Rachel Maddow "A Chirpy Gay Liberal": Financial Times

Financial Times:

In fact, I think they are correct that the media currently tilt leftward in the US, but not for the obvious reason. It says less about the bias of "liberal elite" journalists and more about a breakdown of the established media order, from The New York Times to Mr Drudge.

Mr Drudge's dominance has been undermined by competition. His sensibility infuriated so many people that left-leaning sites such as the Daily Kos sprung up to challenge him. Lately, his thunder has been stolen by the Huffington Post, an unlikely blend of leftwing blogging, reporting and aggregation founded by Arianna Huffington, the media gadfly.

The Huffington Post has leapt past the Drudge Report in traffic, attracting 4.5m unique users in September, compared with 2.1m for Drudge and 2.4m for Politico, a political news site. While Mr Drudge picks out stories that could hurt Mr Obama, the Huffington Post does the opposite, highlighting anything that makes Mr McCain look bad.

This shift leftwards online has been matched on cable television, where Fox News, the rightwing news channel, has increasingly faced its mirror image at MSNBC. The latter's leftish talk-show hosts, Keith Olbermann and now Rachel Maddow, a chirpy gay liberal, dish out scorn about Republicans in opposition to Bill O'Reilly and others at Fox.

The effect is not just to balance out Mr Drudge and Mr O'Reilly but to place old-school media objectivity, as practised by US newspapers, under pressure. Obama-supporting blogs have ridiculed stories in outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post that fail to dismiss distortions by Mr McCain.

Read the whole story: Financial Times

Comments

[strick9]

We should petition MSNBC & NBC to have her host, "Meet The Press". She is one of the smartest people they have and not afraid to ask hard questions without the venom of a personal attack. She is the only one on either network that could come close to filling Tim Russert's shoes with a fresh new prospective.

[old lady]

I agree. they don't have the guts to abandon their proposed MTP "ensemble of easily manipulated staff loyalists who will not stray far from the corporate creed" model, for the Russert-like "single moderator with a brain capable of independent analytic thought" model.
The grieving process is so over.

[koyak23]

yes ! yes ! yes !

For months I have been touting Rachel for MTP. She is smarter than Tim, has a broader and a more in-depth grasp of politics and policy than Tim, and would take MTP beyond the "on Wednesday you said this but in 1948 you said this" gotcha interview.

The only question is whether NBC recognizes Rachel's potential to become their leading political journalist.

[strick9]

Maybe the right wing hate machine is beginning to loose its grip. Maybe we are starting to see the world from a less narrow perspective, searching for what connects us instead of what divides us. First we must look for what we perceive as, “good,” in people before criticizing their choices. We must also remember that personal choices are, just that! Personal. Unless human rights or involved or we are directly affected, their choices have nothing to do with our point of view

[debmac85]

I may be wrong, but I always thought chirpy was a kind of a good thing, meaning cute and upbeat. is it sexist to call a woman cute and upbeat? I wouldn't be offended. I think maybe they were trying to contrast the anger of others with Rachel's pleasant style. Maybe I'm just too happy these days to see this as negative! Obama/Biden '08!

[scouserinlondon]

CHIRPY.
Dictionary definition­.Happy, bright, enthusiastic, lively, in high spirits, lighthearted, blithe, full of beans, buyont spirits, "his quick wit and chirpy humour ", "you are looking bright, well, and chripy ", feeling lively and happy... i.e. "I am feeling chirpy today ", jolly, animated, sparking, sunny, radiant.

IT IS A COMPLIMENT­.(albeit a British one)
Would recommend, before you start getting your knickers in a knot you do a simple dictionary check..... here's another quaint British phrase and piece of advice some may wish to follow "Always check your floorboards before laying your carpet".

GAY..... is not a derogatory word, only when venomous people use it in a sneering fashion. The FT does not sneer. It is not a Rag...it is a mainly financial bible that reports in the back half on all matters financial around the globe, and in the front half on other matters...­.... it is not partisan, it just reports on facts as they are, in other words, it TELLS THE TRUTH....i­t does not have to pander to any demography, people have to buy it if they are involved in finance.Fo­r it to have endorsed Obama was HUGE.The FT was, of necessity my daily guide and Bible at work for years, and I have never known it to endorse , British or otherwise a politician like this......­as I said , they state
actual facts, but NEVER endorse... EVER.

Britain and America...­. same country, but divided by a common language.

[debmac85]

thought so. thanks!

[demfriend]

I have listened to Rachel on Air America as well as really enjoy her new show on MSNBC. I was shocked when they gave her her own show as until now the "gay" part was still the killer on most talk shows/TV media. Sad to say anyway it is still a very biased medium. Anyway I could care less about her orientation sexually as it matters not to me about anyones unless I am forced to deal with someone either sex being aggressive. Rachel is sweet intelligent and a Rhodes Schollar which puts her way ahead of many of those who call her names or make fun of her calling anything about her "chirpy". Drudge for sure lacks any authority to call and/or say anything about Rachel as I have seen and heard him and his IQ is probably at least 20-30 points below hers on one of his good days. As far as calling her a liberal I also think Drudge thinks anyone anywhere left of him is a liberal so he's a fool there too as she is well read and very balanced in her view points. She is just very clear about how far right the media has been for many years now ans she isn't there.

