During this election cycle, there have been many casualties on the left side of the aisle. The Democrats lost many seats in the House. And, as if to compound their misery, they have now temporarily lost their favorite liberal soothsayer.
Keith Olbermann, the host of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, has been suspended indefinitely by MSNBC in light of contributions he made to the campaigns of three Democratic candidates this past election cycle. This is in accordance with an NBC policy that prohibits its news employees from making contributions to political campaigns without first getting permission from NBC management.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough made a political donation in 2006, but he asked permission to do so first. When Olbermann made his contributions on Oct. 28, he did not ask for permission.
This policy seems totally unconstitutional. A news organization should not be able to prohibit political donations made by its hosts. While the point of this policy is to try to keep journalists as objective as possible, let’s not kid ourselves. MSNBC is not objective, and it is ridiculous to hold MSNBC hosts to the same standards as their supposedly objective colleagues at NBC.
And even the so-called objective hosts at NBC are going to favor one side over the other. It is absurd to assume that a host’s objectivity should carry over into his or her private life.
Donations to political campaigns should be a private matter in the workplace unless the person wishes to voice their opinion. It’s not as if when news reporters enter voting booths, they split their votes 50-50 between each party to be objective. Or that they are going to limit themselves to saying one good thing and one bad thing about each candidate when they get into heated discussions at cocktail parties, or wherever it is that cable news hosts go to mingle.
If anything, MSNBC should be applauding Olbermann for putting his money where his mouth is.
“I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone to donate to these campaigns nor to any other in this election or any previous ones, nor have I previously donated to any political campaigns at any level,” said Olbermann about the scandal.
This statement is very disappointing, and it is highly probable that this is completely non-factual. Olbemann is a political animal, and it is absurd to assume that he has never at least insinuated that one of his friends should donate to a specific campaign.
Furthermore, isn’t this what his show was all about this last election cycle? He may not have flat-out told his viewers to donate money to a particular campaign, but anyone who watches his show and agrees with him, and has money to donate, would feel right to donate to candidates he supported.
It seems that Olbermann’s suspension is really just an attempt by MSNBC to try to distance itself from its nemesis, Fox News, which does not have a policy prohibiting its news employees from making contributions to political campaigns.
This move is completely unnecessary. It should be clear to anyone who watches both stations that neither of them are objective. Of course, Fox claims it is through its ridiculous mantra “fair and balanced.” Someone needs to tell Rupert Murdoch that employing one beaten-down liberal co-host (former co-host) does not qualify as objectivity.
The root of the problem is the descent of cable news into a partisan battleground. There is little objectivity left, even on CNN. This raises some difficult questions. Should cable news hosts be held to the same standards as their allegedly non-partisan colleagues, wherever it is that they are said to exist?
Stations like MSNBC and Fox have already established through the way they cover the news that they do not hold themselves to the same journalistic standards.
This is not to say that pundits have an excuse to act unethically. There is nothing more unethical than Fox’s employment of Sarah Palin, and other political personas who have expressed interest in running in the next presidential election. It just seems ridiculous to say that someone is acting unethically when they are simply exercising their constitutional rights. Olbermann should have never been suspended, and NBC’s policy that got him into trouble should be removed.
Daniel Renfrow is an anthropology junior and may be reached at [email protected].
“This policy seems totally unconstitutional.” …
Not unconstitutional at all. The first amendment begins “Congress shall make no law….” not “NBC shall make no rule…”
NBC is a private company free to enter into contracts of labor that are mutually agreeable to them as well as their employee. Obviously this was part of the policy that Mr. Olbermann agreed to upon being hired, and he violated it. If he doesn’t like the rule he can go work for someone else.
Not sure who in their right mind would hire him, but that’s a different story.