MSNBC Tensions Erupt!

[TrueFaith77]

I'm staying out of the political conversations, but I AM a political junky of sorts and my cable news station of choice is MSNBC (for reasons to complicated to get into). SO ANYWAY... last night I saw Keith O and Joe Scarborough go at it at the convention when Keith O made a reference to the sh*t that Joe was shoveling. Joe's come back was pretty excellent and it ended with Chris Matthews saying somethign like: "Are you done?" and Joe said: "Well, should I get another shovel?" Awesome TV.

Then, this morning Joe was in a TERRIBLE mood (obviously because of the altercation with Keith O, all of which occurs on the heels of Rindell's comments at the dinner for network anchors). So Joe and Dave Schuster get into a BIG blow up over timetables in Iraq.

Click Here for details:

http://media.newsbusters.org/stories/scarborough-mocks-shuster-msnbc-for-no-bias-claims.html

[gldstwmn]

I didn't see the Joe/Keith smack down but the Shuster one is over and youtube. It's entertaining.
Also, I thought MSNBC did better with last night's coverage than CNN. I heard Caroline Kennedy gave Wolf Blitzer what for. I'm going to see if I can find that clip now.

[TrueFaith77]

MSNBC has been my cable news station of choice for the two-year election season, so I thought I'd post the latest updates in case anyone else round the Ledge watches it too. Pretty juicy. :lol:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08272008/gossip/pagesix/brawling_anchors_on_msnbc_126236.htm

August 27, 2008 --

ANIMOSITY among MSNBC anchors has reached a mile-high peak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, with on-air squabbling between such big egos as Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Shuster.

Scarborough, who served in Congress as a Republican representative from Florida, seems to be particularly touchy being the only host who isn't openly pro-Democratic.

Yesterday, after Shuster referred to "your party, the Republican Party," Scarborough went off, sparking a seven-minute exchange.

"I will let you know that 'my party,' my party loathes me much more than your party, the Democratic Party, loathes me," Scarborough seethed. "What about your party? What's your party, David Shuster? David, what's your party?"

"I have no party. I'm a complete independent," Shuster replied.

"Oh, I feel so comforted by the fact that you're independent. I bet everyone at MSNBC has 'independent' on their voting cards," said Scarborough.

Scarborough declined to talk to Page Six, but sources say he and NBC anchor Tom Brokaw disagree with MSNBC's decision to position itself as the channel for George W. Bush-haters.

At a forum on Sunday, when Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called MSNBC "the official network of the Obama campaign," Brokaw said, "I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far."

Insiders say Olbermann is pushing to have Brokaw banned from the network and is also refusing to have centrist Time magazine columnist Mike Murphy on his show.

"The idea of anyone trying to ban Tom Brokaw is ludicrous," said one MSNBC-er. Brokaw was on MSNBC for an hour yesterday afternoon. Murphy, who was bumped from Olbermann's show on Monday night, told us, "They told me technical problems and I have no reason not to believe them."


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12900.html

DENVER — Amid a spate of awkward on-air conflicts among MNSBC anchors at this week’s Democratic convention, some staff members say there are sharp internal disputes at the cable network over whether its opinion and personality-driven political coverage has crossed the line.

“The situation at our channel is about to blow up,” a high-ranking MSNBC journalist told Politico on Wednesday.

Two other MSNBC sources said some of the testy on-air exchanges between Keith Olbermann — whose quick-witted and often caustic commentary has fueled ratings growth — and other network personalities were a public glimpse of much more intense behind-the-scenes turmoil.

As replays of the conflicts became YouTube hits, MSNBC President Phil Griffin gave his first public defense in a Politico interview.

“MSNBC does not have an ideology,” Griffin said. “We hire smart people who are passionate about their love of politics and love of news.”

“Do I want them to have squabbles?” Griffin asked. “No. But I understand they’re human.”

In addition to Olbermann, MSNBC personalities Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough and David Shuster were involved in Denver controversies.

On Monday evening, Olbermann interrupted Scarborough while he was talking about McCain being competitive in the polls. “Jesus, Joe, why don’t you get a shovel?” Olbermann remarked.

On “Morning Joe” the following day, a clearly agitated Scarborough went off on Shuster during a discussion of Iraq, which quickly devolved over several cringe-worthy minutes into personal attacks, such as Scarborough telling the world how his colleague missed the show three times by oversleeping. "Are you Rip Van Shuster?” Scarborough asked. “Have you been sleeping for the past couple of months?”

But Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, became enraged when Shuster made a reference to “your party.” Asked by Scarborough what his party was, Shuster said he was an “independent.”

