OpEdNews » McCain/Palin Get Olbermann Censored, Bask in Media Double Standard

Support OEN
With Your
Tax-Deductible Donation

Tags for This Article:

Populum Tag Cloud Control Panel
	Fine tune your search to access content

Articles	Links
Diaries	Products
Events	All

All time
Last 6 mos
Last month
Last week
Last 24 hrs

From:
Month Day Year

To:
Month Day Year

Alphabet Popularity	Count ON Count OFF
This Level	Sub-levels

Tag(s): Intimidation; McCain-John; Media Attacks; Media Bias; Media Distractions Celebrities; Media Independent; Media Network ABC; Media Network GNN Guerilla News Network; Media Network MSNBC; Media Network NBC; (more...) Media Press Repression; Media Reality TV; Media Scandal; Media Tabloids (less...)
Add to My Group

September 10, 2008 at 13:56:08

Headlined on 9/10/08:
McCain/Palin Get Olbermann Censored, Bask in Media Double Standard

by elliot cohen Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

SAVE FAVORITES

VIEW FAVORITES

View Ratings | Rate It

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 9:35am.

by Elliot D. Cohen

On September 7, The New York Times printed a story titled, "MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts from Anchor Seat."

The "incendiary" hosts in question were Countdown's Keith Olbermann and Hardball's Chris Matthews, and the anchor seat referred to was that of the upcoming presidential debates as well as election night.

According to the Times, the McCain/Palin campaign had filed letters of complaint to NBC about the coverage these pundits were giving the McCain campaign. Unfortunately, the climate of media hypocrisy and censorship that now feeds this campaign may be a predictor of its intolerance for healthy, reciprocal disagreement, and freedom of the press should it ascend on the White House in 2009.

What did Olbermann do to warrant a complaint lodged by the McCain/Palin campaign?

The Times accounted that after showing a "tribute to the victims of 9/11," on the last night of the Republican National Convention, which contained graphic footage of the World Trade Center attacks, he claimed it exploited the memories of the dead and that it was probably inappropriate. Olbermann has been a critic of Palin's alleged lack of experience and misrepresentation of facts about her record. He has also steadily attacked McCain's record since the inception of the campaign.

But why should Olbermann's left-leaning arguments have been called out given the assembly of anti-Obama attacks launched from the right?

There was, after all, no complaint filed by the Obama campaign against Fox when Karl Rove was on hand to criticize Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention for not showing enough love for her country, despite the fact that she repeatedly talked about her love for America. Nor was a complaint filed with Fox when Bill Kristol was on hand to say the speech was "generic" and that Michelle Obama "really didn't say that much that was interesting." Isn't this Bias?

Let's not even consider the fact that Kristol was a cofounder of the Project for the New American Century, the premier neo-con organization that actually favored McCain over Bush in the 2000 presidential election. Let's also keep in mind that Kristol is a McCain foreign policy adviser who now writes for The New York Times, a paper which has just called Olbermann and Matthews "incendiary." As for "Bush's Brain," McCain has already called him "one of the smartest political minds in America" and said that he'd "be glad to get his advice.

But so far, no one in the Democratic campaign has tried to censor Fox's "all star team," and The New York Times has been free to call Olbermann "incendiary" while at the same time employing the likes of William Kristol.

As for the Times calling Matthews "incendiary," this epithet does not hold water, especially because for many years he was a major poster child for General Electric, parent company of NBC. On May 1, 2003, when Bush declared "mission accomplished," Matthews took the bait:

"We're proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical, who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president."

Such sexist-like machismo rants that demerit Dems is no longer part of Matthews routine. Now he is riding on Olbermann's popularity. Olbermann attracts about one million viewers each night and MSNBC sees his quick-witted political commentary as a cash cow. Matthews, as a good company man, has once again changed his stripes and has jumped on the Olbermann bandwagon, but that only makes him a conformist. The problem is that Matthews has no personal biases, only corporate ones.

