MSNBC -- "The Place For Politics?"

Cable network MSNBC touts itself as "The Place for Politics," but it's really the place for stumbling.

MSNBC announced earlier this week that it was demoting Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Here's how The New York Times put it:

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

The change -- which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle -- is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel's perceived shift to the political left.

But did the change come as a direct result of complaints from the McCain campaign? Did NBC cave into pressure? It sure looks like it. Sarah Palin mentioned media bias in her Republican convention speech and the crowd shouted "NBC, NBC!" And the McCain campaign staff, like Hillary Clinton's campaign staff previously, whined often about biased coverage from MSNBC. This kind of stuff is enough to shake up NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker and NBC News president Steve Capus. They must have realized that the self-absorbed, narcissistic Matthews and, especially, Olbermann had gone too far - way over the top - and that the two of them were threatening NBC News's reputation for unbiased reporting.

Zucker and Capus should have seen it coming, but the NBC brass had become addicted to the improved ratings the acerbic, caustic, biased ranting of Olbermann and Matthews had delivered. They should have known that the McCain campaign, like the Rove-directed Bush campaign, would run against the "liberal media." It's in the Republican playbook and they knew it. They should have realized that if they got ratings with the biased rants, they would get pressure from the conservatives, who don't complain if no one is watching. But NBC appears to be caving into the pressure by making the change so soon after the Republican beefed.

The FOX cable news network gets away with biased, unbalanced rants because its parent network doesn't have a news division that pretends to be unbiased. FOX News's Roger Ailes is biased and proud of it - it's the FOX News brand image.

If MSNBC had been only a cable news network and not associated with NBC News, had not used NBC News talent such as Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, and Andrea Mitchell, and had tilted to the left with Olbermann and Matthews, it would have branded itself as a liberal alternative and possibly prospered. Keith and Chris put on a good show, as Jon Fine in his BusinessWeek Fine On Media blog wrote:

Olbermann-Matthews was a sports talk radio thing dressed in political clothes: two hosts, apparent mutual antipathy, arguments, a jagged edge to the simplest interactions. And, by the way, I've got no problem with such a set-up, given that we're talking about what's essentially color commentary. Like sports, everyone on live political TV is working off the exact same fact-set, which is revealed to everyone at the same time.

On the other hand, patently liberal-biased media such as Air America Radio have not been economically successful and might be even less successful if Obama wins. Although, it is possible that Olbermann and Matthews could be economically successful if they continued their sports-talk thing. People might have watched to see the sparks fly, but not for politics.

And that's a problem with the slogan "The Place for Politics," it indicates that it's not the place for news when the election is over in two months. If Obama wins, MSNBC with Chris and Keith could become the exciting house organ for the Democrats, as FOX News has been for the Republicans. And if McCain wins, it could be the nasty opposition - something Olbermann is a master at. Then, MSNBC could position itself as "The Fair and Balanced Place for Liberals," which might work.

But MSNBC wimped out. It looks like it caved into McCain's complaints, which will anger liberals. It looks like it opted for dullness. David Gregory? FOX news didn't get to be the number-one cable news network by being dull and balanced, but by being controversial and obnoxious. MSNBC should have learned from FOX if it wants ratings, which it apparently doesn't - not as long as it thinks it is "The Place for Politics" and not for biased sports-talk-radio type ranting.

Comments

[simkmer]

MSNBC is 90% neocon right. Go to MSNBC web site and see 5 to 1 photos of Repubs to Dems. Chris Matthews is on a leash. Morning Joe, Mika and Willie are 99% neocon right. Joe, Mika and Willie hit the lowest of lows along with fox news. They love to misquote. What a pathetic job they have working for MSNBC. And to insinuate that Americans would vote for someone that is "must like us" is insulting. We are not as stupid as MSNBC makes us out to be. I would never vote for someone like me. Only for someone, who is much smarter than I, someone who could turn this Country into a SMART Country. OBAMA/BIDEN 08

[Zoolie]

Bet the McCain camp never complains about Scarborough or Buchanan. They are the rudest, most conceited, and most disrespectful a**es on any show.

Most of the regular staff on MSNBC have no spines at all. It infuriates me when they don't challenge obvious lies. Some of the guest analysts are fair and great.

[simkmer]

Hear Hear!! Scarborough, Mika, Buchanan continue to belittle Americans. UGH! Watch BBC.

[ellie13]

Keith Olbermann is the only person on any station that shows the lies and destortions of the McCain/Palin campaign. Other programs on MSNBC lean to the right, with the exception of Rachel Maddow's new show. I have changed my viewing habits totally as a result of the unfair coverage of this election. I watch Jim Lehrer for real news, C-Span for all election coverage, conventions, and debates, and Keith Olbermann for commentary! Spare yourself from the talking heads who constanly debate made up issues like "lipstick on a pig comments". After all, wasn't it insulting to suggest hockey moms are pitbulls?