[DaOne]

I like the FT but they are so out of line on this. Rachel is f-ing brilliant.

[NYNY]

Maddow is very, very smart and she's the freshest political voice we've seen on TV in a long time. Chirpy? Sounds the usual British sexism to me.

[Jason404]

Usual British sexism? This misunderstanding is actually due to the US being behind in its acceptance of gays, so far that it is taboo to mention sexuality.

In fact, this article has been completely misunderstood by Americans due to a big cultural difference. It was in fact praising the left-wing US media, and saying that.....

....oh, I am bored of saying the same thing to everyone that does not understand it. The only people that do, in these comments, are British and Europeans, and Americans that are familiar with how things are said here.

Look at my past comments to see all the other things I have said about this, if you wish to understand the true nature of the FT article.

[scouserinlondon]

See my post above..... can't believe how they would take it as a bad thing, when being called a chirpy liberal (gay or otherwise!!!) is a compliment, said with great affection in Brit.
Think it is a lack of awareness of our culture, tog with the strict "Anal" nature of their reporting (their TV? Heavens forbid you should say "Nuts" )... total lack of freedom.
Wish Rachel was over here.... she would feel at home, and go down a storm..... oops, must not say "Go down " ;-)... must not say "Storm"... implying she is wet or has a temper like thunder.
Use a dictionary guys.

[vgirl1]

Rachel is smart, sassy, informed and always able to hold her own against the most obnoxious of the conservative ideologists.

There is nothing wrong with anyone's choice of sexual preference­.The Fianancial Times is so-o-o out of line to describe her at any time with any adjective that denotes sexuality.

SHAME ON THE FINANCIAL TIMES.

[likeicare]

Obviously, Rachel is hitting many knee-jerk conservatives pretty hard, otherwise they wouldn't be going after her.

It was amusing to read, once again, that the media is "tilting leftward," when in actuality, it's really just returning to moderate, and if that means moving a little to the left of the Neocon(victs), so be it -- it's all for the better.

Furthermore, Rachel is not "chirpy" -- she's YOUNG! Young people have energy! And are animated. And yes, some of them actually show emotion -- emotion other than disdain and contempt and rage. There's a difference.

And who the F cares if she's gay -- that's sooooo 20th century. BTW, both Matt Drudge and Rush Limpbaugh are gay, so what?

[tempting]

Please contact the MSM and tell them how you feel about Rachel and speak your mind of the gay-bashing and hate!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111

[Bubba Gump]

I am a Christian who thinks that it's none of my business if someone is gay or not. It's between each of us and God, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23 KJV) When someone who is gay has asked me what the Bible says about homosexuality, I tell them. I don't verbally beat them up. I just talk about it the same way I would with a smoker, someone addicted to gambling, or any other sin. After that, it's up to each one of us to talk to God about it. It's about time we Christians corrected our bad habits BEFORE we share with others. You don't herd sheep by beating them up -- you call to them. That's it. Let God sort out the rest.

[mono]

I have seen this trend. If you kick the right-winger you are called leftist. And Kieth and Rachel are kicking all those repugnant republican thugs who have gulping money and spreading lies.

Who care what her personal life is? I love her style, the way she mocks at republicans statement / comment / lie is awesome.

I want to see her ratings going up against Hannity.

[Bubba Gump]

I agree: who cares what Rachel's personal life is? I'm tired of the Republican party turning a deaf ear to the truth because they don't like the messenger.

[frappe]

As has been said before, Rachel is a breath of fresh air in a medium that has suffocated itself on corporate sycophantasmic myopia. She's bright, energetic, and sees the forest above the trees and isn't afraid to speak "truth to power". And that is certainly change that we need.

Rachel rules!

[BluePrideSMW]

is chirpy the gay version of 'the little woman' comment? It demeans, intentiona­lly... Is the hate toward gays or women or truth or all three??? Rachel is a breath of VERY fresh air.

Abraham, Martin & John:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge32xtm23rQ

[tempting]

Please contact the MSM and tell them how you feel about Rachel and speak your mind of the gay-bashing and hate!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111

[frappe]

A "chirpy, gay liberal"? Well, let me offer a few descriptive words for the Financial Times: a "stodgy, boring, and pretentious rag".

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Who cares what Rachel's preferences are at all? She is brilliant that's all that matters.

Why isn't this jerk calling Billo a se xual stalker who had to pay a woman millions of dollars to keep quiet?

[SadiSays]

"...now Rachel Maddow, a chirpy gay liberal, dish out scorn about Republicans in opposition to Bill O'Reilly and others at Fox."

Ok.....and­?
I don't see why this is even newsworthy­...

[frantaylor]

It will be a very sad day when hatred and open hostility in the mainstream media is not newsworthy.

[SadiSays]

I had a long, well thought out response for you, but it is being censored.

I suppose straight folk are allowed to briefly comment on their political and pop culture fantasy people, but not gays. I am certain that one poetic, pg-13 sexual reference about Maddow has caused my entire post to be discarded.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time occurrence!!!

[tempting]

Please contact the MSM and tell them how you feel about Rachel and speak your mind of the gay-bashing and hate!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111

[ccsky]

This title sucks a little more than the actual article.

[HansB]

I totally agree. It's a pretty good article and a damn good newspaper.