[LUconn]

Has anybody been watching their talking heads self destruct over the last few weeks? During the DNC Scarborough was taking a schalacking from Olberdouche and Matthews. They kept breaking out in arguments. And tonight, they seem to have them under control and separated. But they just can't help themselves. After each RNC speech they have to chime in with some kind of rebuttal. It's the only station I'll watch theses things on because it's just absurd to the umpteenth power. I wonder if they realize they've become a caricature of what a real news organization used to be.

[LUconn]

In case you missed it last week, here are some youtube clips of it.

http://www.clusterstock.com/2008/8/msnb ... ng-anchors

[LUconn]

LOL now their cameramen are zooming in on Palin's daughter. Gee, I wonder why. You really can't make this stuff up.

[01LUGrad]

Keith Olberman and his little "girl" friend are completely laughable.

He started out funny and left-leaning a couple of years ago, but he is now cleary in the tank for Obama. How he even pretends to be unbiased is unbelievable to me.

[Fumblerooskies]

NBC/MSNBC has been in the tank for Obama since almost day one. They were slamming Hillary during the primaries more than FOX News. Yes...they can be called the slurp network.

[olldflame]

I used to really like Olberman in the pioneer ESPN days. I remember when he was the lead man making the move to "The Deuce", and they made a big deal about the anchors there not wearing ties.

I actually watch MSNBC a lot, but I have to turn the channel after about 2 minutes of Olberman. He is the tank so deep, he would get the bends if he came up for air too fast. Not just bias, but vitriolic bias. I think the military term is "with extreme prejudice"

[ALUmnus]

It's funny that neither matthews nor olbermann had much of any response to the Palin speech last night. Matthews said he was surprised because she wasn't what he expected, which was for her to be like Hillary. Huh?? They're really not used to defending themselves.

[Purple Haize]

I purposefully went to MSNBC after the speech last nite to see their reaction. I knew what I heard and how amazing it was so I wnted to hear what the "other" side had to say. Andrea Mitchell looked like her goldfish drowned and couldn't ask a coherent question of Rudy. Matthews did a good job, or the best he could trying to handle his panel, but Pat Buchannon, was sort of rubbing it in and it was great to see him squirm. Olberman "That was a great speech, if you are into that sort of thing"
What was sad was seeing Brian WIlliams and Tom Brokaw. They looked ticked to be playing second fiddle to KO in the studio. They sort of had a little bit of an attitude towards him which was cool. While they did hit their spin points, you could tell they did not appreciate not being the center of attention. And you do have to wonder: If you have a Brokaw and a WIlliams in your stable why hand it over to KO?? Hmmmm, maybe Jon Gibson is on to something

[01LUGrad]

Did any one else see Andrea Mitchell get burried by baloons last night after McCain's speech? Pretty funny stuff.

[whmatthews]

The only thing worth-while on that network is Glenn Beck.

[Purple Haize]

He is on CNNHLN

[givemethemic]

Glenn Beck sucks!!!!

[Rooster Cogburn]

Glenn Beck sucks!!!!

You are HIGH! (Wacky weed Alert)

[LUconn]

Keith. You're a great american. I wonder if he could name his "friends" that he lost.

[whmatthews]

He is on CNNHLN

That means there is absolutely nothing worth-while on MSNBC then. I stand corrected.

[whmatthews]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/busin ... ref=slogin

September 8, 2008
MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat
By BRIAN STELTER
MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election.

That experiment appears to be over.

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.

“The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what’s supposed to be straight news programming,” said Davidson Goldin, formerly the editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin.

Executives at the channel’s parent company, NBC Universal, had high hopes for MSNBC’s coverage of the political conventions. Instead, the coverage frequently descended into on-air squabbles between the anchors, embarrassing some workers at NBC’s news division, and quite possibly alienating viewers. Although MSNBC nearly doubled its total audience compared with the 2004 conventions, its competitive position did not improve, as it remained in last place among the broadcast and cable news networks. In prime time, the channel averaged 2.2 million viewers during the Democratic convention and 1.7 million viewers during the Republican convention.