"I feel so comforted by the fact that you're an independent,” Scarborough said, in a mocking tone. “I bet everybody at MSNBC has independent on their voting cards. Oh, we're down the middle now.” (Shuster left the set, but returned later to hug it out, "Entourage"-style.)

That night, Scarborough told NPR that he “get[s] frustrated by people who have an obvious partisan bias that don't proclaim that bias.”

The old debate over election coverage bias was given new life on Sunday, when Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell — who’d remarked during the primaries that Fox News was the “most objective” network — told a panel of Sunday show anchors, including NBC’s Tom Brokaw, that “MSNBC was the official network of the Obama campaign."

“I’ve got to laugh a little bit,” Griffin said, over the notion that MSNBC has an agenda, while Rendell is “the voice of reason.”

“Ed Rendell, bless his soul, has an agenda,” Griffin said. “Period.”

Even with Obama as the presumptive nominee, it was MSNBC vs. the Clinton team again, a battle that played out throughout the primaries.

During Tuesday night’s broadcast, both Olbermann and Matthews took shots at Howard Wolfson, the Clinton campaign’s former communications director, criticizing him as a Republican collaborator because of his work as a Fox News analyst.

Matthews called Wolfson a "little toy soldier waiting on the shelf," while Olbermann compared him to “Tokyo Rose,” the woman who delivered propaganda over the airwaves during World War II.

“I think these antics have seriously damaged NBC's brand,” wrote Wolfson in an e-mail to Politico.
On Wednesday, Wolfson criticized MSNBC on the air, too.

"I'm not gonna take any lectures on how to be a good Democrat from two people who spent the last two years relentlessly attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton every day," Wolfson said Wednesday on Fox News.

Also on Wednesday, the New York Post reported that Olbermann was an obstacle in allowing McCain adviser-turned-NBC political analyst Mike Murphy to get on the air during the convention. Murphy was bumped from Monday’s convention coverage due to “technical difficulties,” the Post reported. He also didn’t appear on Tuesday.

“I’m told I’ll be on the air tonight,” Murphy said, when reached by phone Wednesday.

And so will Olbermann and Matthews, anchoring on a big night when Bill Clinton hits the stage. But last night the two volatile hosts bickered, with Matthews jumping into the frame as Olbermann introduced House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

"You made that sound, Keith,” Matthews said, raising his voice. “I can do the same to you. That's what I thought, and I said it."

Some sources who have worked with Olbermann at MSNBC describe him as a difficult colleague, and one source said that there are tensions with Matthews.

Regardless, Griffin said he has faith in his convention anchors — including Olbermann, a scourge of the right — for both the final days in Denver and next week in St. Paul, Minn.

“Look, when Keith anchors, he plays it straight down the line,” Griffin said. “This is our team. They’ve served us well. We love ’em, and we’re going to be at the Republican convention, and it’s going to be great. And I don’t have any hesitation.”

[vermicious knid]

Bunch of assholes. Especially Keith Olbermann. He is such a smarmy blowhard. His producer has said that it doesn't matter if viewers were turned off by him this year because they have nowhere else to go. That was a silly statement.

[TrueFaith77]

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121989105850778775.html?mod=blog

Hot bits:

In an uncomfortable moment Tuesday night, an exhausted-looking "Hardball" host Chris Matthews shouted at a producer ("I'll wrap in a second!") before a stilted exchange with "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann, in which the two argued about who was talking out of turn. Mr. Olbermann made a flapping-lips hand gesture, and Mr. Matthews took umbrage. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sat quietly on-screen, waiting to be interviewed.

And:

The sudden death this summer of NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert, who made frequent appearances on MSNBC, removed a political and temperamental rudder for the network. Mr. Griffin has tried to fill the power vacuum since, struggling to shepherd the network's big personalities through a period of transition.

[ajmccarrell]

I can't this network! There really isn't a decent cable news network anymore. MSNBC is so over the top biased that it's unwatchable. Fox News is becoming E! or Hollywood Extra because they cover celebrity news at least half the time. Van Susteren doesn't focus much on politics, O'Reilly trips over himself to remain neutral politically that it's painful to watch, Hannity just plain isn't substantive and Colmes is just playing Democrat, much like someone might play house. I find myself actually watching CNN lately! Shudder......

[David]

Van Susteren doesn't focus much on politicsShe appears to have a fetish for missing person stories or wrecked celebrity stories -- & a double fetish for wrecked celebrities gone missing. She doggedly covers -- night after night, sometimes for weeks or even months on end -- these woeful tales, exploring every possible wrinkle in the scoop, until you feel that even the victims are going to cry, "Enough already!"