[simkmer]

Please help. MSNBC is making me stupid. What channel is Lehrer on?

[ellie13]

I'm not sure which channel he appears on in your area but his program is carried on PBS.

[speedingpullet]

So... I've been away in the deep dark PNW for the last 10 days, without TV or the interwebs... I come home to find that MSNBC have jumped the shark.

David Gregory - you must be frikking kidding me! The man's as interesting as watching paint dry. Liberal bias? Hardly. Sticks to the GOP talking points and never deviates.

Please someone tell me what's wrong with 'bias'? FOX is biased. Somehow that's OK.

Yes, Olbermann and Matthews don't get on so well - but don't they have to put O'Reilly in a seperate studio - like a Siamese Fighting Fish in its own bowl - for fear that his 'not playing well with others' could lead to catastrophic consequences?

At least with KO and CM, I didn't feel like I was having the GOP 'mots-du-jour' stuffed down my throat 24/7.

So, as an often sneered at 'Liberal', where's MY biased cable news outlet? CNN? Like chewing wet cardboard - pointless, time-consuming and ultimately calorie-free. FOX? FOX hired Karl ROVE, so no love there for the likes of me.

So - way to go MSNBC - I'll be staying away from your channel until Nov 5th. I'll take my chances with the folk here on Huffpost and the Kossacks. At least I won't feel like I'm being punished for not being totally in love with the GOP.

Tell you what MSNBC, why not dispense with 'fair and balanced' altogether and let Pat Buchannan anchor?

[mesut]

my sentiments exactly. David Gregory is seriously someone I can not watch. He worse than watching paint dry. I was attracted to MSNBC after CNN lost their crazy minds and started talking like stepford people. I could tolerate some of the smack talk on MSNBC because at least Chris, Rachel, and Keith could balance the smack but now I just want to pull my hair out. MSNBC during the day seriously sounds like the stepford people with everyone saying the say thing. If they ever challenge a republican surrogate it must be in their sleep.

[NABNYC]

It's even more stupid than that. The ratings during certain key periods determine how much money any show (or station) can charge in the future for 30 or 60--second advertising spots. By removing their most interesting commentators from election night, and angering much of their regular audience, msnbc's ratings will likely plummet as angry Olbermann/Matthew fans channel-surf looking for someone a bit more lively than the staid Mr. Gregory. The future financial bottom-line of the channel will be negatively affected by this stupid move.

Really stupid move also because it obviously is a right-wing attack, and caving will cause the attacks to accelerate. Remember the Clintons started it (everything we're seeing today came from them) going after David Shuster, then Matthews, then Olbermann, non-stop demands that people be -- sanctioned.

A guy from Politico (owned by Albritton, an extreme right-winger who sits on Daddy Bush's library) started this by sponsoring a forum (shown on c-span) at the RNC and raising the question: should KO and Matthews be allowed to report election night given their obvious bias. I was stunned that no one in the audience gasped at the failure to mention Fox. Anyway, it's a stupid decision for many reasons.

[northcan]

So it was NBC??? Well NBC, the voter in Alaska will not watch anything but MSNBC because they like the drill of these two guys, their gutsy questions, fact's displayed and informing the people in America what the country is up to. This is a shame. shameful.

[KingofChing]

They caved on Imus. Not surprised to see them cave again.

[TexasDem0]

What are you saying Charles, anyone who does not kowtow to the right wing noise machine is biased?

[CharlesWarner]

Not at all. I'm saying that by moving out Keith and Chris from anchoring NBC looks like it is kowtowing to criticism of being unbalanced. MSNBC allowed opinion to overtake balance in its news coverage in order to get ratings and it worked, but now it has a change of heart, which will lead to lower ratings, I think. NBC hopes to restore its credibility and balance, which I don't think the move will accomplish. those who think it is biased will continue to think it is no matter who anchors its coverage and those who liked the Keith-Chris sparks will tune in somewhere else, I think,

NBC will loose money (ratings) with this move. So how much is their reputation worth?

[sjmaureen]

We should all remember how quickly MSNBC got rid of Phil Donahue during the run up to the Iraq war, he was questioning the intelligence that led us there and he was gone ! that's all it took,and he had been a ratings winner. Our media is almost completely run by right-wingers.

[CalliDem]

Sarah Palin mentioned media bias in her Republican convention speech and the crowd shouted "NBC, NBC!" And the McCain campaign staff, like Hillary Clinton's campaign staff previously, whined often about biased

Why is that Hillary Clinton "whined" ????

