Phil Griffin

After years of denying he was trying to pursue a hard-left audience, MSNBC president Phil Griffin is now shamelessly trying to justify his actions in continuing to employ infamous race-baiter and tax cheat Al Sharpton, host of the cable network's Politics Daily program. The latest controversy for Sharpton involves his dual involvement in covering the case of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin on television while at the same time, away from the anchor desk, acting as a belligerent advocate of arresting Martin's killer, George Zimmerman.

Sharpton's conflict of interest, which he barely bothers to disclose to viewers, doesn't bother Griffin; he proudly told AP television reporter David Bauder that he "didn't hire Al to become a neutered kind of news presenter."

Editor's Note: What follows is a letter sent by Mr. Bozell to Comcast Chairman Brian L. Roberts earlier today.

Dear Mr. Roberts,

By now, you are well aware of the Media Research Center’s (MRC) concerns with MSNBC.  Last week, I wrote letters to both you and Mr. Griffin asking for Ed Schultz’s termination because of highly controversial and deplorable comments he routinely makes about women and conservatives. Yesterday, I posted an open letter to Mr. Griffin about equally controversial and appalling comments made by Al Sharpton; comments that are blatantly racist and xenophobic, and which in one instance led to the death of an innocent bystander.

Because of these well documented instances of unacceptable comments made by both Sharpton and Schultz, I have called for their termination.  I have also called for Mr. Griffin to resign as president of MSNBC.  In my March 15 letter I called on you to clean house at MSNBC.

Editor's Note: What follows is a letter that NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell sent to MSNBC President Phil Griffin early today.

Dear Mr. Griffin,

Last week, in my open letter to you I called for Ed Schultz’s termination.  I also called for you to resign as President of MSNBC because you hired Ed Schultz.  Today, I have yet another reason you should step down - one which some might argue is even more compelling than Schultz. His name is Al Sharpton.

Dear Mr. Griffin,

Your network, working on marching orders from Media Matters, is on a mission to take Rush Limbaugh off the air. Far from being an independent journalistic enterprise, MSNBC is the very essence of a political lapdog of the far left.

Just last night on MSNBC, Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton, and Lawrence O’Donnell all devoted time on their programs attacking Rush. In each case, they grabbed at thin air looking, looking, looking for the opportunity shamelessly to keep the story alive.

Six weeks into his new job as an MSNBC host, Al Sharpton has made it crystal clear he despises members of the GOP.

So far he has begun one third of his shows hatefully saying, "Hey, Republicans" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

In an interview, MSNBC president Phil Griffin made some rather strange characterizations of his network, insisting that it "come[s] from a progressive stance" while it is simultaneously "not ideologically driven."

Those two concepts would seem contradictory in the minds of most people--but not to Griffin, who seems to believe that his staff of "smart people" who "do their research" is up to the task.

MSNBC president Phil Griffin gave an interview to Jeff Bercovici of Forbes, and said all the usual things about how MSNBC is less ideological than Fox News and Fox is a success despite not always being based in fact. But Griffin claimed no one ever knew what Tim Russert’s politics were and insisted that MSNBC is defined as "very smart progressive politics and information." 

The boss of “very smart” MSNBC is not going to tolerate crude terms for the president (well, this president) on its airwaves, because “We’re not a frat house.” At MSNBC, Griffin claimed, "name-calling and just getting overheated in a way that's not constructive is not welcome." See NewsBusters for daily evidence of how much Griffin is "based in fact." Here's the exchange:

 

In an interview with the AP, MSNBC President Phil Griffin bragged about life after Keith Olbermann, touting the cable channel as "really the place to go for progressives."

Griffin didn't bother denying the liberal bent of the network. He highlighted left-wing anchor Rachel Maddow, hyping, "She really has elevated the discussion and is in many ways the model that we want for cable news."

Libtalker Ed Schultz told his radio listeners Tuesday that he's a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed by an NBC engineer who alleges he helped get Schultz on television -- a man who Schultz claims has stalked Schultz and his wife.

Schultz began the second hour of his nationally syndicated radio show describing the lawsuit filed by Michael Queen, who is described in a press release issued by his lawyer as an NBC broadcast engineer, labor official and Schultz's "former partner." Schultz is labeled a "self-proclaimed champion of labor unions and workers' rights."

Queen is represented by attorney Mark Lane, author of two well-known books on the JFK assassination, "Rush to Judgment" and "Plausible Denial."

