Keith Olbermann and MSNBC part ways

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

This story is a bit old, but I wanted to put my two cents in. Based on what I've read, the departure was mutual. Comcast just acquired MSNBC and NBC, and they would not tolerate Keith's obnoxious personality towards management. NBC was also inclined to start meddling with his show's presentation and content. They wanted to tone it down and Keith didn't want to. So they both decided it was in their best interests if Keith got out of there.

I was not much of a fan of Keith. I watched his show for a few months, but then bailed on him after he said Obama had no balls. I also thought he was being a dumbass with his basic opposition to the health care reform (it didn't go far enough for him).

They say Keith will end up on television somewhere else, but his departing agreement with MSNBC will delay that for some unspecified amount of time.

I also want to mention that one of the people to benefit from Keith's departure is Cent Uiyghur (sp?). He is the host of the show "the Young Turks." Cent is a decent guy in most respects, but I cannot abide the name of his show. The Young Turks were in charge of the Armenian Genocide, which killed several hundred thousand people. I doubt Cent chose the name because of that, but he chose it because he is Young, a Turk, and the Turk were domestic reformers who were trying to affect major change before Turkey was destroyed by Europeans. Regardless, the name bothers me. I'm gonna keep on not watching MSNBC in general.

[jazzmo413]

Yes, it was a mutual parting of the ways. Keith, it seems is rather hard to get along with from some things i've read. He was let go from ESPN because he took a stance on a political issue. Can't remember right now the content. He will show up again, but like you said, it won't be for awhile. I like Cent, but he needs some time and grooming. Still stumbles quite a bit when he speaks, but i think he may make it. Don't quit watching MSNBC. Must watch all outlets so as to be informed what is being said. I want to barf watching FOX, but i do watch so i will know what is happening so i can have all points of view.

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

People and organizations who do things that are immoral need to be boycotted and I always boycott people who behave that way, like MSNBC. If everyone did their part boycotting such people, then they would change. As such I will do my own individual boycott of MSNBC. I suspect Cenk will be around for decades, thus I won't be watching the network for decades.

I don't need to know what Matthews, Cenk, Maddow, Shultz and O'Donnell are saying. I already know enough about them and they're shows to know what they'll say. I've also watched O'Reilly and Hannity, and I know how they are. There are better ways to keep abreast of what people are saying in the media than actually watching their shows. There are a couple blogs that discuss news in the media. The NYT has one, CNN runs another good show called Reliable Sources on Sundays that sums up the news in the media every week, and there's a few other sources as well.

[jazzmo413]

You are so right. I may take your advice and get my information somewhere else, because like you i also know those you mentioned and know what they will doing and saying, so why put myself through the anxiety they cause me. I will look for other sources. Any suggestions?

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

You are so right. I may take your advice and get my information somewhere else, because like you i also know those you mentioned and know what they will doing and saying, so why put myself through the anxiety they cause me. I will look for other sources. Any suggestions?

As for political content: I check several sources every day:

I watch CNN every day. Wolf Blitzer at 5PM and 6PM are decent. John King USA actually comes the closest to MSNBC's tendency for obsessive political coverage. The first half of Anderson Cooper 360 is usually politics.

Other than that, there's a lot of good stuff on the web. My homepage is Google News, which is a great news aggregator. The next stop after that is politicalwire.com. That's a really great website. It's got a liberal bias in terms of content, but not so much in terms of reporting. Although I have some objections with Politico.com, I find that for a guy who loves politics, I really enjoy their content, so that's the next stop. After that, I'm mostly full, but if I've got some political appetite left for the rest of the day, I check out the political editorials on the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sectionfronts/politics/index.html

I also find it good every now and then to check out the National Journal, there is really awesome content there and it's really objective. That's the heavy demographic, poll-based kind of analysis. CQ Roll Call is the final stop if I'm still looking for political content.

As for media analysis, you'll definitely notice the media section on Politico.com. There's also Mediaite.com. There's a few things that bother me about those two, but I won't trouble you with that. There's a less fun and sporty site I check out for media information: http://www.poynter.org/category/latest-news/romenesko/

As for those talking heads, my personal opinion on each of them is this:

Beck: such an immoral dishonest, harmful person to millions of people I will not watch his show as that would support him (perhaps financially)

O'Reilly: basically a liar. He calls himself a "populist", which I think is an admission that he will say whatever is necessary to persuade "the folks" to join conservatism. I read his book Who's Looking Out for You. It's partisan bullshit. I also heard him on the radio and he misrepresented something Obama said. He's just going to keep portraying Democrats as hippie queer terrorist-loving white people Christian haters who want an abortion right now on your kitchen table. I don't need to see that a million times over.

Hannity: An absolute liar. Total liar. Will accuse Democrat of being either in Al Qaeda, the New Black Panther Party, NAMBLA, or all three.

Scarborough: He's OK, but I don't consider him honest. He stood up against Beck, but I found it disingenuous his criticism during the 2008 campaign of attacks on Hillary as sexist, yet he saw nothing wrong with the racist attacks on Obama. I also tire of his degrading his female co-host as a stupid liberal blonde.

Schultz: Tired of his stupidity, like when he threatened to start supporting the Greens instead of the Democrats. He lost his credibility totally when he complained: "I'm gonna torch this place!" (NBC) because they would not let him sit at the table with the big boys during some major political event.

Matthews: The show is well-produced but poorly moderated by Matthews. I think the produces of Hardball are the best in all of cable news. They regularly bring on the best pundits in the business. That's what you really watch Hardball for is to hear people like Ron Brownstein and Chuck Todd break it down. Matthews is a horrible interviewer and moderator.

O'Donnell: I respect O'Donnell. The few times I watched his show, I liked it. I respect O'Donnell on a personal level, as he was part of the liberal pragmatist faction who supported the health reform law, and he has had experience on the staff in the Senate. He is knowledgeable of all the arcane rules of the Senate which were instrumental to the passage of the health care law.

Maddow: She's OK. A bit long-winded and predictably biased towards gay activism. I wonder if it could be said that her show is vacuous and lacks content. I found her obsessive coverage of things like "the C-Street House" to be fairly biased and desperate.

NPR is a great source for news when you're in your car. I also think that Brooks and Shields (which comes on every Friday at around 7:40 PM on PBS) is well-worth watching. It also gets put on YouTube and PBS the next day. Lastly, I think the political round table segment of This Week with Christianne Amanpour is well-worth watching. That comes on Sunday mornings and they may have the video available on the internet the following day.

[jazzmo413]

well, you covered that for me, and i thank you for your information and your opinions. I agree with your analysis of all above. From the list i do watch Chris Mattews for the content and guests as you mentioned. He is rather annoying. I still tune into Schultz. Followed him for awhile now, and was getting irritated, but i've stuck by so far. On the fence with that one.