Typical BS

McCain 08
Hillary 2012

[Bozwellian]

WHY did the C campaign whine ? LOL, for the same marketing effect that has the MczC / Palin folks using the similar whine..emotional response from those failing to BOTHER to THINK and who can be easliy manipulated via "emoptionals" ...the use of the "tool" is nauseating, but there remains a large enough segment that has the "tool" being utilyzed repeatedly and according to the "reportings", seems to be working and proven to evidently, to be a winning strategy. GWB in spring of 2001 at a black tie fund raiser was queried wabout his to date success and whether sustatinable..Goege chortled into the camera with a smirk, " You CAN fool some of the people ALL of the time and those are the oes you concentrate on.." !!! (and yeah, vid clip available in archived, google it up and give pause/thought !!)

[vitasackvillewesttexas]

david gregory, fondly referred to as 'little stretch' by GWB is NOT my idea of someone i want to listen to for hours. matthews and olbermann are better with the historical perspective. this is a bad, bad decision. let's all call them out on it.

[Busterdawg]

What a dunder-headed blog posting. No one caved to the McCain campaign.

As the cable news arm of the NBC network, MSNBC has a responsibility to remain neutral during actual convention coverage. If they want to do left-wing political commentary they should confine it to shows like Olbermann's and Maddow's. If the powers that be at MSNBC want to become the Liberal Television Network then they need to make GE an offer for the network.

Having a left-wing commentator like Olbermann anchor the convention coverage was an embarrassment. Anchoring duties need to be done by non-partisan journalists.

[CharlesWarner]

"Anchoring duties need to be done by non-partisan journalists" and, thus get no ratings and thus lose money. How much is non-partisan journalism worth to NBC.

[wilhelmR]

"they need to make GE an offer for the network." You are repeating FoxNex mantra. GE doesn't have to do anything: MSNBC has an extraordinary Web that has a lot of content value. MSNBC TV has enough value with the personnel to attract new great people like Savannah Guthrie who outsmart anyone at Fox anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

[frenchbulldog]

Keith's insight, wit, and fearlessness will be missed at the debates and on election night.

The big question, though, is who is in line to take over Meet the Press? Sounds like it could be Gregory, what a disaster. Gregory is the junior Brokaw - boring, slow and unable to ask hard questions.

I'd love to see Keith take over the Meet the Press chair - who else has the guts to ask the tough questions and put everyone equally on the spot? You can write [e-mail] to voice your support for Keith. Cheers!

[CharlesWarner]

If NBC wants to get ratings it would put Olbermann on "Meet the Press." However, from the looks of it, NBC wants to stay dull, boring, and balanced. Russert was extraordinary, but cut out of an old, journalistic piece of cloth, which isn't being made anymore. TV has gone to hot, incendiary personalities who can stir up emotions, not to thoughtful journalists who stir up ideas. We see now how good Russert was and how much we miss him.

[tedbear]

This seems totally skewed. All of Fox's employees are totally biased, totally. MSNBC at least always has someone for both sides. David Gregory is biased toward conservatives. That is obvious, so this has to be taken as a slap in the face to the Democrats. Olberman and Matthews are fair, it is just that the Democratic side is fair and the Republicans are deceitful liars. Leave Olberman and Matthews alone. Leave them alone!!!

[Busterdawg]

Gregory is not. How ridiculous you people sound. Gregory was the most complained about White House correspondent by the Bush administration. They said his questions were too tough.

[sjmaureen]

Gregory was so tough that he became Carl Rove's prefered dance partner.

[rwe]

Check the talking points first.... Fox always on every show has both sides .... Olbermann has never had any ,nada none....MSNBC is a bad caricature of media matters

[CharlesWarner]

I agree that NBC should have left them alone to fight it out on screen -- good TV that got decent ratings. But NBC obviously wants dull balance. How much will it cost NBC?

[GarthR]

MSNBC wants to be CNN and CNN wants to be Faux News. Faux News wants to be press secretary for George W.

[CharlesWarner]

So, maybe if MSNBC has been smart, it would have stuck to liberal tilt and become press secretary for Obama if he's elected.

[ekrub]

I think MSNBC caved in due to complaints from GE brass and shareholders. I no longer doubt that we live in a plutocracy.

[CharlesWarner]

"...live in a plutocracy" and a business world. I think MSNBC made a bad business decision. The should have cancelled "the Evening News" and "Meet the Press" and let MSNBC be the liberal alternative to Fox News and it would make more money that way. All of the combined ratings of the commercial slots on MSNBC are wort more than the commercial slots on "The Nightly News"and "Meet the Press."

[MIMom]

OOOO! I like that idea!