Now that NBC's bottom line may be threatened by the Republicans who are gaining strength in the presidential polls, it is beginning to get nervous. And Olbermann is, after all, not invincible like Fox's brightest star, Bill O'Reilly, who has managed to get away with almost anything without censor. If Olbermann is incendiary, what does that make O'Reilly who has once gone so far as to welcome terrorists to strike San Francisco because its citizens voted against having military recruitment at public colleges and high schools.

But what Olbermann can rightly be called is a political pundit, and political punditry is never value neutral. Critiquing the political assumes values and there is no universal set of values to which all good pundits must subscribe. Still, value judgments worth their salt must be anchored in the facts. So the question is not whether there is bias in Olbermann's coverage but rather whether it is guilty of making misstatements of fact, intentionally attempting to deceive the public, making groundless claims, or engaging in other forms of misrepresentation and chicanery. The answer is that Olbermann has worked hard to get the facts straight and has been an ardent critic of those who don't -- most notably, Fox's very own Bill O'Reilly.

1 | 2

Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D. is a political analyst and media critic. His most recent book is The Last Days of Democracy: How Big Media and Power-Hungry Government are turning America into a Dictatorship. He is the first prize winner of the 2007 Project Censored Award.

	Contact Author
	Contact Editor
	View Other Articles by Author

Bookmark this page: (what's this?)

(More...)

15 comments

Recently retired. President of a AFSCME local from 1997-2007. More a commenter to a blog article than article writer. Really enjoy well-written analysis of our times.
Robert ArendRecently retired. President of a AFSCME local from 1997-2007. More a commenter to a blog article than article writer. Really enjoy well-written analysis of our times.

Whether You Can Stand Him Or Not, Stand by Olbermann

Progressives can be so uppity. We either adore Olbermann or express our “can’t stand him” whines on the comment forums of the progressive blogs, including OPED. We can be like someone starving who would rather perish than accept nourishment that is not perfectly seasoned to our taste.

Keith Olbermann has been the lone voice on the vast wasteland of today’s mainstream television media projecting the truths of the plundering and desecration of the United States of America and it’s peoples. Can anyone name another besides the newly launched Rachel Maddow, also on MSNBC?

MSNBC has begun the process of making Olbermann their next Donahue by limiting his coverage of the Presidential Campaign. Should (horror of horrors) McCain/Palin win, Keith will be gone along with Rachel.

We Americans are odd in the way we rarely appreciate anything and anybody until gone, and only when gone for good.

If we won’t stand up for and defend Keith Olbermann against his bosses by saturating the e-mail box of MSNBC with our protests, if we won’t change the channel whenever that phony Dave Gregory fills our screens with his preenings; and if we don’t make MSNBC feel the sting to their bottom line profitability with gutter rating, then we are nothing more than hot air progressives and unworthy, ourselves, of expressing our points of view on these electronic pages.

Watch C-Span on election night, not Gregory and that stuffy ego that is Tom Brokaw.

So get busy. Stand for Olbermann whether you can stand him or not. Or archive his special comments, as I do, just to remember what could have been after he is gone.

The nation has lost so much. Let’s not lose Keith, too.

by Robert Arend (4 articles, 16 quicklinks, 19 diaries, 178 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 5:31:06 PM

A retired sales ad marketing trainer, escapee from the automobile business, who reads vorciously and writes whenever possible. The rest of the available time is spent doing woodworking or cooking. Lives in central TX, where the weather is great and politics are dubious. Usually logical and sensible but can be very cranky when assaulted by anybody leaning too far to the right and doesn't know it.
Ivan HentschelA retired sales ad marketing trainer, escapee from the automobile business, who reads vorciously and writes whenever possible. The rest of the available time is spent doing woodworking or cooking. Lives in central TX, where the weather is great and politics are dubious. Usually logical and sensible but can be very cranky when assaulted by anybody leaning too far to the right and doesn't know it.

