Lots of people seem to equate all network and cable news and opinion outlets as purveyors of spin. MSNBC and Fox News are often viewed as equally biased on the far ends of the political spectrum and people I speak with seem to believe “they are all the same”. I disagree, Rachel Maddow had it right this week in asserting that the fact of the MSNBC suspension of Olbermann for three small, perfectly legal, political contributions to Democratic candidates illustrates an important difference.
The MSNBC policy is apparently that all such political contributions need to be approved in advance by management, and the network asserts that what they want to achieve is transparency. Olbermann made three $2400 donations, to Democratic Reps. Raul M. Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, and Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky, and apparently didn’t ask for approval up front. (Grijalva and Giffords narrowly defeated their Republican opponents; Conway lost to Rand Paul.)
It will be interesting to see what Keith says upon his return. My guess is that he will do the honorable thing and apologize for not following the rules. The contrast between MSNBC and Fox News on this question is instructive. MSNBC wants to insure that there is not even the appearance of a conflict of interest, and wants transparency. Even for three $2400 contributions. Meanwhile at Fox News, there is a long history of Fox on-air personalities actively endorsing right wing candidates and causes, and the parent of Fox News gives millions of dollars to the the Republican Party and other right wing organizations. And as Rachel Maddow pointed out:
“There are multiple people being paid by Fox News to essentially run for office as Republican candidates. If you count not just their hosts but their contributors, you’re looking at a significant portion of the entire Republican lineup of potential contenders for 2012. They can do that because there’s no rule against that at Fox. Their network is run as a political operation. Ours isn’t. Yeah, Keith’s a liberal, and so am I. But we’re not a political operation — Fox is. We’re a news operation. The rules around here are part of how you know that.”
I’m looking forward to Keith’s return to his anchor role at Countdown on MSNBC.