According to the press release, Queen approached the late NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert to suggest Schultz for a television show, followed by Queen suggesting this to Schultz in January 2008. The press release claims that "Meet the Press" and "Today" show director Max Schindler joined the effort, "only to quit shortly thereafter, citing ethical differences with Schultz." The press release further states (audio of Schultz remarks after page break) --

On Wednesday (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), in commenting on USA Today's poor decision to quote a paragraph from a New York Times op-ed by former Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) -- a bad decision because Kanjorski's call for "civility" directly contrasts with his call for someone to shoot Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott just a few months ago -- I wrote that USAT Founder Al Neuharth's "'civility' credentials are also suspect."

Two days later, Neuharth, who claims to be "independent," more than justified those suspicions. In a "Plain Talk" item in Friday's paper ("Who shares blame in Tucson tragedy?"), Neuharth blamed a wide range of people for Jared Loughner's actions. "Somehow," he forgot to blame Jared Laughner. It's not a stretch to assert that many readers would be justified in believing that Neuharth may not even want to see Loughner convicted of a crime.

Neuharth took shots at talkers on the right and left. USAT published an absolutely laughable counter-response from MSNBC President Phil Griffin. The other response (from the right? Are you kidding?) was from a psychiatry prof.

Here is Neuharth's piece and its responses (published in their entirety because of their relative brevity; bolds are mine):

MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Wednesday called Republicans bastards that want to destroy the American dream.

Apparently recognizing that he might have gone too far, the "Ed Show" host apologized moments later (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Keith Olbermann and the heads of NBC - including former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw - are apparently  in the middle of a civil war over the "Countdown" host's recent campaign contributions that resulted in his brief suspension.

According to the Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz, the deepening sense of anger and frustration with Olbermann's behavior could lead to his eventual departure from MSNBC:

It appears NBC management feels a two day suspension is all Keith Olbermann should get for violating company policy regarding political donations.

MSNBC's Phil Griffin issued the following press release moments ago (h/t NB reader Keith Hanson):

Just days after MSNBC President Phil Griffin claimed his cable network does not use air-time to support Democratic candidates and liberal causes, evening host Lawrence O'Donnell yielded over two minutes of his eponymous program to feature MoveOn.org's latest anti-Republican advertisement in its entirety.

O'Donnell introduced the partisan attack ad as a get-out-the-vote push: "Sometimes you have to take unusual steps to get out the vote. MoveOn.org, with the help of actors Olivia Wilde from 'House' and Romany Malco from 'Weeds,' has produced a warning from the future to show you what could happen if Republicans win this election because you didn't vote."

After playing the entire ad uninterrupted, which urged voters to "STOP THE REPUBLICAN TAKEOVER!!" and predicted that if the GOP takes back control of Congress in November because liberals don't go to the polls, Republicans will merge with "the big corporations that fund them to create RepubliCorp," the MSNBC host immediately cut to a commercial break.

Instead of analyzing the attack ad on its merits, O'Donnell gave MoveOn.org free ad time.

The folks at MSNBC are for some reason still under the impression that they are anything but a far less successful liberal alternative to Fox News.

The former channel's president, Phil Griffin, tried to perpetuate that delusion in a blog post by New York Times media blogger Brian Stelter on Sunday. Griffin claimed that MSNBC, unlike Fox News, does not help guests who are political candidates solicit funds on air.

In fact, MSNBC talker Ed Schultz has done just that on multiple occasions. “Show me an example of us fund-raising,” Stelter quotes Griffin as saying. Perhaps he should have reviewed his own channel's coverage before making that challenge.

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:

When you're too crazy for MSNBC…

Markos Moulitsas, founder of the far-left blog Daily Kos, announced today that he has been "blacklisted" by MSNBC for taunting "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough. "I just don't know how one could reasonably expect to be welcomed onto our network while publicly antagonizing one of our hosts at the same time," MSNBC president Phil Griffin told Moulitsas.

Griffin's ostracism marks the second instance in recent days that a prominent MSNBC personality has spurned Kos or his blog. A couple weeks ago, Keith Olbermann announced he would no longer be writing for the site. He returned a few days later.

Still, there seem to be some reservations even at liberal MSNBC about the often crude, pugilistic style employed by so many of the Kossacks. What set off the most recent tiff? A tweet exchange, recounted below the fold.

It took a while, but MSNBC President Phil Griffin has finally admitted and embraced his cable network's hard-left slant. He told the Chicago Tribune that he will try to carve out a niche on the left, hoping some day to rival the Fox News Channel's record-setting ratings.

Not so long ago, Griffin insisted that MSNBC was not "tied to ideology" -- unlike Fox, which simply could not be trusted, he claimed. Griffin even knocked FNC President Roger Ailes's business model, criticizing him for "creat[ing] an ideological channel… I give them total credit. I tip my hat to them. They scored. But it was ideological and opportunistic. It was a business plan."

Griffin has apparently abandoned his disdain for that business plan. He spoke glowingly of Ailes in an interview with the Tribune, saying the FNC president "changed the world" with his wildly successful business model, which went beyond just reporting to create brand loyalty and provide viewers with commentary that speaks to their views and preferences. MSNBC will now be (openly) emulating that model.

