Tom Brokaw: Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann Have "Gone Too Far"

Tom Brokaw said Sunday at a panel in Denver that MSNBC hosts Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have "gone too far" in their campaign reporting.

At the discussion, sponsored by the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy, Brokaw chided his colleagues:

"I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far," the veteran NBC newsman said at a forum sponsored by Harvard's Shorenstein press center. But Brokaw said that they are "commentators" and "not the only voices" on MSNBC and that viewers could sort it out.

In June, Brokaw slammed the press drumbeat for Hillary Clinton's exit from the Democratic primary, calling it "inappropriate" and "commentary disguised as reporting." Also in June, Brokaw scolded Olbermann on air for suggesting that Clinton was attempting to "shoehorn" her way into the press coverage, saying, "I think that's unfair, Keith."

Comments

[Nexus946]

Brokaw's view has become so conservative that anything not conservative seems like liberal bias to him. He's outdated and doesn't know it, and is getting pretty close to McCain "Get off my lawn!" territory.

[tom ellison]

Does Keith O. EVER have anything other than an echo room on his show? No wonder his ratings are in the gutter. Show a little balance, for God's sake!

[Seven7s]

YEAH! If you're not taking a giant dump on Obama and mentioning how McCain is a war hero u must be bias.

Thank god for FAKE news to give us a fair and balanced perpective.

[watchandwait]

Proffering an opinion...­part of the problem with the MSM stems from the proliferation of news shows utilizing pundits - not "active players" in the newsmaking cycle (e.g. elected officials), but rather are sitting around providing their opinions. 20+ years ago, there were only a few true "pundit" shows on TV (like the McLaughlin Group). Seems like it's become de rigueur to couple the news with opinions. Perhaps Brokaw is mad because in his day, he (along with Cronkite, Chancellor, Brinkley, Murrow, Jennings, Robinson, Reasoner, etc.) reported the facts as accurately as they could and left it at that. Now, you have a set of facts - accurately or inaccurately presented - and each set of facts is coupled with an opinion provided by someone else. The fact remains that since the MSM has moved from news (on the "big three" networks and newspapers) to news/opinion (on cable, the Internet, etc.), the ability of the MSM to report objectively, to "get the story right the first time", and to keep the number of overinflated egos at bay has declined significantly over the years. I don't see MSM going backwards because news/opinion is a cash cow, and the newer modes of disseminating information make it difficult to do so. Brokaw's probably reacting to the fact that the journalistic integrity of the past is officially dead, and he remembers what "good" journalism used to look like.

[Budokan]

Hey, Brokaw, take the marbles out of your mouth so we can understand you.

[bsc]

Why doesnt he start criticizing the vast majority of "journalists" who give McCain a free pass on everything just because he was a "war hero."

[smark]

AMEN!!!!

[nicholasclaxton]

exactly...­and perhaps he should look at the dates of those statements made by ko and then do the primary math - she had lost according to the numbers.pe­riod

[kimofAZ]

Get Brokaw off Meet the Press so I can watch it again! Tim was a 100 times better than Tom.
Retire Brokaw!

[Obamacan]

Agreed, havent been able to watch since Tim left as well.

[walkthewalk]

Let me see if I've got this right. It's OK for Republican commentators to praise, not just negative but, false ads about opponents because these lying ads are working for their candidates who can't win an election on their own ideas and policies. However, it's not OK for Democratic-leaning commentators to praise a Michelle Obama for having delivered a sensitive and uplifting convention speech that hit all of the right notes. No, it should be left to the general public to decide whether she was any good.

In summation: Lying ads good. Uplifting speech, you decide.

[kimofAZ]

Tom needs to retire and zip his lips! Does he not see the spin coming from CNN and FOX? Does he not think people need another perspective like Chris and Keith! We need these two brave men and Rachel too! We'll need MSNBC to give us the other side of the story. Right wing crap is old and dirty. We need progressive people who see what's happening and report the truth! AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO BE LIED TO ANYMORE! MSNBC is on the right track, my husband and I along with many firends will be watching MSNBC! I've tunned out CNN....and never watch FOX.

Tom.......­retire!!!!­!!!!!!!!

[DerekRC]

MSNBC has become completely void of intelligent discussion. Their "independent" on-air personalities led by Olberman have become more than a caricature, they have become completely irrelevant.

To spend a 4 hour block of time watching MSNBC has the educational value of watching Spongebob Squarepants in reverse.

