Althouse: "Olbermann Suspended from MSNBC for Campaign Donations."

November 5, 2010

"Olbermann Suspended from MSNBC for Campaign Donations."

What a screwup!

207 comments:

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bagoh20 said...: The contributions say absolutely nothing about Olbermann that everyone, including his bosses, didn't already know. MSNBC execs were ecstatic to get this opportunity.; 11/5/10, 11:43 PM
ampersand said...: I am renting out my sarcasmatron for those upset about Alex's comments. However, Alex, some words of caution. Do not look into the face of Huffington, she has the power to turn men gay.; 11/5/10, 11:49 PM
kent said...: Oh, look, look. The Columbia Journalism -- not even remotely capable of being mistaken for a politically conservative source -- states uncategorically that, yes indeedy, Olberdouche absolutely, positively DID screw the proverbial pooch on this one:

"To start with, Olbermann was foolish to so blatantly violate company policy, that while dusty, is well intentioned: Commentators—even those with strong ideological foundations—are expected to survey the political landscape and offer an opinion that is sharp, critical, and independent. And while Olbermann and others at MSNBC might frequently align themselves with Democratic ideas and politicians, there must be a line between arguing for a cause or candidate and directly and materially contributing to a candidate’s re-election. You create questions about entanglements that may affect your reporting and do affect the way your reporting is perceived. Cross that line and you become an activist or teammate and no longer the kind of journalist Olbermann purports to be on his show. Or, as we found out today, the kind of journalist NBC does not consider above reproach. And that is their prerogative."

(Automatic Libtard Response: "... ummmmm... well I... errrrrrr... FOX! FOXFOXFOXFOXFOXXXXXXX -- !!!"); 11/6/10, 2:28 AM
kent said...: "Columbia Journalism Review"; 11/6/10, 3:01 AM
kent said...: Reason TV's "tribute" (heh) to the late, unlamented career of one Keith "Bathtub Boy" Olbermann:; 11/6/10, 7:58 AM
roesch-voltaire said...: Maddow's comments are no surprise: Fox is open about its political and financial support of the Republican party, and while Olberman's views are clearly expressed, he is not allowed to contribute money to any party- nor does MNBC seem in the habit of hiring potential candidates in 2012-- these are important differences.; 11/6/10, 9:13 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: I think that the Columbia Journalism Review has its head in the sand here. I think that the world of journalism is split between opinion and news, and if they are pretending to give the news, they should try to be even handed.

Olbermann was pretending to give the news, but everyone knew that he was highly biased. I think that if he comes back at PMSNBC, it will be as the same sort of opinion journalist as Beck and Hannity, and maybe even O'Reilly, are at Fox.

The one thing that I do wonder about here though is whether NBC was worried about losing its standing as a news organization here, and that is why they are being so aggressive with this. They had Olbermann not only contributing money to these people's campaigns, but he also appears to have given the same people preferential (and sympathetic) air time. This just looks too close to the line under the current campaign finance laws - why isn't this sort of thing considered an in-kind political contribution? It puts NBC in the hot seat here justifying why it isn't a political contribution, which would likely exceed the amount that it could legally contribute.

Of course, the other part of this is that NBC and its parent organization have spent the last two years sucking up to the Obama Administration something fierce. All for the best reasons of course, like getting the GE finance unit legally identified as a "bank" in record time so they could get billions in TARP funds, the Democrats promoting all those alternative energy technologies where GE is a major player, etc.

And, now, the Republicans have taken back the House, which is where spending bills start, and where they will have fairly strong subpoena power. And NBC has been near the top of their enemies list for the last two years for their naked partisanship. So, no surprise that Olbermann is thrown under the bus. He was the most egregious, and so is a worthy sacrifice.; 11/6/10, 10:12 AM