Donohue and Olbermann: No Dissent - No Democracy?

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I don't really even like Keith Olbermann that much. His winky, noddy style of commentary kinda gets on my nerves, to be honest. I sometimes think he's trying too hard to be some kind of Jon Stewart clone, or something. But the guy is the only one saying certain things that need to be said.

I don't know how many of you A2K'ers watch Olbermann. I just read a piece from The Nation by Jeff Cohen that postulates that Olbermann might be on thin ice at MSNBC. That concerns me, and my reason for concern has to do with Phil Donohue. I didn't know it at the time, but when Donohue's show was canceled, it was the highest rated show on MSNBC! That was shocking to me, because I'd always assumed that ratings ruled, in the corporate TV realm.

So why, any reasonable person would ask, would Donohue be cancelled. According to Cohen (who also has worked for MSNBC), memos were circulated that mandated a sort of bizarre "balance" at the time. Bush's popularity was still riding high at the time, and the memos said that there had to be two pro-administration guests for every one anti. There was one memo in particular that specifically stated that if Michael Moore was on, there had to be three pro-Bush guest for "ideological balance", or some such. And then what did the "suits" choose to do? Wrap themselves in the flag, like their competitor -Fox News - and Donohue was fired, ostensibly because he insisted of airing anti-war sentiment and guests. That's scary, to me.

Olbermann's situation is different in a couple of important ways, maybe the greatest of which is that Bush's popularity ain't what it used to be. So Olbermann's recent foray into giving blisteringly partisan commentary might not seem as scary to the suits as was Donohue's.

But I would pay attention to what happens to Olbermann at MSNBC right now - if he is fired (and by the way, his ratings have started to rival King O'Reilly's lately), that would say something that should be unsettling to anyone who cares about retaining the true right of dissent.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1003-36.htm

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Here are some links to other discussions about what happened with Donohue...
I pasted a part I thought was real telling, from an interview with Amy Goodman:

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PHIL DONAHUE: Oh, yes, I do. I can't get over how -- I actually took for granted the opportunity to do programs like that. That was very exciting to punch the biggest - you know, to kick those kind of tires, to pop off about -- against powerful institutions and people was very, very exciting. And it's really -- it's certainly noticeable, the absence of that today.

AMY GOODMAN: Has the media regressed?

PHIL DONAHUE: Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about it. I think we are all -- everybody is under pressure to shut up and sing. And dissent is a vehicle of entertainment, really. I admire so much those progressive people who do get on Fox. By the way, progressives are more likely to be found on Fox than anywhere else, because they're inoculated against being -- against any suggestion that they're anti-American. The people in the middle are the ones who -- Michael Moore has never been on Meet the Press. Michael Moore has never been on Face the Nation. Imagine, this is -- he was considered Time magazine Man of the Year. I mean, it was in consideration. The documentary -- lines around the world - around theaters around the world, certainly the center of the 2004 presidential campaign, this documentary. He was invited on Larry King but then dis-invited when the White House refused to send a balancing act. So, the White House, by refusing to send a balancer, was able to control him. I am -- this is -- he was on George Stephanopoulos, ABC, but edited to a fairly well -- it was pre-taped and then edited. This is Karl Rove. You put Michael Moore on, you don't get Condi. You don't get access. You don't get Colin. These are the legitimizing heavyweights that grant gravitas to the Sunday morning programs. It's just - it's amazing. Follow the ball--

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/24/1446244

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0227-04.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/25/donahue.ap/index.html

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030324/nichols

I know this is kind of old news, but I'm really interested in what some of you have to say about Donohue's firing, and what that means in the context of the present administration, free speech, and Olbermann's prospects of holding a job at MSNBC.

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IMO, there are a lot of people on the left that are doing some wishful thinking and exhibiting paranoia.

Donahue pulled less than 500,000 viewers/show while he was on MSNBC. He WAS the highest rated show on MSNBC - for the last week he was on. It WASN'T the highest rated MSNBC show for the 5 months prior to that. Donahue got canned for the same reason Dennis Miller got canned from CNBC - no one was wtaching.

MSNBC's market share is paltry to begin with. Hardball is probbaly their top offering right now and Hardball's share of viewers is still pretty darn small.

Quote:

But I would pay attention to what happens to Olbermann at MSNBC right now - if he is fired (and by the way, his ratings have started to rival King O'Reilly's lately), that would say something that should be unsettling to anyone who cares about retaining the true right of dissent.

I don't know where you got this from. It simply isn't true. His ratings are nowhere near O'Reilly's.

On Feb 8, 2006 O'Reilly was pulling 2.5+ million viewers, Olberman was pulling just over 400K.
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/ratings_tons_of_monday_s_825.asp

As of yesterday Olberman is up to roughly 550K viewers while O'Reilly is now pulling 3.2 million. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/the_scoreboard_tuesday_october_3_45029.asp#more

Olbermen has consistantly come in 4th in the ratings for his timeslot for the 4 news networks.

The problem isn't Progressives or Liberals on TV. The problem is that the ones you reference are on MSNBC. The network sucks.

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Donohue and Olbermann: No Dissent - No Democracy?

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