MSNBC Bombs in Blogosphere

Washington Post ^ | Tuesday, September 9, 2008 | Howard Kurtz

[presidio9]

The decision by MSNBC to yank Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from anchor duty during live political events did not exactly send a thrill up the leg of liberal bloggers.

A number of them denounced the cable channel yesterday for making a change that had long been sought by NBC News veterans, saying MSNBC was caving into pressure from John McCain's campaign and the right wing.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin denied that complaints from either Republicans or NBC journalists were a factor. He said he reached the decision after "talking to my guys, mainly Olbermann," after the Republican convention. Olbermann and Matthews will remain as analysts during such major political events as the presidential debates.

"We came to the conclusion it was better not to restrain them" by making them wear "two hats," Griffin said. "It's not like we haven't talked about this all along. What Keith can say on 'Countdown' and what Chris can say on 'Hardball' is a little different" than what they could tell viewers in the role of news anchors.

In the liberal blogosphere, Olbermann -- an occasional contributor to the Daily Kos site -- is viewed as a heroic truth-teller who has now been undermined by network suits whose company is owned by General Electric. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo called the move "pathetic," writing: "It seems pretty obvious that the network got cowed by complaints from the McCain campaign."

Salon's Glenn Greenwald called it "extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and tarnish its own principal asset. It is plainly doing so for ideological, not ratings-based, reasons: namely, it fears doing anything to anger the White House, the McCain campaign and the right in this country."

Not all liberal bloggers agreed. Jeralyn Merritt of Talk Left attributed

[longtermmemmory]

how many msnbc shows have the same ratings as a test pattern? LITERALLY

[CarolTX]

LOL!!

[musicman]

"Anybody who thinks that David Gregory is going to be a jpurnalistic improvement on Olberman is deluding himself."

[CarolTX]

Caption David Gregory:

“Come here, little viewer, and I’ll give you a piece of candy...”

[Sadie5]

Josh Marshall is an Obama puppet, has been since we first heard of the Messiah. Good riddance to KO and Matthews. Hope that tingle down his leg is not a serious medical problem. Maher was right about the two of them having orgasms as they spoke of Obie.

[xDGx]

Ultimately GE has to be held accountable for Olbermann. They cannot brush off letting the MSNBC sub run around unhinged. They pay Olbermann $4 million a year to piss off half the country, and were well aware of what a divisive force he was at ESPN.

Instead of yanking him off convention coverage, they are “freeing him up”? To do just what?

As posted in another thread:

The only thing that will get any attention is boycotting GE (MSNBC’s corporate parent)

GE Corporate HeadquartersGeneral Electric Company
Fairfield, CT 06828
Work +1 203 373 2211

Trevor A. Schauenberg
Vice President
Corporate Investor Communications
Work +1 203 373 2468
Email Trevor; ir.contacts@corporate.ge.com?subject=e-mail%20for%20trevor%20schauenberg

JoAnna H. Morris
Director
Corporate Investor Communications
Work +1 203 373 2472
Email JoAnna: mailto:ir.contacts@corporate.ge.com?subject=E-mail%20for%20JoAnna%20Morris

Pauline M. Berardi
Specialist, Shareowner Information
Corporate Investor Communications
Work +1 203 373 2475
Email Pauline: mailto:ir.contacts@corporate.ge.com?subject=E-mail%20for%20Pauline%20M.%20Berardi

You can also boycott parts of GE, the home appliance division contributes about 8% of GE’s bottom line.

http://www.geappliances.com/service_and_support/contact/form_concern.htm

Immelt has been a disaster for GE, maybe writing some of the Board will do some good.

http://www.ge.com/company/leadership/directors.html

[presidio9]

They pay Olbermann $4 million a year to piss off half the country, and were well aware of what a divisive force he was at ESPN.

I laugh at Olberman, but my personal theory has always been that he's pissing off way more than half of us. He gives nutjob theories that sober Democrats laugh at, like "Bush had prior knowledge of 9/11" or "Bush invaded Iraq for personal gain" just enough plausibility that people start going on the internet and looking for whatever answer they want to find. Anyway, most of the people watching these two idiots were doing so because they liked being pissed off.

[y6162]

“We came to the conclusion it was better not to restrain them” by making them wear “two hats,”

Doberman should be restrained by a straight jacket.

[WOSG]

Is that a REAL snapshot?!? Not a photoshop?!?
MSNBC had background hecklers?!? Oh, that is too funny!

[VeniVidiVici]

Salon's Glenn Greenwald called it "extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and tarnish its own principal asset.

LOL! I'd say they did that quite well on their own.

[top 2 toe red]

"It is plainly doing so for ideological, not ratings-based, reasons: namely, it fears doing anything to anger the White House, the McCain campaign and the right in this country."

Hmmmm...seems what they really fear is that McCain and Palin ARE going to be the new occupants of the White House and that scares the bejeeze out of them.

[SevenofNine]

That too funnny LOLOLOL!

[lowbridge]

did not exactly send a thrill up the leg of liberal bloggers.

Does it matter to the Washington Post what the conservative bloggers think? /rhetorical

[Mikey_1962]

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo called the move "pathetic," writing: "It seems pretty obvious that the network got cowed by complaints from the McCain campaign."

Jesus Josh, Get a shovel!

[autumnraine]

Liberals seem to think that everyone agrees with them. And if by chance someone doesn’t, they don’t count.