What is this, a debate? Pointless sharing? Election 2010?
Anyway, I have a feeling that this topic is going to be of significant interest to the board.
The Associated Press is reporting MSNBC has indefinitely suspended Keith Olbermann without pay after finding out that he gave campaign contributions to three Democratic candidates.
I’m not a regular viewer of Olbermann, but I have occasionally enjoyed his rants if forwarded from a friend.
An issue like this should be beyond political favouritism. News reporters and commentators working for information sources should have no financial ties to the people and organizations they’re covering.
Will MSNBC uphold this standard? I have a feeling that they’re going to find a way to let their most popular commentator come back.
That would be unfortunate. News isn’t just a business, or shouldn’t be. There should be a line.
What? Keith Olbermann is partisan? I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
I’m guessing he violated his contract by doing so, and fair cop. But really, I have a hard time seeing how his donation to a partisan cause in any way degrades the quality of his partisan hackery.
Not good.
But not surprising either. I have never thought Olbermann was that bright. His rants got too much for me - I agreed with Jon Stewart when he singled Olbermann out as part of the problem.
From what I’ve been reading, it’s the fact that he didn’t disclose it to MSNBC, not that he did it at all.
I can’t find it now, but earlier there was a comment to this article with a link to the NBC/GE/whatever policy that states that they have to disclose.
It would be interesting to know if:
If it violates his contract then he’s busted and it is between him and MSNBC.
Aside from that not sure why journalists aren’t citizens and shouldn’t support candidates they favor in their private life.
I mean, would anyone be upset to find Limbaugh or Beck donated to a conservative candidate?
I have a severe dislike for Beck and Limbaugh and even I wouldn’t fuss about that (plenty other stuff to fuss about with those two anyway).
Not sure there is a debate here.
Wow. I was going to comment to the effect that (a) if it was against their policies to make those donations then they were justified in suspending him but (b) I was pretty dubious about a blanket ban on donations to candidates by employees.
But it’s absolutely sensible for a news agency to know about possible conflicts of interest (or even the appearance of same) by their employees. And Olbermann definitely deserves whatever suspension is normal practice for that kind of violation of their policy.
It is a business, but that’s not really the issue. What he did is improper, period. I am not a viewer and I think of him as a commentator rather than a journalist, but regardless, he shouldn’t be giving money to people he’s covering and commenting on. This is really basic stuff, and the network apparently has a policy against it. Even if it didn’t, it should’ve crossed his mind that it would look improper when he gave money to Raul Grijalva’s campaign the day Grijalva appeared on Countdown.
Which it is.
While I typically consider Olbermann to be the left wings equivalent to Glenn Beck, although not nearly as successful as Beck, I gotta be on his side here. He’s not a newscaster, he’s an opinion spewer. Is there anyone who can watch his show and think he’d possibly back Republican candidates? If MSNBC was gonna take him off the air, do it for ratings. Or because he’s an idiot. Or because they decided to quit partisan opinion shows. Or some sane reason. To take him off the air for supporting D’s when his entire show is about supporting D’s is just stupid.
On the bright side, maybe he can be hired at Fox to co-anchor a show with Juan Williams.
Support them by voting, solely. As a journalist myself, I believe there should be a hard line between a journalist and his sources. I have refused to attend things like the White House correspondents’ dinner because I just don’t believe in that kind of hobnobbing.
Of course not, but that, among other reasons, lead me to conclude that Limbaugh’s and Beck’s employers are not credible sources of information.
But it’s not only a business; it’s also a public service. Or in the alternative you might say that it’s a business that banks on credibility, and this kind of thing is relevant to it.
Not even close. Olbermann doesn’t make things up or spin crazy conspiracy theories.
I disagree.
Journalists are citizens and have every right to be a part of the political system as anyone else.
Would you oppose a journalist from having investments if they cover the stock market?
Ethically a journalist should point out if a perceived conflict could exist and let readers decide if that colors the reporting.
I was not under the impression we were to consider Keith Olbermann to be unbiased. I’m not sure how I feel about whether he should be reinstated or fired. It never occured to me that he wouldn’t be making contributions.
What are the boundaries? What would prevent someone in a similar position from handing hi mom or sister $200 and directing them to donate it to a specific candidate?
Fox contributes to right wing causes and candidates. The on air personalities are expected to do the same. They are not pretending to be a source of unbiased gnus. They have an agenda . It is not impartiality.
I guess, but I think it makes sense for NBC to keep their less partisan News staff from making donations, and its probably easier for them to just have a blanket rule against it then trying to parse out who counts as “partisan” and who doesn’t.
So suspending him makes sense, since after all, he did break the rules. But I doubt they’ll fire him, since its more of a technical violation then a violation against the “spirit” of the rule. Olbermann is openly partisan, and MSNBC already took him off more formal news assignments during the last election.
Fox’ claims about how some of its broadcasting is “news” and some is “editorial” is the height of absurdity. Its news staff do just as much partisan political jabbering as its editorial staff, Shep Smith aside.
Kudos to MSNBC for not trotting down the same road of absurdist after-the-fact justification.
Certainly they do. They don’t have a right to be employed, however.
Agreed. He’s just the left’s version of O’Reilly - a flaming blohard with a massive ego and a knack for partisan hackery. Not a good combination for a so-called journalist.
Another example of why the left shouldn’t look up to this guy.