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Title: Vicious Infighting at NBC News
Source:
The Daily Beast
URL Source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs- ... n-donations/?cid=hp:mainpromo4
Published: Nov 15, 2010
Author: Howard Kurtz
Post Date: 2010-11-15 14:00:19 by Badeye
Keywords: None
Views: 10589
Comments: 22
Vicious Infighting at NBC News by Howard Kurtz MSNBC’s president vowed to fire Keith Olbermann after he threatened to take his case to other networks. Howard Kurtz on the civil war that has NBC brass—and his own staff—fuming. Keith Olbermann was having dinner with his manager at an Upper East Side restaurant, chewing over their battle to lift his suspension at MSNBC, when Phil Griffin called. Michael Price stepped out of the Atlantic Grill to talk to MSNBC’s president, leaving his client with a platter of 18 oysters. It was Sunday, Nov. 7, and Price informed Griffin that if they couldn’t resolve their differences quickly, Olbermann would take his complaints public by accepting invitations from Good Morning America, David Letterman, and Larry King. “Why are you putting us in the position where you’re daring us to do this?” Price demanded, his voice rising. “If you go on GMA, I will fire Keith,” Griffin shot back. Such a move was clearly grounds for dismissal. The manager returned to the restaurant. He and Olbermann, who had been pushing hard to end the suspension the next day, discussed whether they would be burning bridges by carrying out the threat. Minutes later, their phones buzzed with emails from reporters, asking about a statement that NBC had just released. Olbermann, it said, would be allowed to return to his prime-time show on Tuesday—a day later than he had wanted. Price called Griffin again. “What compelled you to do that in that way?” he asked. “We are at war,” Griffin responded. If so, it was a war that had spread beyond the principal combatants to many of the journalists who work at NBC and MSNBC. From the moment Olbermann was found to have donated money to three Democratic candidates, there has been a deepening sense of anger and frustration among his colleagues, according to interviews with eight knowledgeable sources. These sources, who declined to be quoted by name because of the sensitivity of the situation, say that several of NBC’s front-line stars, including Tom Brokaw, have expressed concern to management that Olbermann has badly damaged MSNBC’s reputation for independence. (NBC and MSNBC executives declined to comment, and Olbermann declined to be interviewed.) Network staffers use phrases like “scorched-earth policy” and “totally narcissistic response” to describe how Olbermann has dealt with criticism of his political donations. A recurring theme is that he has made it impossible for MSNBC to argue that it is journalistically different from Fox News, which has no prohibition against political donations by such commentators and talk-show hosts as Sean Hannity and Karl Rove. The word hypocrisy has frequently been aimed at Olbermann. Network staffers use phrases like “scorched-earth policy” and “totally narcissistic response” to describe how Olbermann has dealt with criticism of his political donations. The Countdown host, for his part, feels misunderstood and unfairly singled out, yet buoyed by a wave of support from his liberal fans, who view him as a courageous champion for their cause. Olbermann almost single-handedly led MSNBC’s move to the left and helped the floundering network overtake CNN in the prime-time ratings, though both remain far behind Fox. The fault lines became clear the day after Labor Day, when Olbermann’s new management team—Ted Chervin and Nick Kahn of the Hollywood super-agency ICM, and Price—met in Jeff Zucker’s spacious, 52nd-floor office at 30 Rock. Zucker, the network’s chief executive, delivered a simple message: Olbermann had to play by the rules. There had been a number of incidents over the years that had created problems for MSNBC. Steve Capus, the NBC News president, strongly echoed this theme. Some of Olbermann’s behavior was bad for the company. Griffin, who had been friends with Olbermann since they first worked together at CNN three decades ago, pleaded for understanding. Olbermann had had a difficult year, a difficult few years, in fact. He was critical to the network’s success, Griffin said, but his personal problems were affecting his work and he looked angrier on the air. They wanted the Good Keith back, the clever, smart, ironic anchor. Their new client had to stop fighting management on every little thing. Even those who admired Olbermann’s broadcasting skills felt that his behavior, such as making his staff leave notes outside his door rather than speaking to him, had gone too far. He was a royal pain, they said, and management had become exhausted trying to rein him in. Relations are so strained that Olbermann has not spoken directly with Capus or Griffin since the donations controversy erupted. While he is halfway through a four-year, $30 million contract, Olbermann has become, in the words of one staffer, “a man without a country. The crisis erupted without warning. On the evening of Nov. 4, when Politico was first working on the story of Olbermann’s donations, Griffin told Price that he hoped MSNBC wouldn’t have to suspend his client. Together with MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines, they went over an Olbermann statement confirming—and defending—the contributions, with Griffin suggesting several deletions. Early the next morning, Griffin sharpened his stance. He was hearing from everyone at the network. Zucker was irritated. Capus was quite upset. Brokaw had weighed in. This was now about NBC News. Griffin told Price he would have to take Olbermann off the air indefinitely. Olbermann’s team balked, insisting on a definite return date. “What do you want, three months?” Griffin asked, as if that were crazy. If they did this right, he said, maybe the punishment would last a week. There were more calls back and forth. Olbermann’s agents viewed the suspension as an insane overreaction. “You don’t understand the pressure I’m under here,” Griffin said. He needed a written apology from Olbermann in time for the announcement. That