Update - 10:45 AM | Lachlan Markay: Contessa Brewer is filling in for Shuster during his 10 am slot. Mediaite is reporting that Ed Schultz will take the 3 pm slot. This will not be the permanent lineup, however.

MSNBC's David Shuster was suspended indefinitely today after a flap with the cable network's brass, who were livid that he filmed a pilot for CNN. Shuster, whose contract is set to expire at the end of the year, has not appeared on air since the news broke.

"If true," said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Ganes after hearing the news, "this is unacceptable and David will be punished appropriately." MSNBC President Phil Griffin was vacationing in Florida, but reportedly "ripped Shuster a new one over the phone," according to Gail Shister of TV Newser.

This morning MSNBC announced that Shuster has been suspended "indefinitely." Anything less than suspension, an MSNBC exec told Shister, "sends a message from management that this is OK."

David Shuster has once again found himself in trouble with his bosses at MSNBC.

After news leaked that he recently shot a pilot for CNN, Shuster was pulled from his 3 PM time slot on the cable network Friday apparently by head honcho Phil Griffin.

According to Gail Shister over at TVNewser, "Griffin, vacationing in Florida, ripped Shuster a new one over the phone" (h/t NBer armyfool1):

Keith Olbermann's appeal has generally been his incendiary, attack-dog approach to the news. The approach paid off during the Bush administration when bashing the president was good business for a television host.

Since Obama's inauguration, Olbermann's ratings have been in free-fall, but MSNBC brass are still more than willing not only to keep him on the air, but to defend him against any and all critics.

Asked about Olbermann's plummeting ratings--they have declined 44 percent since last year--MSNBC President Phil Griffin cleverly invoked the cable network's slogan, saying MSNBC is still "the place for politics."

Griffin added, "there are times when politics does great, and there are times when it doesn't." Apparently there are also times when it does great on Fox, but not on MSNBC, like, say, right now. Ratings for the "O'Reilly Factor", Olbermann's 8 p.m. competition, have soared 55 percent during the past year, making it by far the most watched cable news show during that time slot. "Countdown", meanwhile, languishes just behind HLN's Nancy Grace in the coveted 25-54 demographic.

The president of NBC has officially responded to Joe Scarborough criticizing Keith Olbermann for his attacks on Scott Brown.

In a memo obtained by the Huffington Post, Phil Griffin told his on air staff: "We do not publicly criticize our colleagues. This kind of behavior is unprofessional and will not be tolerated."

Griffin was addressing comments made by MSNBC's Scarborough about Olbermann. As NewsBusters reported Monday, the "Morning Joe" host first tweeted his disapproval of the "Countdown" host's comments about Brown -- "How reckless and how sad" -- reiterating on his program Tuesday morning, "Sad and pathetic.

As a result, Griffin sent out the following memo Friday (h/t TVNewser):

"CNN and MSNBC were given ample opportunity to come clean, but both are continuing to masquerade malicious lies [against Rush Limbaugh] as credible," Media Research Center President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Bozell promised to report back publicly with how CNN and MSNBC responded to his challenge to put up – or shut up – proof that Rush Limbaugh actually stated the racist quote that both cable networks attributed to him as fact, or to immediately retract and apologize for their participation in spreading an outlandish lie. 

Talk show giant Limbaugh denied having ever stated, “Slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back. I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.” Further, it has been established that this was a fabrication pushed through the Internet, intentionally designed to destroy Mr. Limbaugh’s reputation at a time he is attempting to purchase a professional football team.

In addition to this public call to action, Mr. Bozell overnighted letters to CNN President Jonathan Klein and MSNBC President Phil Griffin to ensure both took the matter seriously. Both CNN and MSNBC failed to respond appropriately.

Although he sort of admitted it earlier, MSNBC President Phil Griffin seems to have problems stating the obvious: that his network has made a conscious decision to feature primarily leftwing hosts (Joe Scarborough being the sole exception in the lineup). Griffin makes yet another stab, in an interview with  Rory O'Connor of the Huffington post, at explaining why MSNBC went hard left and the resulting explanation is so painfully tortuous as to be comical:

"The answer is complicated...but simple at same time," Griffin responds. "The network has evolved a lot in the past few years. We went from doing a little bit of everything to doing lots of politics under Keith from 2003-05. We first began to get traction after the Iraq war started, after 'Mission Accomplished.' Then, more and more, politics led the way. When we did well with it in the 2006 elections, we made a decision to become 'the place for politics,' as the late Tim Russert dubbed us - and all of a sudden began to take off a little."

