So MSNBC going back to more "traditional" election coverage? Looks like that David Gregory ascendancy everyone predicted back before the Rachel Maddow ascendancy is finally happening! All because Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams are embarrassed by those loud shouty people and Jeff Zucker's in serious trouble with the rest of the Illuminati. Well it's a stupid, stupid idea, for many reasons. Reasons which we'll explain below.
It was unthinkable that MSNBC could come out of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions without a major, public shakeup of its political news team. The incessant fighting between the cable network's most opinionated anchors — Keith Olbermann, Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews — marred the chance to retain all those new young viewers Olbermann has attracted over the past year or two. But now that the other shoe has dropped, with the anchor team of Olbermann and Matthews being replaced by comparatively neutral White House correspondent David Gregory, it would be a mistake to think MSNBC has undergone some sort of deep existential crisis that will pull it back from the brink of becoming the Fox News Channel of the left. The network's ratings growth, driven by Olbermann, has been too good and too long coming, and the lefty anchor (according to the Times) is about to re-up his plush contract, which in any case has three of four yeas left on it. And MSNBC will have done plenty if it simply gets its big-name blowhards acting at a high school level of maturity rather than yelling at one another like a bunch of kindergartners. Network executives appear to appreciate this! From the Times:
Following accusations that the network had veered too far to the left and after months of internal tension, MSNBC has decided to drop Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann from anchoring coverage of the election. David Gregory of NBC News will anchor the debates and election night coverage instead. [NYT]
Elitist New York media obsessives keep alerting us to the guy who cheered John McCain tonight at the Republican convention with a sign reading "THE Mavrick [sic]." So here's the money shot, liberals! This image was, of course, captured by the Bolshevik intelligentsia at MSNBC, probably through a camera personally operated by Rachel Maddow, since Keith Olbermann was in New York. Cut this patriot a break, linguistic totalitarians. He's probably a farmer or factory worker who could barely afford that finely tailored suit or the donations necessary to score good convention seats, much less a fancy college education. Besides, John McCain was tortured in Vietnam, so you can shut up and apologize for laughing at this now The End.
The attempt by the McCain campaign to deflect criticism of their insane choice of running mate by assailing the media is already ridiculous. Steve Schmidt whined to Howard Kurtz about hypothetical questions asked by journalists that have not resulted in stories printed anywhere. They boycotted Larry King because Campbell Brown dared ask mean questions of Tucker Bounds. Now their surrogates are grasping at the most sublimely ridiculous straw of all: when asked by Chris Matthews to name the major media outlets engaged in character assassination of Sarah Palin, adorable Florida Congressman Adam Putnam named Us Weekly. Us Weekly! Yes we did just reveal their radical secret agenda today but still, this is the best you can do? Chris Matthews then calls it "the U. S. Weekly." Now the McCain campaign will boycott magazines, probably.
Lovable MSNBC blowhard Keith Olbermann was reportedly not thrilled about attending the Republican National Convention. Last week, Page Six claimed Keith wanted "a more secure location" before attending the proceedings, because, they giggled, he's afraid someone will assassinate him. Ha ha ha what a baby! When the RNC started, Keith was in New York still, covering Gustav, their main story all day Monday. That made sense. But Gustav passed and today it was made official: Keith won't be making it to St. Paul for any RNC coverage. Which, lucky him. Because we think what was meant by "a more secure location" was actually "a fucking indoor studio like Fox and CNN got." Because Denver coverage was marred not just by infighting and bitchery but also by idiot 9/11 truthers drowning out the hosts with bullhorns. Uninterrupted! For like an hour straight! It was embarrassing (and also hilarious). Honestly we would not put up with that shit again if we had Keith's authority at the station. Anyway. Keith Olbermann: coward! [The Cable Game]
Finally, it's come to this: McCain is pulling out of an interview with professional softballer Larry King, because King's CNN peer Campbell Brown accidentally asked McCain proxy Tucker Bounds some tough questions about Sarah Palin's readiness to be commander in chief. (As we said before! The media forgives everything besides violating your own narrative!) This will teach Larry to keep everyone else at the network in line! Here are some of the many many lies John McCain's increasingly whiny campaign is accusing the liberal media of spreading: First of all, every single word of today's Elisabeth Bumiller story on Sarah Palin. All of it is FICTION, they say! Like that thing about how she was a member of that secessionist party because she attended their conference and her husband was a member of their party until be became an "independent" in the '90s? That is false because Palin has been a registered Republican since 1984. More:
Well, duh to this: MSNBC wants to give their beloved new anchorlady and coiner of the term "post-rational" Rachel Maddow a makeover. (Click through to see Gawker's Steven Dressler imagine the results.) Who doesn't want to give Rachel Maddow a makeover? Rachel Maddow is Every Girl's Best Friend Said Girl Would Love Just .01% More If Said Friend Would Layer Her Hair And Buy A Lipstick Already. I am that friend to a lot of people! Plus there is a storied tradition of anchorwomen celebrating their new jobs with makeovers. Greta Van Susteren got an eye job when she went to Fox, and I heard once that former Wall Street Journal reporter Becky Quick got carded at R-rated movies before she started appearing on CNBC every day in 2000. Oh, but she is a dyke icon you are telling me?So what, she has to be the female Cojo or something? Last I checked dyke icons were still allowed to have haircuts I coveted. And of course Page Six is all over MSNBC for allegedly putting its "glam squad" on Maddow. The hypocrites! But Rachel Maddow, an ex-landscaper a few years fresh from a long career in left-wing activism, has spent her whole entire life not using her irresistible sexuality and expertly applied smoky eye to advance the media ranks. Maybe she wouldn't mind a little glam squad in her life just this one time. Maybe it could be kind of fun. So Rach, and I say this as an avowed enemy of the insecurity industry: fuck the haters, as long as they are paying you to take the day off and enjoy a little microdermabrasion, seize the opportunity. It is good for the economy I hear.