never happened. While Olbermann was on the phone with Price, the indefinite suspension was made public. The manager later told Griffin that Olbermann was very unhappy. You’ve known the guy for 30 years, and this is how you treat him? The sniping grew worse. Olbermann’s side asked why he was being penalized when Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman who hosted Morning Joe, had given $5,000 to a state candidate in Alabama the previous spring. Griffin checked and Scarborough provided the bank record showing that his wife had made the donation to a friend. In a flurry of weekend calls among Griffin, Price, and Kahn, the sticking point remained Olbermann’s statement of apology. There were even discussions about Olbermann’s plans for a Twitter message as his liberal base rallied to his side. The tweet said: “Greetings From Exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug." On Monday, Nov. 8, MSNBC still hadn’t approved the apology statement, but Olbermann’s team gave it to The New York Times and other outlets anyway. Olbermann said he was sorry for the “unnecessary drama” and “for having mistakenly violated an inconsistently applied rule” in making the $7,200 in donations. He offered a similar on-air apology at the end of Tuesday’s program. The lack of a bow toward his colleagues rubbed salt in some very raw wounds, with some executives saying that Olbermann was trying to tarnish NBC and others saying the commentator had made it all about him. 72; After the show, Olbermann called an hourlong staff meeting to try to clear the air. Some members of his own team confronted him, saying that his actions had hurt the network. There have been attempts to lower the temperature. Price apologized to Griffin for shouting during one call. And the network decided that Olbermann would be paid for the days that he was kept off the air. It is entirely possible that the anger will subside and the former sportscaster will reclaim his cleanup spot, as the leader of a liberal lineup. But NBC executives say that the cable channel is far better positioned to withstand an Olbermann departure than it might have been a year ago. Rachel Maddow has emerged as a genuine star, Ed Schultz is gaining momentum, Chris Matthews has been energized by the midterm campaign, and Lawrence O’Donnell has successfully launched a new show in the 10 p.m. hour previously reserved for Countdown reruns. What’s more, the incoming bosses at Comcast, which will soon close a deal to buy NBC from General Electric, are a more buttoned-down crowd, and people at the network expect less tolerance for Olbermann than Zucker has shown over the years. Olbermann quit MSNBC once before, in 1998, after openly criticizing his bosses. He is, today, a far bigger star. Management doesn’t want to turn him into a martyr, but no one will be shocked if he winds up leaving again. On one point, all sides seem to agree: With the notable exception of Maddow, his onetime protégée, Olbermann has no major allies left at 30 Rock. And that, given his history of crusading against authority, may be how he likes it. Howard Kurtz is The Daily Beast's Washington bureau chief. He also hosts CNN's weekly media program Reliable Sources, Sundays at 11 am ET. The longtime media reporter and columnist for The Washington Post, Kurtz is the author of five books
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#1. To: All (#0)
The man's ego is writing checks it can't cash.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
First Post Newsweek(WaPo;}DailyBeast Merge article.
Name the last jew fired. Period. 8D
Wouldn't know, I don't care what a person's religeous point of view is. Don't like those that think its 'important'. Always discover they are way to judgemental for my tastes.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Hey!! It's BE! Well Met!! Man, it's been a while. 8D And of course you wouldn't know. Because it's not in the interest of the MSM FOR you to know.
You don't. But the jews don't share your opinion. Which is goyim exist to service. Seen this anywhere on MSM? Napolitano Shrugs Off Complaints About TSA Policies By Jason Ditz | Anti-war.com | November 15, 2010 Faced with growing complaints about the intrusive “full body scanners” and the even more intrusive “enhanced pat down” procedures the TSA is demanding of Americans who want to fly, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano did what officials have been doing for a decade in the face of public complaints, shrugged them off. “We ask for cooperation, patience and a commitment to vigilance in the face of a determined enemy,” Napolitano said in a column in USA Today, adding that the obscene scans of passengers are “not visible to the public” and that the images can’t be transmitted, a blatant lie given that one of the few public details of the “classified” scanners says that they in fact are required to be able to transmit those images. … Full article Israeli media airs fraudulent arson allegations Footage contradicts arson allegations
Sorry, I'm not fixated on those that wear coffee filters as headgear on Saturdays.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
but you are a racist. thank you. 8D "Cantor’s mistake was not telling Prime Minister Netanyahu what everyone knows is true anyway, but telling the world what he said. This is the classic Washington definition of a gaffe (i.e., inadvertently speaking an inconvenient truth). In this case, the gaffe produced a firestorm. And this is where I consider the possibility that Cantor simply doesn’t understand what he’s doing. After all, he has been an AIPAC cutout since he first was elected to office. He’s been to more AIPAC meetings than he can probably count. And he should have figured out by now that the lobby is extremely careful, obsessively careful, to always emphasize loyalty to the United States while simultaneously endorsing Israeli policies that undermine our foreign policy objectives. AIPAC officials never, ever, say that when push comes to shove their loyalty is with Israel not the United States. In fact, the accusation that this is the case is the charge AIPAC hates most. But the soon-to-be Majority Leader came right out and said it: Israel, right or wrong.
