Olbermann and Matthews replaced as anchors debate + election night

[tricia]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=business

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage

..In interviews, 10 current and former staff members said that long-simmering tensions between MSNBC and NBC reached a boiling point during the conventions. “MSNBC is behaving like a heroin addict,” one senior staff member observed. “They’re living from fix to fix and swearing they’ll go into rehab the next week.”

Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of “NBC Nightly News,” have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, ..

[Godzilla in Pa]

It would be nice if MSNBC would move away from being the Obama Channel.

[Rapunzel676]

What would really be nice if people stopped buying into the myth of the liberal media bias, but I guess that's not going to happen anytime soon -- unless, of course, everyone goes to journalism school and gets a clue how the industry works.

[sgibbs58]

What would really be nice if people stopped buying into the myth of the liberal media bias, but I guess that's not going to happen anytime soon -- unless, of course, everyone goes to journalism school and gets a clue how the industry works.

Wasnt it Chris Matthews that got the tingle up his leg when hearing Obama?
That doesnt sound like factual reporting to me.

[KISSaholic4life]

Wasnt it Chris Matthews that got the tingle up his leg when hearing Obama?
That doesnt sound like factual reporting to me.


Mathews and Olbermann aren't reporters - they're journalists.

[jaklackus]

Mathews and Olbermann aren't reporters - they're journalists.

No matter what they are...there were enough complaints to make the changes.

[LindaK]

Why? Because the neutral arm of NBC is afraid of being associated with one show on MSNBC, namely Keith Olberman. FOX spews regressive Right garbage 24/7 and no one utters a word. What the hell is wrong with the Democrats to allow this, why aren't they complaining as loudly about FOX? When the vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin lamented media bias during her speech, attendees of the Republican convention loudly chanted “NBC.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&ref=business&oref=slogin just like good little FOX-bots.

And as for Matthews and Olberman I wouldn't even go so far as to call them journalists. But I guess if one could call Hannity or O'Reilly "journalists" then one could call Matthews or Olberman the same, however I would consider all of the above over-paid commentators/hosts and nothing more.

This is a fight between the old guard at NBC (real journalists) and news as entertainment on Cable MSNBC. Why Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw have a problem with the Cable division I don't know, haven't they seen enough of the FOX garbage to realize what the Cable division of NBC (MSNBC) is up against.

[LindaK]

It would be nice if MSNBC would move away from being the Obama Channel.and the same with FOX GOP-TV.

[Julieb]

This is a fight between the old guard at NBC (real journalists) and news as entertainment on Cable MSNBC. Why Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw have a problem with the Cable division I don't know, haven't they seen enough of the FOX garbage to realize what the Cable division of NBC (MSNBC) is up against.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they'd like to bring a little integrity back to the business of reporting the news and have integrity associated with all divisions of NBC news.

[CheckedOut]

i agree with the move. they should not be hosting this type of coverage from anchor positions, but rather serve as "color commentators" with their own points of view. but the "jesus joe get a shovel" comment was a classic!

the problem with all of these guys is that they get so full of themselves that they end up
becoming caricatures of what they think people think of them.

[barbs]

to Olbermann & Mathews' all-too-obvious bias for BO:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080908/pl_politico/20838_1

Now, if CNN's Cafferty just gets the hint, I'll go back to watching The Situation Room.

[jhannum44]

Barb, there is another thread .same thing.

[arouet]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=business



Well yeah!!! I have to applaud NBC. Now if we could only get FOX's management to behave as responsibly....

[barbs]

Barb, there is another thread .same thing.

My interests get buried pretty quickly!

I just saw the news when I logged into my mail & saw it on Yahoo! - I didn't hear it on the cable news this A.M. - no surprise there.

(And there no comment with the thread, as per instructions LOL )

[barbs]

Wasnt it Chris Matthews that got the tingle up his leg when hearing Obama?
That doesnt sound like factual reporting to me.

I STILL want to know how high that tingle went & what it did once it got there.

[hawkshoe]

i still want to know how high that tingle went & what it did once it got there.

lmao

[mvir9]

I STILL want to know how high that tingle went & what it did once it got there.

That was one visual I did NOT need this morning! LOL

[CathyVeester]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?_r=4&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

"MSNBC nearly doubled its total audience compared with the 2004 conventions, its competitive position did not improve, as it remained in last place among the broadcast and cable news networks.

In prime time, the channel averaged 2.2 million viewers during the Democratic convention and 1.7 million viewers during the Republican convention."

[jhannum44]

I really wish they would give Chuck Todd the spot. he is one smart cookie and from what I can see, unbiased.

[lisacna]

I really wish they would give Chuck Todd the spot. he is one smart cookie and from what I can see, unbiased.

Yeah I would like that too.

[cdecee]

What would really be nice if people stopped buying into the myth of the liberal media bias, but I guess that's not going to happen anytime soon -- unless, of course, everyone goes to journalism school and gets a clue how the industry works.

When looking at it from the extreme left viewpoint, it would appear to be a myth.

[aycorn]

aww, i enjoyed their coverage I especially liked Matthews wrap up after Obama's speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UI0_iNFSL4)..he rocked!

[lisacna]

When looking at it from the extreme left viewpoint, it would appear to be a myth.

So what do you feel has been biased? Opinion shows aside. News coverage is on the events of the day,,,if its a bad thing for either party it gets covered. If its new,,,a new face lets say,,,it really gets covered.

[robsterclaw]

When looking at it from the extreme left viewpoint, it would appear to be a myth.

How true. And Dan Rather once called himself a conservative. No way was he conservative and he said the reason why he thought he was, was because everyone he worked with was to his left so he must be a conservative.

He was pretty decent about keeping hip political views out of his commentary for quite awhile, but during the last few years he was on, he didn't hide it at all.

So besides there is a left leaning bias in the main stream media I will also admit Fox's right leaning bias. I do laugh at the people who say there is a left bias in news, but claim Fox doesn't have a bias.

[CathyVeester]

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/08/msnbc-hosts-olbermann-matthews-booted-from-political-night-duties/

I loved the Brian Williams/Jon Stewart interview where they discussed the MSNBC mess:

"Asked about the internal fighting at MSNBC, NBC anchor Brian Williams tried to smooth ruffled feathers during an appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” last week.

“Is there no control?” asked host Jon Stewart. “Is it ‘Lord of the Flies’?”

Williams replied that every family has a dynamic of its own.

“But does MSNBC have to be the Lohans?” Stewart said."

.................................................................................................... ...........................
Ratings ... ratings ... ratings ... trumps all for TV networks:

"The network’s weak ratings during the conventions may have given MSNBC executives the cover they needed to boot Olbermann and Matthews.

FOX News Channel topped all broadcast and cable networks with 9.2 million viewers on each of the last two nights of the convention.

MSNBC got barely more than a quarter of Fox’s total –2.5 million viewers."

[JoniHaynes]

Opinion pieces, offered as such, are fine with me...and we all know it cuts both ways. Sean Hannity, for instance, could hardly be called "fair and balanced" (even though I agree with la lot of his opinions....but, that's another story) any more than Matthews or Olbermann could. But, hard news should be just that, news, unadulterated with opinions. So. in that light, it seems fair that the two guys on MSNBC should not be "news anchors", but should still be allowed to do opinion shows.

Just "my" opinion.

Joni