Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Page Six: Brokaw, Scarborough at odds with NBC over support for Obama

The New York Post's Page Six feature does not have a reputation for solid reporting, but its assessment of the internal warfare at NBC over cable channel MSNBCs undisguised support for Barack Obama's presidential candidacy appears to be right on the mark.

Page Six says Morning Joe anchor Joe Scarborough and former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw are not happy with cable channel MSNBC's political tilt:

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 (Olbermann) has gone too far. I think Chris (Matthews) 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."

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Olbermann's show, while amusing at times, is a particular problem for NBC's credibility since he launches free-wheeling attacks on Republicans on a regular basis and refuses to have anyone on the show who doesn't agree with his political philosophy. It's not likely to be changed anytime soon, though, since "Countdown" is MSNBC's highest rated show.

Scarborough's show, on the other hand, is an evenhanded program with guests from both parties, all of whom are treated with respect.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous12:11 AM

    I won't ever watch msnbc because of their extreme bias. I thought the news was supposed to be presented in a fair, almost clinically non-partisan style. Chris Matthews is a joke to journalism because he is so unabashedly in favor of Obama. I once thought Journalists had a higher calling, a duty to report facts to the public, to keep us apprised of what is going on in the world. Did all that power corrupt these msnbc journalists?

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