That ugly bottom line

Both the article's author and the first commenter, here. make great points. But I think this boils down to money, in the immediate term, and integrity, in the long term.

NBC (GE) got a complaint from the poor Republicans who always get treated so well at places like Fox. The bean counters and policy wonks at NBC went into a tailspin: all they could see was a possible loss of revenue from Republicans, neo-cons and conservatives, if anyone said anything disparaging about about the GOP and their behavior in the near term. They knee-jerked and pulled back on two people who have a knack for speaking plainly. The mere fact that the complaint came from the same folks who have been proclaiming they were the Straight Talk Express is rather comical. Straight talk seems to be fine, as long as nobody else utilizes it and they can control the definition of "straight". Republicans don't seem to very good and this goose and gander equality stuff..

The long term implications are deadlier. The warning about what might happen if the McCain crowd wins the White House should be taken seriously. For the last eight years, the media has been folded, molded and coerced into saying what the government and the powers that be want to be said. They will not have even the slightest hesitation about making certain that NBC, or any other media source, runs the likes of Olbermann and Maddow out of town...and quickly.

There are only a few vestiges of journalistic integrity left, and they are an endangered species. And unless we support the ones who are left, as has been recommended here, there will not be any place left to turn.

1984 came and went. And came back again, this time with even more money.

by Ivan Hentschel (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 263 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 7:07:59 PM

Mail carrier who drives the rest of my colleagues nuts with my politics.
ScottMail carrier who drives the rest of my colleagues nuts with my politics.

Let's get some things straight

First of all, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are NOT part of FNC's news anchor team. They were still on during the conventions, but their shows are self-contained entities separate from Brit Hume's anchor squad. Olbermann and Matthews have opinion shows AND were on the news anchor team. That violates the firewall that I just spelled out.

Olbermann Watch and Newsbusters have both done stellar jobs pointing out Olbermann's many examples of fraudulent journalism, lies and hypocrisy. And the main irritant for me: Olbermann will not debate people who fundamentally disagree with him. In fact, anybody whom he eviscerates on his show never, ever get the chance to come on and defend themselves.

You want to complain about Karl Rove and Bill Kristol giving analysis on Fox News? Why don't you bring up the same complaint about former Clinton employee George Stephanopolous? Eh?

You want Olby to be your standard bearer? Knock yourself out. For me, Sarah Palin's speech (and the crowd's reaction) resonates like nothing else does.

by Scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 579 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 8:07:50 PM

Olbermann Watch__Oh Yeah, They're Really Objective

"Olbermann Watch and Newsbusters have both done stellar jobs pointing out Olbermann's many examples of fraudulent journalism, lies and hypocrisy."

Some examples from those oh so very credible sources, sir? They certainly don't have an unbalanced agenda of their own. And I suppose neither do you.

McCain/Palin are privateers. They would very much like to get government out of the mail business. Vote for them. Maybe the new private postal service won't charge so much to deliver your unemployment check.

Your coworkers at the post office have my deepest sympathies.

by Robert Arend (4 articles, 16 quicklinks, 19 diaries, 178 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 8:34:21 PM

Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 41-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess. Anthony Wade?s Archive: http://www.opednews.com...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Anthony WadeAnthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 41-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess. Anthony Wade?s Archive: http://www.opednews.com...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Please

Brit Hume, Sean Hannity or George Bush, there is no difference. They are all biased and all paid to pimp the GOP talking points, line by line. Your defense of the indefensible and listing of sites that are nothing but a joke to common decency, shows what you are. Begone shill, adults are talking.

by Anthony Wade (153 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 621 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 8:41:06 AM

Mail carrier who drives the rest of my colleagues nuts with my politics.
ScottMail carrier who drives the rest of my colleagues nuts with my politics.

Yeah, right

"...oh so very credible sources..."

I find them a lot more credible than this site.

