MSNBC President Claims 'We're Not Trying to Push Democratic Talking Points'
Howard Kurtz quoted MSNBC president Phil Griffin in two stories in Monday's Washington Post, and both quotes seriously strained credulity. In a front-page story on how politicians campaign on cable news, Griffin tried to argue that they're not simply a Democrat talking-points factory and promoter of Democrat candidates. Oh no, claimed Griffin, just because Republicans choose to decline their invitations doesn't mean they're in the tank for the DNC:
The reality, said MSNBC President Phil Griffin, is that "politicians want to hit their base." But "we're different than Fox," he added. "We ask for people to come on from both parties all the time. We can't control who comes on. A lot of people choose not to, and they choose to go to Fox....We have so many different voices. We're not trying to push Democratic talking points, as some people accuse us of."
Kurtz didn't mention that Keith Olbermann never has Republicans on his show, or note how a host like Ed Schultz can have a leftist candidate like Bill Halter on repeatedly, and plug his web site. Then there was a mention of MSNBC's lame "Lean Forward" motto in Kurtz's Media Notes column:
"A rather halfhearted attempt by MSNBC to gloss its same-old lefty line with a coat of empty post-ideological babble," Daniel Foster writes on National Review Online.
Nonsense, says MSNBC President Phil Griffin, recalling that he got the idea watching Bryant Gumbel lean forward in his chair. "Lean forward has so many meanings," he says. "One is, be engaged. Don't be scared. Don't lean back and be dismissive. Be passionate. Don't lean right, don't lean left. It's a sensibility."
Kurtz has to know he's publishing a walking, talking contradiction here. "Answering the charge that they're trying to gloss over their lefty lineup with post-ideological babble, Griffin said, 'Nonsense, we're merely saying be passionate, don't lean right, don't lean left.'"
Kurtz didn't offer Foster's NRO put-down in its full glory. Here it is:
Besides being ripe for parody — in response, Fox News should change its tag-line to ‘Start With Your Weight On Your Back Foot, Swing From The Shoulder, And Rotate Your Torso Through The Punch’ — the ‘Lean Forward’ concept seems a rather half-hearted attempt by MSNBC to gloss its same-old lefty line with a coat of empty post-ideological babble (sort of like ‘Yes, We Can!’), while still deploying the right signal words to its core liberal audience. In an announcement for the campaign, network VP Sharon Otterman says “MSNBC wants to be the champion for those who believe in progress,” and that the taglinge “captures the cultural momentum for progress that resonates strongly with our audience.” Who could she be talking to here?
“Lean Forward” isn’t a re-branding, it’s a confession via euphemism that MSNBC will continue to be what they’ve always been.
If you watch the odd promo Foster includes, about how we're the "United States of Come As You Are," and our diversity is what unites us (as if MSNBC's all about bringing people together, with Keith Olbermann singing Kumbaya), there's a clip of two men getting "married" at the same time the announcer says we have "certain unalienable rights."
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Comments
Phil Griffin has had one too many
Submitted by wedapeople on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 7:30am.
"We're not trying to push Democratic talking points.... Lean Forward” isn’t a re-branding, it’s a confession,' that were all getting hosed.
All together now "lean forward" and grab those ankles.
you got it...
Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 7:42am.
kinda what i was thinking about the ankles, but more so as we used to call it "BOHICA" in the military... Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.
They keep this "lean forward" is just a short term for face down... ass up, cuz in Nov, that channel is going to get punk'd or as the kids say.. pwnd!
Apparently Griffin doesn't watch MSNBC
Submitted by Galvanic on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 7:59am.
And that's understandable considering its programming.
Wasn't there a story here
Submitted by Hunter12 on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:36am.
Wasn't there a story here yesterday about two MSNBC anchors begging Florida's Meeks to get out of the senate race so Christ could win? No lean there.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Our diversity is what unites
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 7:31am.
Our diversity is what unites us?
Would this be coming from the all-white cable news channel?
MSNBC has its token black anchor.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:00am.
Tamryn Hall.
A few months ago in response to criticism of MSNBC's all white lineup, MSNBC changed advertising showing pictures of all its anchors/whiners to include Hall.
Yeah, I remember that now.
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:12am.
