On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 7:52 PM, Kevin M. <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think Keith is going to run headfirst into the problem of trying to > be a biased journalist. He violated the rules of his news > organization. Regardless of how or if he apologizes, his ethics very > publicly clashed with NBC's standards. So the problem Keith will face > -- at some point in the future if not tomorrow -- is what to say or > how to react when someone else breaks the rules and gets caught. It > isn't about whether he was right or whether NBC's policy was outdated. > Keith didn't play by the rules, so the next time he rails against > someone else for breaking the rules, Keith's ranting and raving will > seem a little sad. And that won't change because he apologizes. > > As a teacher in San Diego, I used to enforce my school's dress code > policy. It annoyed me because I didn't particularly care about whether > a boy had his shirt tucked in or whether a girl's skirt was an > age-appropriate length. I have always thought school uniforms were > stupid, but I was taking a paycheck from somebody who wanted me to > enforce their rules. If I was unwilling to abide by their rules, I > should not have cashed their checks. If Keith wants to make political > contributions and NBC doesn't want him to, then he either needs to > resign or stop taking payment for doing his show. It isn't about > censorship or freedom of speech or anything else I've heard liberals > rail about the last few days. He is free to say what he wants and > donate what he wants in America, but NBC policy states he cannot do so > while an employee of their news organization. He broke NBC's rules, so > I believe he does owe NBC an apology. As for the viewers, they'll have > to decide how much this taints him. > I don't care very much about KO's rule following - he may be breaking NBC's "only drink out of your own coffee mug" rule every day - that does not have much impact on his credibility as a journalist for me. The fact that he broke NBC's rule in this case justifies his punishment, and the punishment in this case seems to have basically fit the crime. The fact that he reported on the political campaigns, without informing his viewers that he was part of some of the campaigns, was not just a rule violation of the organization that paid him (which I don't care as much about) - it is a violation of the trust he asks his viewers to place in him. That I do care about, and is much more important. Still, everybody makes mistakes - both in terms of doing something unintentionally, and in terms of making a bad judgment. This seems to have been a case of bad judgment (I have made one or two of those in my professional life). As long as we admit them as we become aware of them, learn from them, and genuinely try not to repeat them, I don't think a error in judgment has to disqualify anyone from continuing to be respected in their work. If awareness of this error leads us to be that much less arrogant, and judgmental of the judgment errors in others, well, so much the better (though, having followed Mr. Olbermans's career for some time now, across more than one format, I am not optimistic about seeing much change in his arrogance or tolerance levels). -- 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 tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
