Politico: Olbermann Suspended Because He Refused To Apologize On Camera
Did MSNBC suspend Keith Olbermann because he refused to apologize for his campaign finance activities on camera?
That's what Politico's Mike Allen is reporting Sunday (h/t Mediaite):
Network sources tell Playbook that Keith Olbermann was suspended because he refused to deliver an on-camera mea culpa, which would have allowed him to continue anchoring “Countdown.” Olbermann told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly.
Allen goes on to point out that Olbermann mightn't be as much in the driver's seat at MSNBC as he used to be.
At $7 million a year, his salary is quite lofty given his ratings, especially as Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell who both make far less are drawing roughly the same number of eyeballs in their respective time slots.
As Olbermann has always had problems with his employers wherever he's worked, maybe this incident was enough for MSNBC management to finally wonder whether he's really worth what they're paying him.
Stay tuned.
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Comments
BS
Submitted by Guapo Diablo on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:16pm.
I call BS on this "story." Why did Rachel Maddow use Olbermann's issue as a hammer to beat on FNC? What went on behind closed doors with Olbermann and Griffin? It's nothing but speculation on my part, but I think the characters at MSNBC are using this story as a platform to claim they're better than the "illegal" right-wingers at Fox.
Compared to these donations ($7200?), Olbermann's nightly rants appear to be In-Kind Contributions which heavily outweigh this paltry amount.
They want to silence FNC and this looks to be a pre-planned way to try.
Olbermann's arrogance is
Submitted by Newsbusterbrown on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:16pm.
Olbermann's arrogance is breathtaking.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
Ask why
Submitted by Texndoc on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:25pm.
They had an entire election night of coverage on MSNBC and no where to be seen were Joe Scarborough, Andrea Mitchell, Tom Brokaw, Chuck Todd or David Gregory. And Brokaw could be seen sitting with Scarborough the next morning.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/11/watching_msn...
I love it. When they tell Maddow to shut her trap, she's going to shut it, because she wants to keep it running.
Obermann
Submitted by wdvander on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:29pm.
Put him back on the air. He is an asset to the conservative movement while on the air. NBC knows that he drives away people who buy stuff and frequent their advertisers. That is why he is not on the NBC Sunday night football program as he was last year, to many people complained about him and his airbrained opinions.
I don't know how the ownership change from GE to Comcast will affect how MSNBC is operated and this episode might be a first indication of Comcast being a little more hands on where it comes to running the biz.
I'm not buying this.
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:38pm.
It's not like he did something on the air that offended people.
I can't imagine the bosses expecting him to apologize on air for this.
Unless Phil ("thinks he's my boss") Griffin knew that this would be the one thing that would make Olbermann dig his heels in and give him an excuse to fire...oops...suspend him indefinitely.
But even that's ridiculous, because Griffin didn't need an excuse.
I have no idea why this story is being put out there, but I don't believe it for a minute.
Motherbelt
Submitted by Jerry Mack on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 2:02pm.
I have no idea why this story is being put out there, but I don't believe it for a minute.Read more: http://www.newsbusters.org/comment/reply/42961/1372542#ixzz14cXwpTdV
.
I have no idea why this story is being put out there, but I don't believe it for a minute.Me either! Olberwhacked and MSDNC have received more publicity than probably all prervious efforts combined. And it is FREE.
Griffin Does Need An Excuse.
Submitted by Tenebrous on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 5:24pm.
Griffin does need an excuse. He needs to mantain cred with Olberman's audience. If he doesn't, then the other shows will suffer. Even a flimsy pretence of ethics is enough for liberals, but if he says nothing, then the whole rumor/hype/conspiracy drive will hit warp 9 by this time next week.
Griffin does not have a problem with abysmal ratings, or he'd cancel the show. He doesn't have a problem with a leftist lineup, because running the shows he does is a conscious choice. He may have a problem with Olberman, but he needs to keep his ratings (such as they are) going.
Now, move along and get back to trashing Tea Party candidates, Motherbelt. After all, it's what you're best at.
Visions and Principles blog
In the land of the blind...
Submitted by Thoreau on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:46pm.
Well, I tend to give Politico the benefit of the doubt in this instance. Only they would know the mental state of scumbags and treasonous degenerates in the media. I trust their aptitude in that regard.
But... I don't care.