Yeah, I remember that now. And they put her picture front and center of their lineup. She's a two-fer. If she were a lesbian, she'd be a trifecta!
However, diversity, my arse. Their idea of diversity is people of all different colors and ethnicities, with the same opinion. Maybe they can snatch up Rick Sanchez now that he's available.
On a purely.............
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 7:33am.
................technical basis Griffin isn't lying.
The truth is MSNBC is attempting ( rather poorly ) to 'SHOVE those Democrat Talking Points' down the thoats and up the asses of the American people.
A more fitting & truthful slogan for the de facto media / propaganda / discemination arm of the Obama administration would be.......'Bend Over'....
This latest attempt at rehabilitation of the NBC / Obama brand......even before it gets off the ground.....is a colossal fail.
Barack_Must_Go.....
Lean forward, eyes down, march forward.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:04am.
Be lemmings.
"Diversity unites" is an oxymoron
Submitted by KC Mulville on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:08am.
I love to study music, especially music theory. Harmony is a powerful musical and philosophical concept. Harmony is the ability to be different and the same, all at the same time. Harmony is not just the repetition of the same elements to produce the same result. It's the ability to be different individually, and yet contribute to a coherent whole. The difference could be in having a different pitch with the same melody, or two percussion lines that land on the same beat at regular intervals, etc. The whole point of harmony is that you have at least one part that's different while one part stays the same.
By itself, diversity divides. What makes harmony possible is that the whole requires different parts that work together. Ay, there's the rub ... working together. Diversity for the sake of diversity isn't harmony. You can't have harmony unless the elements work together. Simply being different isn't enough. The differences have to work together.
As Krauthammer says, the genius of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes is that they targeted the niche audience of over half the American people. Fox became wildly successful because they gave voice to the majority. The liberal media had simply been repressing the diversity of conservatives, and Fox unleashed the conservatives.
MSNBC is trying to persuade us that they're unleashing the liberal point of view. But that's nonsense. The liberal point of view has always had the networks and most of the MSM to advocate the liberal point of view. Instead, MSNBC isn't trying for harmony ... they're trying to silence the conservative majority. MSNBC adopted a policy of attacking conservatives, not of providing a counterpoint. Their whole lineup is a relay race of conservative-bashing.
The MSNBC nightly lineup runs the gamut from Y to Z. You go from Ed Schultz, the un-snarky attack dog, to Olbermann and Maddow, who are the snarky attack dogs, to the newly installed Lawrence O'Donnell, who's another attack dog without snark, but not as dim as Schultz. They don't explain the liberal point of view, they just feast on insulting conservatives.
Trying to demean, insult, and smear other voices isn't diversity.
What makes harmony possible
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:15am.
What makes harmony possible is that the whole requires different parts that work together.
They do work together. They all agree ideologically.
These guys are reading from
Submitted by Van Halen on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:15am.
These guys are reading from the same playbook as the Obama administration - just lie outright.
"We're really not trying to push Democratic talking points! Just ask Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, or Chris Matthews!'
'The economy is improving!'
'Republicans are responsible for stopping Obama's agenda!'
'Democrats are the party of the common man, not the rich!'
'The economy is improving!'
'Democrats have made health care cheaper - er, affordable - er, free - um, Democrats have made health care - accessible - er, health care, or something!'
'What war?'
The economy is improving!'
Diversity is divisive and destructive, a tool of the left
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:18am.
Diversity is just BS for watering down and weakening America. For America's first 200 or so years, people came here, learned OUR language, learned OUR culture, learned OUR rules, and assimilated. They became Americans and helped America become the greatest nation on earth, flaws and all. Now, this has been turned around completely, thanks to the left and 'progressives' (really, they are 'regressive') and our wishy washy lawyers and politicians, we, America, that is, are supposed to learn the languages, cultures and rules of every frigging person, group, ethnicity, sexual perversion, and embrace them, cater our whole country to them, have all our government documents, employees, schools, etc. in their dozens of languages. It is the story of the Tower Of Babel writ large and it is destroying us. I wrote this before but it got lost in the switch to the new NB'ers, this is what the progressives DON'T want:
The 'old' America that was:
#1 in education
#1 in manufacturing
#1 in transportation
#1 in healthcare
#1 in patents
#1 in the military
And I am sure you can add to the list.