Mr. Olbermann, a 49-year-old former sportscaster, has become the face of the more aggressive MSNBC, and the lightning rod for much of the criticism. His program “Countdown,” now a liberal institution, was created by Mr. Olbermann in 2003 but it found its voice in his gnawing dissent regarding the Bush administration, often in the form of “special comment” segments.

As Mr. Olbermann raised his voice, his ratings rose as well, and he now reaches more than one million viewers a night, a higher television rating than any other show in the troubled 12-year history of the network. As a result, his identity largely defines MSNBC. “They have banked the entirety of the network on Keith Olbermann,” one employee said.

In January, Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews, the host of “Hardball,” began co-anchoring primary night coverage, drawing an audience that enjoyed the pair’s “SportsCenter”-style show. While some critics argued that the assignment was akin to having the Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly anchor on election night — something that has never happened — MSNBC insisted that Mr. Olbermann knew the difference between news and commentary.

But in the past two weeks, that line has been blurred. On the final night of the Republican convention, after MSNBC televised the party’s video “tribute to the victims of 9/11,” including graphic footage of the World Trade Center attacks, Mr. Olbermann abruptly took off his journalistic hat.

“I’m sorry, it’s necessary to say this,” he began. After saying that the video had exploited the memories of the dead, he directly apologized to viewers who were offended. Then, sounding like a network executive, he said it was “probably not appropriate to be shown.”

In an interview on Sunday, Mr. Olbermann said that moment — and the perception that he is “not utterly neutral” — restarted months-old conversations about his role on political nights.

“I found it ironic and instructive that I could have easily said exactly what I did say, exactly when I did say it, if I had been wearing a different hat, and nobody would have taken any issue,” he said.

The following night, Mr. Olbermann and his co-anchor for convention coverage, Mr. Matthews, had their own squabble after Mr. Olbermann observed that Mr. Matthews had talked too long.

Some staff members said the tension led to the network’s decision to keep Mr. Olbermann in New York for the Republican convention, after he ran the desk in Denver during the Democratic convention. MSNBC said that he stayed in New York to anchor coverage of Hurricane Gustav. But some workers say there were other reasons — namely, that Mr. Olbermann was concerned about his safety in St. Paul, given the loud crowds at MSNBC’s set in Denver.

NBC Universal executives are also known to be concerned about the perception that MSNBC’s partisan tilt in prime time is bleeding into the rest of the programming day. On a recent Friday afternoon, a graphic labeled “Breaking News” asked: “How many houses does Palin add to the Republican ticket?” Mr. Griffin called the graphic “an embarrassment.”

[mrmacphisto]

I miss Tim Russert.

[01LUGrad]

I miss Tim Russert.

I second that.

[Ed Dantes]

Bumped thread... so i can post this pic:

Geography fail.

[TDDance234]

Wow.

[ALUmnus]

Does anyone else see the slight resemblence of West Virginia to Afghanistan?

[GoUNCA]

MSNBC and FOX news are both ridiculous. The idea of a 24 hr news network, while a cool one at first, sucks. Trying to fill 24 hrs with programming is inevitably going to give you crap like Olbermann, Beck, Matthews, O'Reilly and the list seemingly goes on forever.

But, the real sad part is how most of the public seem to lack the mental editing equipment to go through the news and say "this is valid" and "this is not" and instead find comfort in aligning themselves with (and feel they need to defend for some reason) some TV personality.

[kel varson]

I've really enjoyed Morning Joe on MSNBC lately. They had as a guest today, Ed Schultz, who has a new show on MSNBC. Wow, I hadn't seen much of Schultz show, but that guy is way loonier than even Olbermann and Madow.

He stated at least three times for the record that he believed Dick Cheney wanted a terrorist attack on American soil just for political reasons. He said some other crazy stuff too like its "a good idea to raise taxes in a depression/recesssion." Mika, Joe and Barnicle (sp) were just kinda dumbstruck.

[01LUGrad]

Looks like ABC is feeling the need to compete with BSnbc for the title of "Most in the Tank for Obama."

From the Drudge Report:

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

Yikes.

[El Scorcho]

Does anyone else see the slight resemblence of West Virginia to Afghanistan?

Are you talking about all of the mountains or the people living in caves?