It is shocking to see what NBC has done with their Microsoft partnership. There isn' t even the slightest attempt to appear centrist. NBC News has allowed itself to become a cheerleading section for Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and the far-left wing of the Democratic Party.

Wow!!! What a disgrace

[SouthernBlueBelle]

Wow, guess you weren't listening. Tom Brokaw works for NBC, Chris Matthews works for NBC neither are in the pocket of the Democrats like EVERY one at Fox is to the Republicans. Oh, forgot that's different.
Talk about a disgrace, look in the mirror.

[bugsbonzai]

So sad that you watch MSNBC and see this bizarre distortion of the happeneings on that channel. As soon as there's a 4-hour block of Rachel Maddows, you'll have a point. Until then, you're just spewing the same "liberal media" nonsense all the right-wingers know is sleight of hand to get the networks to muzzle any negative press for any Republican or conservative, deserving or not, newsworthy or not, and to unnecessarily berate, trivialize, insult, and demean Democrats and liberals whether deserving or not, all to appear "balanced". Get it through your thick skulls: bad press for Republicans DOES NOT = bias. Sometimes the scum needs to be called scum.

[BBackSoon]

I think Centrist is a strange term to use here. In the past 30 years we have been pushed so far to the right where the ‘Center’ is not even close to the middle.

While I agree that I would like to see a little more give and take on MSNBC, a voice from the right shall we say, but each time they have that type of person on these shows they try to steamroll the conversation into RNC approved framing and repeat inane talking points over and over and over. That is not centrist either.

Are there any reasonable Repugs left?

Perhaps you are so numb from Fix or CNN that actually reporting the current administrations transgressions appears to be overly liberal?

[DieHardObamaSupporter]

Tom, when you call faux noise out on their years of biased bs, then your opinion might be relevant. Shut the h3ll up.

[CalliDem]

OMG ... it is this kind of DISRESPECT for a REAL newsman ... the constant drumming from the MSM for Obama and the horrible sick comments from Obamabots that will keep me from EVER casting a vote for BO.

[gwinegarden]

A 'real newsman' that was looking at running for president? This guy is hyper-political.

[LABC]

Goodness me, I thought that it was that 17 page document that says that Obama registerered as a muslim...o­r that Michelle Obama is not proud to be an American..­..or that Obama called people bitter...o­r whatever asinine reason you are using to vote for McCain.

As for Brokaw - I dropped my tiny violin. It was going to play "How can we miss you if you won't leave?"

[VideoHammer]

Are you cerebrally challenged or something? Obama has been subjected to more crap disguised as news, than anyone I can remember. The constant playing of Republican misinformation parading as political ads, and all the web based nonsense, will be the stuff of legends for years to come.
Mainstream Media for Obama, give me a break. Vote for McCain, just stop lying about your reasons for doing it.

[RobertAndropolis]

How can anybody with a well-lampooned speech impediment rise to the highest level of television journalism, and long after he's retired still is consulted when he is so obviously of the fading Greatest Generation?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

It would be easier for Brokaw to just announce that he will not be satisfied with Olberman and Matthews until they promise to join the MSM crowd and demand that Pelosi, Obama, et al., admit that the "surge" has worked.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3833/

[silverball]

thanx for the link...the founding fathers would not recognize or support what this "4th branch" has become...p­athetic...­..

[HatingTheGame]

GE brings good things to life....an­d death.

Brokaw is the old guard, built on the foundation of corporate media monopoly, when the networks had all the eyeballs. When objectivity was the pretense to shill for corporate interests.

I guess the rear guard gets anxious when they see their world cracking.

[Counterglow]

Actually, Brokaw built his rep before ownership concentration and the rise of cable news. It was your so-called "corporate media monopoly" that ended the Viet Nam War with hard-hitting, honest reporting.

In fact, the current horrible state of media affairs reached full flower only with the Clinton witch hunt, though the seeds were planted in the Reagan era.

[Zia]

Does Tom have any word for FAUX news commentators? IT WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO HEAR THAT.

[Highwind]

Brokaw has a lot of nerve saying that. These days anchors and pundits have positions and they don't stray from them. He's just as biased as they are, but at least Keith and sometime Chris make sense. I believe Brokaw was the same guy that said Biden saying 'McCain would have to figure out which of the seven tables to sit at' was out of line? I think it was him.