I have yet to see any position papers from McCain/Palin that say they want to privatize the Postal Service, and my union has sent me plenty of anti-McCain propaganda for the past several months. Try to stay informed.

By the way, there are a handful of other conservatives at my post office. The USPS work force is not quite as monolithic as you think.

by Scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 579 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 9:32:08 PM

Hmm

More credible than this site, yet you have over 400 posts...on THIS site...

Isn't that the definition of a troll?

by Anthony Wade (153 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 621 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 9:26:08 AM

I have worked in the computer industry for many years. I just recently had my teaching position cut at a private school due to the economy and declining enrollment.

I love camping, reading, crocheting and blogging!
And the beat goes onI have worked in the computer industry for many years. I just recently had my teaching position cut at a private school due to the economy and declining enrollment.

I love camping, reading, crocheting and blogging!

Lone voice in the reich wing wilderness

I am amazed that GE (MSNBC) succumbed to these complaints. There are NO other progressive voices on corporate television. How many "conservatives" are there? The same situation exists in talk radio. If I am not mistaken, there was a congressional hearing about this--the imbalance is huge!

I am delighted that Matthews decided to follow in Olbermann's footsteps. Perhaps he is a corporate "follower" but at least that makes two "liberal" voices in the "liberal media. While I don't always agree with Olbermann's views, I respect his passion for pointing out crimminal wrong-doings and injustices within the current administration and Republican party. It was these two "pundits" that kept me watching both of the conventions.

This was an excellent article. I hope MSNBC changes its mind and at least makes Olbermann a coanchor during the debates. If not, I will turn to either CNN or CSPAN. Olbermann is the ONLY reason I watch MSNBC.

by And the beat goes on (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 9:42:55 PM

well

I think it is wholly possible that NBC was LOOKING for a reason to remove Keith. GE is still a GOP loving company.

This was an excellent article.

by Anthony Wade (153 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 621 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 8:50:23 AM

Just an ordinary nobody who's glad he took typing in 9th grade.
Alan WilliamsJust an ordinary nobody who's glad he took typing in 9th grade.

Grand assumption

Why so eargerly make the assumption that they were moved out of traditionally neutral (as much as is possible these days) anchor chairs because of anything McCain et al said or wrote?

My guess is that it was people like Brokaw and Williams that went to the bosses and warned them about tainting their credibility.

Or perhaps the thousands of letters and emails they may have gotten from fed-up viewers.

There's other possible explanations than simply blaming the nearest Republican, as satisfying as that may be.

by Alan Williams (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 712 comments) on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 11:35:25 PM

you again?

You tried to muddy my articler thread up about the same subject.

I was under the impression that the writer knew that the McCain camp had sent letters complaining to GE/NBC - perhaps they can clarify.

Also, i seriously doubt there were many letters of complaints by viewers. Most people who would be likely to complain when they hear the truth, such as you, would be watching FOX NOISE, not MSNBC.

by Anthony Wade (153 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 621 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 8:54:17 AM

I'm sixty-seven and I live in Northern California. I graduated from college in 1963 and from law school in 1966. I retired in 2001, after working 23 years for the United States Forest Service. I have radical politics, and before going to work for the Forest Service in 1978 I spent ten years trying to contribute to the revolution.

Presently, I don't spend nearly as much time as I should re-writing old pieces. Although I haven't re-written my own favorite self-quotation, a little...

to see more of bio, click on member name
GLloyd RowseyI'm sixty-seven and I live in Northern California. I graduated from college in 1963 and from law school in 1966. I retired in 2001, after working 23 years for the United States Forest Service. I have radical politics, and before going to work for the Forest Service in 1978 I spent ten years trying to contribute to the revolution.

Presently, I don't spend nearly as much time as I should re-writing old pieces. Although I haven't re-written my own favorite self-quotation, a little...

to see more of bio, click on member name

One piece of this fine article

"There was, after all, no complaint filed by the Obama campaign against Fox when Karl Rove was on hand to criticize Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention for not showing enough love for her country, despite the fact that she repeatedly talked about her love for America. Nor was a complaint filed with Fox when Bill Kristol was on hand to say the speech was "generic" and that Michelle Obama "really didn't say that much that was interesting." Isn't this Bias?"

