MSNBC's chief executive Phil Griffin said late Sunday that after several days of deliberation, he had determined that two days off the air was "an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy."
The left-leaning cable network's most popular personality acknowledged donating $2,400 apiece to the campaigns of Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway and Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. NBC News prohibits its employees from making political donations unless an exception is granted in advance by the network news president. In this case, Olbermann's bosses didn't know about them until being informed by a reporter.
Left unanswered is the question of why Olbermann would do something he undoubtedly knew would be provocative, or whether he was trying to make a statement against NBC's policy. He did not immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment Sunday.
On his Twitter page, Olbermann wrote: "Greetings from exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug."
The incident raised questions about how long-standing rules designed to preserve the appearance of objectivity for news organizations fit at a time that cable news networks, most prominently Fox News Channel and MSNBC, have increased their popularity through prime-time programs that dispense with any notion of impartiality.
This story goes right along with what we have been discussing in class recently, media objectivity. Is objectivity a lost cause in today’s society? Do people even want to hear objective new stories anymore? These are important questions and stories like this bring to light the need to answer them.
Everyone knows that when you turn on MSNBC, you are going to be greeted with a liberal slant. Just the
same as when you turn on fox news, you are going to get a conservative lean. Why then is it an issue for a news reporter on one of these stations to donate money to the party aligned with their political views…the same views that they express vehemently on their show everyday?
People want to have their views reinforced by the news channel they are watching. An extreme conservative is not going to tune into Olbermann’s “Countdown” and a liberal is not going to watch The O’Reilly Factor. Our society is changing, the way we view media is changing, and networks can either get with it or get left in the dust. News Corp., the parent to fox news, gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association and NBC won’t allow Olbermann to donate $2,400 to three Democratic candidates?
I was glad to hear that MSNBC ended Olbermann’s suspension after just two shows and I hope that they will change their ancient company policies ASAP and maybe take a few pages from Murdoch’s playbook this time!
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAwQNqYTGXw5vlF84xAWa8fddScg?docId=09852e5ab4bb4ed491cd6c84c6edd00d
I think we can all agree that Olbermann didn't really do anything too terrible. The fact of the matter is he broke a company policy and was punished for doing so, sort of. His ratings were up the night of his return from what I heard. I agree there really is much objectivity especially during prime time hours, and that is why this really isn't too big of a deal in my opinion. He probably won nor lost anymore respect than he already had. Policy may or may not change, but MSNBC is still going to be the best place for liberals to promote their ideas to a wider audience which is probably more useful than a $2,400 check.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more on NBC changing its policy on donations. I think any media outlet's editorial control over a writer/reporter/personality should end when they crank up their car in the employee parking lot. I neither demand nor expect reporters who are unbiased; all I ask for is unbiased reporting. Olbermann isn't even a reporter. He is an hour long nightly editorial rant that I happen to find entertaining as a liberal. What he does with his own money is his own business.
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