MSNBC has announced that it is removing Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann as anchors of its election coverage, but will be used as commentators. David Gregory, the network's White House correspondent, will now be leading the coverage.
NBC News, which runs the cable network, apparently decided the pairing of liberal-leaning Matthews and Olbermann made them an easy target for the media-hating Republicans, as demonstrated at their convention last week. Remember the derisive chanting? Andrea Mitchell getting snowed under by balloons? What in the name of Huntley and Brinkley is going on?
It's like, I don't know, CNN teaming Lou Dobbs with Jack Cafferty. Or Fox News Channel pairing Bill O'Reilly with Sean Hannity.
It's also possible that Matthews and Olbermann got demoted because they and others were acting like children during the Democratic convention in Denver. As a result, Olbermann was a no-show for the GOP shindig in Minnesota, anchoring out of his New York studio. Obviously, neither of them are being considered for the coveted Meet The Press hosting slot vacated by the late Tim Russert.
MSNBC had the lowest ratings of any of the networks carrying the conventions, and that includes the broadcasters (led by sister network NBC). CNN, which touts itself as "the best political team on TV' every 15 seconds, had the most viewers for the Democratic convention. Fox News, which claims to be "fair and balanced" (only conservatives tend to believe that), took the honors for the Republican get-together. Go figure.
MSNBC remade itself as "the place for politics" and for liberal commentary, with Matthews' Hardball, Olbermann's Countdown, and now Rachel Maddow's new TV show. Matthews is an acquired taste, best heard in small doses. Olbermann can be funny, but he needs to get over his fixation with "Billo, "Comedian" Rush Limbaugh, and the Rupert Murdoch news empire.
(A word about Maddow, who is reportedly the first openly gay person to host a news program. She's competing against herself in some markets--such as Minneapolis-- when her syndicated radio talk show is heard on tape delay in the evening.)
Despite its NBC News pedigree, MSNBC is not the place for reliable news coverage--one reason why they rank near the bottom of the ratings. It is, however, the place for documentaries too lurid to be shown on Dateline NBC. Unless it's a rerun of To Catch a Predator.
Throughout its history, MSNBC has been the most unfocused of all the cable news channels. Do they want to cover breaking news that NBC won't handle? Do they want to fill the air with outrageous personalities (such as Don Imus and Jesse Ventura) who say things they may have to apologize for later--if they aren't fired first? Or do they want to be the liberal version of Fox News Channel? And how long will it be before they try something else?
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1 comment:
There's a campaign to bring the two back here:
http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/bring-back-olbermann-and-matthews
It's intended to be more than a petition - it's meant to offer MSNBC incentive for bringing the two back.
Does MSNBC think they're going to lure more Republicans to the network. 9/10 Fox viewers identify with the Republican Party/claim to be voting for McCain. Perhaps MSNBC would do better by reaching out to those who feel as though they are under-represented by cable news/talking heads.
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