There is an excellent article in the current New York Review of Books by Andrew Hacker on "Prejudice Against Obama".

by GLloyd Rowsey (48 articles, 3 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 339 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 8:59:21 AM

New England native-moved to Florida and thence to Virginia and finally Minnesota. Former Constitutional analyst and radio talk show host. Former Founder and Director of People For Sovereignty and Restoration-legislative analyst. I am non party and was on the periphery of politics for over forty years-was drawn back into things after this primary season because , well, who wouldn't be. Worked with Jim and Ken Collier on voting issues in Florida-worked for paper ballots. Worked with Marlon Brando ...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Raffie AzarielNew England native-moved to Florida and thence to Virginia and finally Minnesota. Former Constitutional analyst and radio talk show host. Former Founder and Director of People For Sovereignty and Restoration-legislative analyst. I am non party and was on the periphery of politics for over forty years-was drawn back into things after this primary season because , well, who wouldn't be. Worked with Jim and Ken Collier on voting issues in Florida-worked for paper ballots. Worked with Marlon Brando ...

to see more of bio, click on member name

SWORD DRAWN

Keith is the only thing I watch on MSNBC. In fact-since he's on three times in the evening-I watch it every time because I always see something different.

They must be terrified of his consciousness because that is what it is all about. I am not involved in any partisan stance so it doesn't matter to me what he says about politics except that it is always done with great verve and with perfect and efficient delivery. I was on the periphery of politics for forty years and know far too much about it to invest too much in it.

I am utterly repulsed by McCain and his transparent phoniness and his empty sidekick and tend to gravitate toward Obama and Biden. I also have no doubt that when it comes to stacking the deck with voting scams and the other slimy games that are run by the GOP-any kind of flim-flam could take place.

Yes, "incendiary" is the right word for him. I liken him to Murrow-and I think he is a gift this country does not deserve. His "special comment" is always stunning. The first time I heard one I could not believe what I was listening to-going after the idiot Bush and the rest of the gang that can't think straight.

If the GOP has anything to be afraid of it's Keith riding up over the hill on his white charger, sword drawn. And Chris at his side. In this day of excrement that ekes from the sewers of Fox and the others-Keith is truly a knight in shining armour. And I'm riding right there beside them.

A few months ago several big "non-partisan blogs" went on the attack against Keith and that fizzled but now that Clinton is not running interference for the GOP-they are panicked. The comment he made about 911 was spot on. What courage it takes to stand alone in such circumstances. I believe the words and comments he makes are from his heart, well researched and painstakingly weighed for their value and insight and effect.

Keith is our national treasure. Appreciate him now or lose him forever.

by Raffie Azariel (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 39 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 4:01:58 PM

Mail carrier who drives the rest of my colleagues nuts with my politics.
ScottMail carrier who drives the rest of my colleagues nuts with my politics.

Oh my gosh

Hey, you don't faint in front of the TV when "Countdown" is on, do you? Does somebody need to give you some bottled water to revive you? The only way there could be more hero worship here is if Keith shaved his head, stuck his tongue out and dunked a basketbell.

by Scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 579 comments) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 8:02:40 PM

Retired. Male. Western Minnesota. Social Science/Spanish undergrad majors. Master's in Counseling. Socialist.
Bryan EmmelRetired. Male. Western Minnesota. Social Science/Spanish undergrad majors. Master's in Counseling. Socialist.

Censoring of Olbermann and Mathews

I love Olbermann and try to catch him and now Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. I'll have to admit, though, that I thought it wouldn't be long before they were long gone. The corporate propagandists aren't going to embrace these outspoken, intelligent people for long.

by Bryan Emmel (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 221 comments) on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 1:58:50 AM