Fox News has double the ratings of any other news outlet for a reason. They aren't communist whores. That's it. Everyone else in the MSM is. There's no secret here. Olbermann is just the latest casualty of commi blowback.
And Fox News isn't even a great Conservative news outlet. But they aren't communists, like the rest of you- including Politico. And in this world of thieving whores and lying bastards, that's everything.
To me Politico literally is a ghetto Marxist Politburo. From observations of mental wards and Yankee Walmart's, I know the mentally ill can smell their own. So I defer to their judgement when it comes to Uberdick's demise.
First & foremost
Submitted by kch50428 on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 1:58pm.
'Beerman violated company policy. If the suits at pMSNCB made the offer to express contrition for policy violation, and he turned it down - that says a lot about him.
Maybe he can occupy space and waste resources at National Propaganda Radio.
You hang in there, Keef!
Submitted by Newsbubba on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 2:09pm.
Don't let those bastards at MSNBC push you around, man. Never, never, never apologize, yo!
If you never work again, don't let them change you. You are the best thing that ever happened to Fox News, and don't you forget it.
So hang tough and stay unemployed forever, man. That's what I want.
Yeah!
Olbermann. Rats; was wishing for the NPR/Juan Williams
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 2:20pm.
Olbermann. Rats; was wishing for the NPR/Juan Williams angle, where NPR was sitting back looking for a reason to fire him. Of course, NPR was off base on that, as Williams was doing what Obama ran his campaign on - everyone getting along. And what a better way to do it, than by being open and willing to communicate - and debate - your views with others in a public setting.
In MSNBC's case, I was hoping to hear that NBC was coming to it's senses, and at least looking for the easy way to get this hate monger off the air - because of ... well, here's a good example:
Hypocrite Keith Olbermann
Note. On Howard Kurtz's "Reliabe Sources" today, in addition to wondering out loud if the media was giving Republicans too easy a time, (wow!), made the analysis that NBC's Brian Williams was straight newsman. Right - the guy who continues to push, among other lies, the view (apparently his view, that President Bush was a racist - did not like black people - that Katrina would have been different if it were a white city.
(;~/ gary
Can you say "train wreck"?
Submitted by PrairieSky on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 2:28pm.
I don't think I've ever seen such a disorganized, unprofessional mess in the media (or anywhere else for that matter) as what MSNBC is right now. If I worked there, I sure wouldn't admit it to anyone.
Whatever the real reason is that Olbermann was canned for (because this "he wouldn't apologize on-air" story is very suspect), I do think it all boiled down to his just being more trouble than he was worth...Especially given the fact that he was pulling down 7 million a year, to generally be a huge pain in the a$$. That said, I cannot believe that there are no other on-air employees at MSNBC who haven't given money to Dems, and after Tuesday night's disgraceful and embarrassing performance by virtually all of their on-air people, none of those folks should have a job today. Olbermann has a long history, just about everywhere he has ever worked, of not working and playing well with others, including his bosses, and it's a distinct possibility that he may finally have worn out his welcome. Time will tell.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
I Really Don't Care Why
Submitted by DoktorFranken on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 3:08pm.
He's gone and the pain he's going through is merely the tiniest bit of what he deserves for slandering so many for so long.
Nighty, night, Olby. And No Luck.
Unlikely Story
Submitted by xraynova on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 4:54pm.
It's hard to believe that olbermann, a liberal opinion guy, got suspended for contributing to liberal causes.
Seems to me, that olbermann was actually, a walking advertisement for all things FoxNews.
It doesn't take long for normal people (who might channel surf to his show) to realize this guy is incurably incoherent, with political arguments lacking in veracity and depth.
As a result, transitory viewers have to wonder (as olbermann obsessively and compulsively denigrates FoxNews and Foxnews personalities) just how bad things are, over at Fox... so, they change over to Fox and of course, stay there.
As a result, olbermann has done much more for FoxNews than for MSNBC. Perhaps FoxNews should pay him a gratuity for the fine job he's doing increasing their audience.
My guess is that he was too
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Sun, 11/07/2010 - 7:28pm.
My guess is that he was too expensive and too much trouble for the ratings he brought in, and MSNBC was waiting for him to do ANYTHING that was in breech of his contract so that they could terminate him without going through some grueling drawn-out expensive process like when they returned Leno to the Tonight Show.
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Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
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