Sorry, I'm not fixated on those that wear coffee filters as headgear on Saturdays. but you are a racist. thank you. 8D Riiiight. Minority Supplier of the Year in 96...but I'm a 'racist'... Off your meds again, huh?
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Riiiight. Minority Supplier of the Year in 96...but I'm a 'racist'... Off your meds again, huh? War for the jews continues. Let's see... you want to be groped or X-rayed. Make the call: The Associated PressFORT CAMPELL, Ky. — Eight Fort Campbell soldiers were killed over the weekend in two separate attacks in Afghanistan. Three soldiers were killed in Kandahar province on Saturday when a suicide bomber detonated a vest bomb in southern Afghanistan, the military said Tuesday. They were 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Juan L. Rivadeneira of Davie, Fla.; 20-year-old Cpl. Jacob R. Carver of Freeman, Mo.; and 20-year-old Spc. Jacob C. Carroll of Clemmons, N.C. They were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/11/16/1527951/military-3-fort-campbell-soldiers.html#ixzz15Vdc7TnJ
You really need to read more posts authored by others, so you can keep 'current'. Off your meds again, huh?
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
I missed this news item while I was out of town.
I missed this news item while I was out of town. Didn't matter. You could've been In Town reading your paper, watching your TV. Like this. You haven't heard that congress is going to override Obama's pocket veto of the 'banks own everything if they say so' notarization bill. Or the 'Small Farmers are illegal Food Bill. Two Thanksgiving Eve gifts to America. 8D
Dang!
Sorry, I'm not fixated on those that wear coffee filters as headgear on Saturdays. but you are a racist. thank you. 8D Wrong again, shithead.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Well that's new. Had to pull back to another bunker, eh? LMFAO Keep Comin. A dramatic fall in the velocity of money will greatly compound the collapse of the money supply due to the evaporation of credit. This is a dynamic that everyone needs to understand.
Ha ha!
'Bunker'? off the meds again, huh?
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Give the forum another opus, freddie...
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
google Bunker Mentality for details. And then Prozac Nation. You stay sober as they pull a TSA guy out for masturbating over your daughter's scan. That would make you a mental. ;} No idea. A Bunker Mentality. ;}
Fortunately for the world, Badeye didn't breed. That's another thing to be thankful for today.
Unfortunately in your case, people? did.
Even those who admired Olbermann’s broadcasting skills felt that his behavior, such as making his staff leave notes outside his door rather than speaking to him, had gone too far. He was a royal pain, they said, and management had become exhausted trying to rein him in.
#2. To: Badeye (#0)
#3. To: Badeye (#0)
#4. To: mcgowanjm (#3)
Name the last jew fired. Period. 8D
#5. To: Badeye (#4)
#6. To: Badeye (#4)
I don't care what a person's religeous point of view is.
#7. To: mcgowanjm (#6)
#8. To: Badeye (#7)
Sorry, I'm not fixated on those that wear coffee filters as headgear on Saturdays.
#9. To: mcgowanjm (#8)
#10. To: Badeye, All (#9)
Sorry, I'm not fixated on those that wear coffee filters as headgear on Saturdays. but you are a racist. thank you. 8D
#11. To: mcgowanjm (#10)
Let's see... you want to be groped or X-rayed.
#12. To: mcgowanjm (#8)
But the soon-to-be Majority Leader came right out and said it: Israel, right or wrong.
#13. To: Fred Mertz (#12)
But the soon-to-be Majority Leader came right out and said it: Israel, right or wrong.
#14. To: mcgowanjm (#13)
#15. To: mcgowanjm (#8)
#16. To: Badeye (#15)
Wrong again, shithead.
#17. To: mcgowanjm (#16)
Had to pull back to another bunker, eh?
#18. To: mcgowanjm (#16)
#19. To: Fred Mertz (#17)
#20. To: Badeye (#18)
Bunker'?
#21. To: mcgowanjm (#20)
You stay sober as they pull a TSA guy out for masturbating over your daughter's scan.
#22. To: Skip Intro (#21)
Fortunately for the world, Badeye didn't breed.
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