Griffin says that both Olbermann and fellow MSNBC stalwart Chris Mathews "both had a strong point of view about the war -- but our strategy then was simply to hire smart people, allow them to have a point of view, and to be authentic. At the same time, we moved even further toward politics and away from trying to be 'all things to all people.'"

Once again MSNBC president Phil Griffin is claiming that his cable outlet is not liberal on purpose. (I know what you're saying, if you believe that he has a bridge to sell you) In an interview with a TV reviewer for the Kansas City Star, Griffin once again made the claim that the extreme leftward tilt that MSNBC has taken over the last few years was a complete accident and that they aren't "tied to ideology" like Fox News is. Griffin also attacked Fox News saying that, "you can't trust a word they say."

It all started when Aaron Barnhart of the Star asked Griffin for his reaction to statements made by Fox News executive John Moody who said that MSNBC only gained their current market share because of the "messianic ranting" of its anchors, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. This set Griffin off at the outset of the interview.

Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC has finally admitted what everyone knew to be the case: his network's talk lineup tilts leftward. This type of admission is quite rare in media circles. Usually when high-level media types are confronted with evidence their product is biased, they issue silly blanket denials that anyone can see through as mere corporate shillery.

Griffin's admission came in a recent New York Times article which instead of being concerned about journalism's institutional credibility as it has when covering Fox News, predictably celebrated the network's decision to become the network for Bush haters:

UPDATE: Joe and Mika discuss this NB item. Video (0:57): Real (1.55 MB) or Windows (1.78 MB), plus MP3 (435 kB).

Joe Scarborough has pulled back the curtain on the liberal bias at MSNBC, describing an incident in which people in its newsroom ceaselessly booed President Bush during a State of the Union address.

The revelation came on "Morning Joe" today at 6:02 A.M. EDT. Joe was discussing a recent episode at the Seattle Times in which reporters and editors cheered the news that Karl Rove had resigned. Scarborough applauded Seattle Times Executive Editor Dave Boardman for issuing a memorandum reproving his colleagues. For more, read NB items by Brent Baker and Ken Shepherd.

Joe went on to describe a similar incident at MSNBC.

VIEW VIDEO OF JOE'S ACCOUNT OF THE NEWSROOM INCIDENT HERE. Note: that's newsreader Mika Brzezinksi heard murmuring in assent, though one has to wonder just how thrilled she was by Joe's candor in outing her fellow MSNBC liberals.

For a man that is averaging a paltry 600,000 viewers an evening, he sure is full of…himself. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann sat down with the folks from Radar Online for an interview published Monday (hat tip TVNewser), and it must have been hard to get his head through the entranceway.

First, he did what most employees learn at an early age is a no-no – he took on his boss. His interviewers asked: “Dan Abrams said recently that your program ‘could become a model for the newscast of the future.’ Are you a role model?” Olby obnoxiously responded (emphasis mine throughout):

I don't know what Dan has to do with it frankly. We've never had a conversation about the direction of the show. He's actually the—The general manager [of MSNBC], right, but we rarely interact. As far as I know he works on dayside programming. Phil Griffin runs the network. He is the vice president of NBC [News] and my original producer in television.

Then, he went after CNN’s Lou Dobbs (emphasis mine throughout):

MSNBC surprised everyone Monday with its announcement that the struggling channel will now be headed by an executive tag team of "Today" chief Phil Griffin and one of its own show hosts, Dan Abrams.

The appointment of Griffin didn't exactly come as a surprise; last week's scuttlebutt had him being given the top spot. Abrams's elevation did. It also gives insight into what MSNBC's strategy to avoid being known as "electronic journalism's version of the Chicago Cubs."

Some key facts:

• Griffin, known officially as "executive in charge," is also keeping his title as executive producer of NBC's "Today" show.
• Newly dubbed "general manager" Abrams will keep his job as NBC's top legal affairs analyst but will be giving up his current main job as host of the courts-heavy "Abrams Report."
• Griffin will not move his offices over to MSNBC's far-flung New Jersey location.
• NBC is in the process of buying out its partner Microsoft's stake in MSNBC entirely. It's already the majority owner.

For Aaron Barnhart, the verdict seems in: "They're letting him keep his network job. Which tells you something about what a high priority fixing MSNBC is over there at GE."

UPDATE 20:54. My take: That Abrams was brought in as Griffin's deputy indicates that there may be relatively major changes in the near future, with a team comprised of a newsie and an exec, it will be harder for competing factions within the organization to resist management. Abrams's hiring also likely means that MSNBC is going to approach news with more irreverence, and give greater latitude to anchors to express their opinions and show emotion (i.e. be more like human beings instead of talking infoheads). [Abrams not getting the top spot also shows that upper management views this as a test of sorts for him. If he pulls it off, expect him to move up the NBC ladder.]