Keith Olbermann suspended for giving campaign contribution

[Andalusian girls]

well done.

[Olo401]

Stewart has never claimed equivalency between Fox News and any other media organization, for those who watch his show the vast majority of his media criticism is targeted at Fox News and their pundits and he goes out of his way to call them The Temple of Doom and many other such pejoratives that he does not level at the other channels. Recently when talking to the Fox News Sunday anchor, Chris Wallace, he repeatedly stated that Fox News is in another league than MSNBC when it comes to promulgating a preconstructed narrative that has little regard for fact, and that the only real substantive issue he has with MSNBC is that they set themselves up as a counter-weight to Fox, embracing only one side of the political spectrum and setting up a 24 hour echo chamber.

I completely agree that MSNBC has positioned itself deliberately as a counterweight to Fox, not out of necessity for a counterweight but instead to appeal to the VAST audience that refuses to watch Fox and finds CNN's fare to be completely unsatisfying. However I disagree that the left in this country is objecting to criticism - we are objecting to the hypocrisy, double standards, and outright lies that come from the political right in their deliberate propaganda attack against this country. And this is incident is a perfect example. Did KO fuck up by not following the rules about informing MSNBC that he was planning to donate to political campaigns? Absolutely, and he was penalized and he accepted it without even a SINGLE WORD of objection. This is in direct contradiction to Fox, a supposed "news organization" which made a deliberate, calculated executive-level decision to donate millions not only directly to the GOP and its various PACs, but also to third-party groups including the USCOC.

The difference here is crystal clear as to which company is more objective, even in this age of on-air personality cults and unending punditry. Even Jon Stewart would agree to this fact.

[Atreides]

A STATEMENT TO THE VIEWERS OF COUNTDOWN by Keith Olbermann

I want to sincerely thank you for the honor of your extraordinary and
ground-rattling support. Your efforts have been integral to the remedying of
these recent events, and the results should remind us of the power of
individuals spontaneously acting together to correct injustices great or small. I
would also like to acknowledge with respect the many commentators and
reporters, including those with whom my politics do not overlap, for their
support.

I also wish to apologize to you viewers for having precipitated such anxiety
and unnecessary drama. You should know that I mistakenly violated an
inconsistently applied rule - which I previously knew nothing about - that
pertains to the process by which such political contributions are approved by
NBC. Certainly this mistake merited a form of public acknowledgment and/or
internal warning, and an on-air discussion about the merits of limitations on
such campaign contributions by all employees of news organizations. Instead,
after my representative was assured that no suspension was contemplated, I
was suspended without a hearing, and learned of that suspension through the
media.

You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political
contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the
public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or
any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient
'mistake' by their recipients. When a website contacted NBC about one of the
donations, I immediately volunteered that there were in fact three of them; and
contrary to much of the subsequent reporting, I immediately volunteered to
explain all this, on-air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.

I genuinely look forward to rejoining you on Countdown on Tuesday, to
begin the repayment of your latest display of support and loyalty - support and
loyalty that is truly mutual.

--K.O.

phil griffin sounds like a huge douche

[aurik]

Lot of executives are complete douches, no surprise there.

[Olo401]

It shall be a very interesting show tonight..

[Atreides]

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10928...bref=obnetwork

At least they're not enforcing the policy unevenly, as fucking stupid as it is

[Talint]

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10928...bref=obnetwork

At least they're not enforcing the policy unevenly, as fucking stupid as it is

Except I like Keith Olbermann, and dislike Joe Scarborough.

Scarborough gives some great analysis sometimes, but he constantly lets that be blinded by partisan hackery and the vapid twits he has on that morning show of his.

[ZarakiKujata]

Dude its a morning show, by definition its a bunch of vapid twits. But Mika and Laurence O'Donnell make it good/better then the rest.

[Rhinox]

It's a bad policy in general.

MSNBC continues to be a joke.

Liberals are just bad at the whole media thing.