NBC News' Bad Week: Russert, Williams, and Huffington

By so obviously snubbing Huffington, NBC looked petty. By stubbornly refusing to acknowledge its role in the Pentagon propaganda program, NBC looked weak.

Behold your so-called liberal media at work.

Of the two sad tales last week, one seemed petty; the other rather profound. In both cases, NBC News appeared more interested in protecting egos and holding off honest critiques than it did being held accountable.

Read the full Media Matters column here.

Comments

[eavesdropper]

Here's a quote from the original column:

"The channel's spokesman, Jeremy Gaines, emailed to inform me that Huffington "was never booked on MSNBC," and that "[a]t NBC News, we receive countless books from authors and publishers, in hopes that they get on our air. Some of them do, many of them do not. This one did not.""

just one question -- Whose air???

[truthyguy]

Tim "Gotcha" Russert and "Look at me" Williams are irrelevant to news reporting. Their celebrity is a manufactured product of NBC and has no substance.

[drzoon]

i used to love russert. thought he was going to be a GIANT in the business.

but when i saw him incapable of even doing a morning show interview when it came to the war.... i was shocked.

and he has done and said some very questionable stuff ever since.

there is as much blood on the hands of the sr. press as there is on pols that voted "yes"

[AurigaRa]

giant head

[HeevenSteven]

But he IS the giant HEAD in the business.

[iPolitics]

Does it really make sense for MSNBC to deny Huffington a chance to promote her book? As the most liberal of the cable news channels it makes sense to keep a top liberal Internet info center happy. What she wrote can't be the worst thing anyone has said about Russert. He has enough of a reputation to "survive" it.

[swift_goat_pet_for_truth]

Certain people may be more progressive than others.

But NBC is run by Corporate Media, IS Corporate Media.
That is the bottom line.

"Liberal Media" is a myth created by the right wing to counter the fact that reality has a liberal bias.

[mrBlue1]

Yes, but CNN is just as culpable and though MSNBC can be infuriating, to me they have the most "human' of the cable news crowd. Also, did anyone else get as much a kick out of Dan Abram's late nite news complete with lounge jazz trio Tues night/Wednesday a.m. We LOVED IT, Dan! Please do an encore soon. Music and news...together....great concept! But then what doesn't improve with music, especially jazz?

[longislandlol]

Chris will make strides in Pennsylvania-- he will use the winning Obama model of" truth politics "to win a seat in Pennsylvania..

[kae]

(One of the leading voices in the U.S. on the subject of Journalistic Standards and Ethics is the Society of Professional Journalists. The Preamble to its Code of Ethics states:

...public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. )

-the above is from Wikipedia

Williams, Russert and the rest of the MSM have been bought - greed won out - if more of them had remembered the importance of their job maybe the world would be different. Their continued denial of the pentagon/corporate media propaganda program makes them look more than weak - how about G U I L T Y! Just a bunch of traitors without an ounce of credibility left.

[NoahVail]

Plenipotentiary for Total War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels

[GeorgeKaplan]

She's so bitter as she clings to her book tour. How can she be offend that's she is not allowed at NBC after she has pretty much trashed Time Russert for god knows how long. She pissed off one powerful guy at NBC. Now even the mention of Huffington Post is not allowed. The right has drudge and the left has.... you know who!

[swift_goat_pet_for_truth]

I can't speak for Arianna, but I am bitter that Corporations, not people run the country.

The only people who are NOT bitter are the fascists.

[SlappHappy]

Obama will never be president, because his followers have totally alienated the Clinton voters that he needs to get elected.

[abigail1]

this is an odd thing to post in response to an article about Russert and Huffington, but you can take comfort that Dean supporters swore they would never vote for Kerry and McCain supporters vowed never to support Bush, but when push came to shove they did. Obama will do the work to get as many of Hillary's supporters as possible, and she'll eventually help him. I hope you'll join the rest of us making sure John McCain does not get to serve out W's third term.

[mrBlue1]

Slappy: Awww, don't be a sore loser. We who support Obama know that Hillary is a smart, capable and lovable candidate, and really admire her tenacity and fight. Yes, some Obama people really went overboard against HRC, not that some HRC supporters haven't done likewise against him, but that's politics. Let's bury the hatchet and defeat the Repubs soundly in November, and lets hope that Hillary gets a very important role in the Obama administration,as she would really be a great asset. Please accept our apologies for unkind words and remember we Dms, Indies, Progressives, and a few good Republicans, too need each other more than ever to take back our democracy. Pleeeeeaaase?

[HopeGirl]

you mean the moronic ones that always voted against their best interests because of some non issue that has nothing to do with them?

you just can't save some people from themselves.

if they want to continue out of spite or ignorance to vote against whats best for them-who cares. There are plenty of us that know that we are doing and will do the right thing.

[mrBlue1]

Well, not really. I'm talking about good Dem voters who just seriously wanted HRC for POTUS and who have been discouraged in their enthusiasm by oversensitivity to some of the meaner, snarkier commenters here. Yes, it is important to be a good loser, but it is also important to be a GOOD WINNER. There is no need for we who support Obama to go for the jugular and rub salt in the wound of those who have in good faith backed Hillary in her bid for the nomination. I believe many good people wanted her to win in earnest and for some good reasons. Let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater. All people are capable of a change of heart and mind if they are treated with respect and understanding. It is awful for your karma to just condemn masses of voters who happened to disagree with you. Obama does not stand for that! He is a uniter par excellence, and would not condemn people out of hand.

[ebanks84]

Obama already said he would investigate the bush/cheney crimes. I hope he makes it to the White House is all I'm saying. Bush/cheney has wiped out everybody who was every going to testify against them. God bless their souls. I just hope God has Obama in his hands.

[compassionone]

It better if the next president not put much attention on this unless pursuing war crimes is needed for healing and restoring credibility world wide. More important it cannot just be a internal US process. Would need to include a Commission involving other nations since crimes are to people of other nations. Etc.

It really could complicate. Depends on where we are at by that time. Definitely should be the Executive Branch pushing it too hard.

[angeranddespair]

Hey take a look at your hands. The blood of all the dead MURDERED by George Bush is on your hands and every other member of the Fourth Estate that did not do - is not doing their job. IN bed with not embedded. Our soldiers ordered to follow the command of a lying sociopath Dead or returning physically and mentally maimed with out available care. The innocent people of Iraq murdered and maimed what did their country do to us? Can you dredge up the photo of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam. "enemy of my enemy...' the US plays all sides of the fence.. George Bush and his whole administration told the lie and the Main stream Media repeated it and repeated it until it became the truth.
Recall this quote from Adolph Hitler " Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it"
Wow doesn't the accurate prophetic sickening reality of this quote just turn your stomach given what George Bush and his administration has done to the world in our name WITH YOUR HELP.
Karma anyone?I hope it comes around...

[jukesgrrl]

You're absolutely right. They're collaborators.

[altohone]

I think you meant "so-called liberal media" right?

Or, do think it benefits us to parrot the GOP lies as if everybody is now aware of the truth?


It's time to retire the phrase, along with using "conservative" to describe Republicans.
Even using them sarcastically is no good.

[InfoGiant]

Agree, when you have Joe Scarborough, Pat Buchanan, Tony Snow, Bush's homeland security lady, Bill Bennet, and several other scrubs commenting on who the Democratic nominee should be...(not to mention Stephanopolous), then the "Liberal" media game is over. All media is now corporate, and coporate means you like the Bush tax policies (i.e.: cut taxes for corporations, screw the people).

http://infogiant.wordpress.com/

[ebanks84]

You go Giant! Tell them like it is!