if to mean apologize for the donation, apologize for breaking NBC policy, or apologize for not revealing the donation when he interviewed the congressman to which he gave the donation to). Now, this will be interesting to see what he says about this on Tuesday, and if an apology will be amongst the things said. http://www.politico.com/playbook/1110/playbook1227.html -- Wesley McGee http://www.ambivi.com http://drawing-a-blank.tumblr.com -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
