I’m with K-Lo, Jonah, Bill, and other lovers of free speech. If this hadn’t happened, and we didn’t know about NBC’s cockamamie policy, wouldn’t you have assumed that Keith Olbermann donated money to left-wing candidates? I certainly would have — if I had cared enough to give it a second of thought.
NBC took Olbermann off its Sunday night NFL telecasts this year. That made sense. If you’re into politics but you can’t abide Olbermann, you can simply join the 300 million Americans who choose not to watch MSNBC. But if you like football, your choice was to endure Olbermann, not watch, or watch with the sound down. That was a stupid position for NBC to put its audience and sponsors in, so they stopped doing it. Why, though, should MSNBC’s sparse viewership, which tunes in because it adores Olbermann and lefty pols, be deprived of their Keith-fix just because, besides promoting lefty pols, he supports them financially?
One of two things must be going on. Possibility no. 1: NBC News really is clueless: i.e., they actually believe, when they put Olbermann on “news” shows with other “objective, non-partisan journalists” like Chris Matthews, that we don’t realize opinion is being masqueraded as news — and thus they’re worried that Olbermann’s political contributions risk revealing the charade. Since it is a charade anyone who cares is already on to, consider the more likely possibility no. 2: as usual, there’s more to the story than we’re hearing.
Well, Olbermann has flamed out wherever he has worked in the past, so number 2 is a good possibility.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOf course there is more to the story. He's he's ticked someone off and is about to Juaned out of a job permanently.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Why, though, should MSNBC’s sparse viewership, which tunes in because it adores Olbermann and lefty pols, be deprived of their Keith-fix just because, besides promoting lefty pols, he supports them financially?"
Now that's what I call "Compassionate Conservatism!"
;-)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseStop. defending. Olbermann.
NBC had a policy. Olbermann broke the rules and should pay the price. I wouldn't be surprised if FoxNews has a similar policy. Did O'Reilly or Brit Hume donate to House candidates in far off districts? Probably not.
Nobody right of Dennis Kucinich cares about this.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThey're making room for Alan Grayson--he needs the work you know.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIsn't the real reason obvious? It's all about ratings and credibility: NBC is trying to distinguish itself from Fox News. Fox is getting pounded for its conflict of interest in secretly donating millions of dollars to Republican candidates this election, which supporting the charge that Fox News just the media arm of the Republican Party and not a "fair and balanced" independent news outlet. So NBC goes way the opposite direction to try to avoid any hint of the same taint. Watch them market themselves as "pure" and see if they mention Fox News as an organization with obvious conflicts of interest.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGood analysis. It's your #1. Occam's Razor. MSNBC actually believes this is the right thing to do, much as NPR thought firing Juan Williams was the right thing to do. They do these things partly to fulfill their notions of ethical requirements and partly in order to satisfy their customers, but the former reason is bigger in their minds. We must all challenge ourselves to believe that the other side is not merely malevolent, but sometimes merely blinkered.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere is no free speech issue here, which is. the last time I looked a matter only between the government and the citizen. Why people don't grasp this is unclear. No government is involved anywhere at all. Therefore, there is no First Amendment violation.
Olbermann violated company policy and now is in danger of losing his gig, just like anybody else would be. He may find himself on the unemployment line (with a lot of other people) but that is hardly equivalent to being sent to a re-education camp.
Moreover, anyone on the Right who did such a thing and found themselves on the wrong end of company policy would get no sympathy whatever ever from the names mentioned at the top of the McCarthy's note. Indeed, I can think of one person at NRO, an individual who has assumed the role of "policing the Right," who would be gloating now.
Yes, of course there could be more to the story. Isn't there always?
This is a non-matter of non-issues.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'd rather Olbermann stay on the air. Personally, I find his show endlessly amusing.
The potential justification NBC has is that Olbermann could charade as a liberal, but not as a partisan Democrat--a charade blown by campaign contributions (and also by any show viewed by any sane person). The fig leaf is that he is liberal, but not partisan.
Possibility 2 is also likely. He's widely known as insufferable, even by people who think like he does.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have to agree with Galt. He broke the rules. Suspend him for a couple of weeks and move on.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFox's corporate parent donated to the Republican Governors Association. Why would they bother with a similar policy?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh it's definitely Choice #2. Olbermann is a Class A jerk who's been fired and/or resigned in a huff and burned bridges everywhere he's been.
Since he's got nothing to do, NR ought to invite him on the big cruise just for fun.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIsn't everyone over-analyzing this? I think the rules and behavior that got us here are silly too, but MSNBC has a published code and Olbermann publicly violated it after publicly trashing others for similar behavior. What choice do they have, other than just turn the keys to the network over to Olbermann? He seems to keep getting closer to the edge of being a liability to them anyway.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusemy guess is, they finally realized no one watches MSNBC, they wanted Olbermann gone, he had a contract, and this was an excuse. this is simple business and it happens in every work place - when they can't afford to keep paying you but can't just fire you, they look for a violation of your contract. nothing to see here, people. move along.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is merely an excuse to let him go - Olbermann has been bounced out of every gig (including a prior MSNBC show) because he's an arrogant jerk.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs much as I loathe Olbermann, I am beginning to get a distinct whiff of defensive hypocrisy from the many conservatives defending his right to give money to political causes and remain an employed commentator.
I would be more impressed by you, as stauch defenders of press freedom, if you'd also state your interest in the matter by prefacing your remarks with a recitatation of the amounts and the recipients of your own personal political contributions. It is my presumption that you all give money to your most favored politicos, which somewhat takes the edge off your high-minded defense of today's and everyday's "Worst Person In The World".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt certainly looks like a pretext to get rid of an anchor in both the financial and the TV senses. I was shocked to read that he had a 4 year $30 million contract. He hasn't exactly delivered higher ratings, but that should have been part of his contract.
The government can't violate free speech, but private businesses can. However, they can't violate their contracts without good cause.
Expect a lawsuit, but Olbermann won't be back on their air. It's a win-win solution.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh, Did Sunday Night Football cut Olby? I stopped watching the NBC pregame and half time in Season I, in favor of ESPN, a move I highly recommend to all fans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's a stupid rule, but it's a rule and he broke it. He hasn't lost a syllable of free speech. The first amendment doesn't automatically come with a TV gig.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt may seem like a crazy policy, but it is the policy. I cannot attend any political function that has a cost or donate to candidates. If there were a fundraiser I wanted to attend, I would not be allowed even if someone else purchased the ticket for me. Companies may be be going to extremes with these limitations, but I guess they want to avoid even the hint of a conflict of interest. Of course, everyone knows where Olby stands on the issues. His show is basically a one hour commercial against Republicans.
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