Never mind repeating the
Submitted by Van Halen on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:21am.
Never mind repeating the made-up silly campaign finance scandal, MSNBC, try running this story:
23 months of Obama has given us record deficits, record unemployment, longest jobless stretch since the 1930's, record bank failures, record foreclosures, record poverty rate, failing dollar, national poverty at record highest level, foreign policy disasters, record number of golf games played by a president, record death toll in Afghanistan, record number of food stamp recipients, consumer confidence at record lows, auto bailout money being used to build a plant in Mexico, ME-Chelle with a record number of personal assistants, the worst environmental disaster in the US largely ignored and exploited for political gain, SEC now immune from FOIA, internet wiretaps made easier, executive order used to assassinate Americans overseas, don't ask don't tell still on, Gitmo still open, secret wiretaps still on, lobbyists, corporations and special interests still have unimpeded access to members of Congress, a 'Safe Schools Czar' who is pedophile friendly, record number of unelected and unaccountable Czars, continuation of the war in Iraq and the expansion of the war into Pakistan and Yemen, bills passed in the dead of night on weekends and holidays in order to hide them from the public -
November can't come soon enough!
@Don'tFeedTheTrolls
Submitted by Van Halen on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 8:24am.
@Don'tFeedTheTrolls -
Point well made. Quite simply, the Old America was #1 at striving to be - and succeeding at #1. And it's not totally gone yet. It's under attack by the Progressive Liberal movement (led by Obama and Soros) who
hate America
hate the military
hate women
hate Democracy
hate Capitalism
hate minorities
hate freedom
hate guns
hate Jews
hate Catholics
hate Christians
and most of all, hate the unborn.
'We're Not Trying to Push
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 9:00am.
'We're Not Trying to Push Democratic Talking Points'Well, duh, of course you aren't trying. Trying implies that you haven't actually performed the stated goal due to an inability to do so for whatever reason. MSMTV is succeeding in pushing the Democratic talking points: it's basically the hub of video transmission of the Democrat's talking points.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
Not GE, but the WH
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 9:08am.
Of course they aren't trying, it's the White House that sends text messages to Mika and Joe on their Blackberry while on live TV. That's who pushes the points. MSNBC is just the MESSenger.
-Jon
How much longer does Griffin Have?
Submitted by laree on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 3:30pm.
Zucker is out and Capus is being sent to CNBC, can Griffen be far behind? Will the reign of the Metrosexuals finally be coming to an end?
This is the network that calls the American Electorate "Racist" at ever turn. Who is still watching MSNBC?
Chris Matthews has on people from Media Matters and treats them as if they are legitimate.
It's not like there is this huge demographic that watches cable news. You would think that a Business like a Network, would be run to attract as many viewers as possible, and not repel viewers by calling them names racist, teabaggers etc...
Tamron Hall came out of Chicago, she was installed by Jesse Jackson when Imus was fired. The Justice Brothers shook down MSNBC, a short time after Imus was fired, they created a "Diversity" position. All the networks the Progressives have shilling for them, and still they are going to get wiped out in November. It couldn't happen to a better group of Phonies. Griffen is circling the drain or leaning into obscurity LOL!
OH Noooo! Of course you’re not!
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 3:36pm.
“….We're not trying to push Democratic talking points, as some people accuse us of." - IMHO what he really meant: “…We’re not pushing Democratic talking points, we’re just criticizing everything Republican or conservative.”
They are not using dim talking points...
Submitted by jdripper on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 3:37pm.
They are sitting on the toilet leaning forward and reading what comes from that posture.
Jack
Jack
Technically, were creating the TALKING POINTS that democrats wil
Submitted by Newzworth on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 1:59am.
From 2009 - http://www.gereports.com/ge-commits-6-billion-in-new-healthymagination-launch/
GE commits $6 billion in new healthymagination launchGE is committing $2 billion of financing and $1 billion in related GE technology to drive healthcare information technology and health in rural and underserved areas.
And NBC Universal and NBC News are committing to aid consumers in the form of more than 5,000 televised reports annually on health and wellness and companion online tools. Technically, were creating the TALKING POINTS that democrats will pushChina Wholesaler Town -
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