"Keith Olbermann was pulled from [the Republican convention] to anchor MSNBC's storm coverage from New York, with his seat beside Chris Matthews filled by David Gregory. Capus said political considerations had nothing to do with that move; Olbermann has been sharply critical of the GOP." [AP via Crooks and Liars]
Denver's a sprawling city, so we can't decide whether MSNBC's elephant-and-donkey mascots rode Segways at the Democratic National Convention as a blogger-baiting publicity stunt or a practical transportation move. Can you think of a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best one will become the new headline. (Bonus points to those who avoid the obvious "asses of themselves" joke.) Yesterday's winner: Duncan, for "When I grow up, I want to become President." (Photo by Steve Rhodes)
It was a tricky rhetorical path before Barack Obama at the close of the Democratic National Convention Thursday and he walked it artfully. The official Democratic presidential nominee bashed John McCain hard, including rather boldly on McCain's core issue of Iraq, where the Republican opponent feels strong. The tens of thousands of hard-core Democrats at Invesco Field in Denver, all worked up into a frenzy, ate it up. Then there were The Bitters watching on their non-flat-screen TVs at home in swing states, who were reminded that McCain called them all "whiners" (so much worse than "bitter!"), that McCain wants to tax their benefits for healthcare, that Obama supports corporate welfare to teach GM how to make hybrids and that Obama's not going to coddle all these illegal Mexicans "undercutting" their wages. But the heart of the performance came toward the end.
It comes as no huge shock to hear that the on-air bickering that has characterized MSNBC's coverage of the Democratic convention has carried over into behind-the-scenes tension and backbiting. The reports poured in last night. Politico quoted a "high-ranking journalist" who said "the situation at our channel is about to blow up." Jossip reported that both staff and top brass believe network host Keith Olbermann is way out of bounds in bashing other anchors. And the Wall Street Journal quotes former MSNBC host Connie Chung thusly: "Grow up! They have to just grow up." Whose fault is all this? Probably MSNBC chief Phil Griffin, whose staff (judging from all the reports) have a hard a time trusting. Well, he is the fellow who keeps rather ridiculously insisting MSNBC isn't becoming the left-wing Fox News. But the Journal has found another guilty party: Tim Russert, who had to go and die:
The Observer checks in with rapidly rising MSNBC star Rachel Maddow, the academic AIDS activist who has improbably ended up with a television show following Keith Olbermann's. She's in Denver, hanging out, getting excited about Joe Biden. Basically everyone still loves her. Our video department put together this compilation of her being, you know, cool. And here are some fun facts about Rachel Maddow from the story!
Remember that guy who got his "Bring Back Crystal Pepsi" sign onto MSNBC while a political analyst was trying to talk about Michelle Obama's big speech or whatever? Well, we heard from his roommate this morning, and asked for some more information on the grassroots political campaign that's already threatening to eclipse both Ron Paul and Ralph Nader. What we got back was a manifesto that could easily be folded into the Democratic Party platform, and probably should, because honestly the convention is already so HARSH, what with all the talk of war and economic depression and sexism and so forth. Also, this Crystal Pepsi thing, along with (OK OK) the other street protests, is probably the closest the convention comes to actual political dialog. Escape the pageantry for the moment and think about important issues, after the jump.
MSNBC's team at the Democratic National Convention needs to get more sleep and maybe also one of those massages that Arianna Huffington is giving out. The cable network's anchors are sniping at one another tonight, just like they did last night. About 20 minutes ago, ahead of Hillary Clinton's speech, Chris Matthews was talking about how some women feel disenfranchised within the party. It's a touchy subject for Matthews, who has been accused of sexist commentary against Clinton, and he did not appreciate a producer telling him to wrap up his ramble. He also didn't appreciate his sometime rival Keith Olbermann making one of those "talking" gestures with his hand. He, uh, let him know that. There's more real-life political drama and intrigue among MSNBC anchors than at the convention at this point. Click the icon for the video. More MSNBC internal fighting in our earlier roundup of Cable Feuds.
