Pissed-Off Olbermann Thanks Viewers And Pundits, Blasts MSNBC Suits - San Francisco Chronicle

Article:Pissed-Off Olbermann Thanks Viewers And Pundits, Blasts:/g/a/2010/11/09/businessinsider-olbermanns-back-and-hes-pissed-thanks-viewers-and-pundits-blasts-msnbc-suits-2010-11.DTL

Keith Olbermann has finally emerged from the fallout shelter he has been hiding in since he was "suspended indefinitely without pay" last week.

And he's pissed.

In a "STATEMENT TO THE VIEWERS OF COUNTDOWN," Olbermann thanks his fans and pundits for supporting him.  And he implicitly blasts the network suits who suspended him for violating an "inconsistently enforced" rule that he knew nothing about.

As we noted last week, MSNBC still has some explaining to do about why the rule that cost Olbermann a few days of pay even exists. 

Specifically, why does it make MSNBC better than FOX News because all political donations by MSNBC staffers are "approved by management"?  Wouldn't it just be better if donations were either 1) prohibited or 2) disclosed?

Here's Olbermann's statement:

A STATEMENT TO THE VIEWERS OF COUNTDOWN
by Keith Olbermann

I want to sincerely thank you for the honor of your extraordinary and
ground-rattling support. Your efforts have been integral to the remedying of
these recent events, and the results should remind us of the power of
individuals spontaneously acting together to correct injustices great or small. I
would also like to acknowledge with respect the many commentators and
reporters, including those with whom my politics do not overlap, for their
support.

I also wish to apologize to you viewers for having precipitated such anxiety
and unnecessary drama. You should know that I mistakenly violated an
inconsistently applied rule – which I previously knew nothing about – that
pertains to the process by which such political contributions are approved by
NBC. Certainly this mistake merited a form of public acknowledgment and/or
internal warning, and an on-air discussion about the merits of limitations on
such campaign contributions by all employees of news organizations. Instead,
after my representative was assured that no suspension was contemplated, I
was suspended without a hearing, and learned of that suspension through the
media.

You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political
contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the
public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or
any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient
'mistake' by their recipients. When a website contacted NBC about one of the
donations, I immediately volunteered that there were in fact three of them; and
contrary to much of the subsequent reporting, I immediately volunteered to
explain all this, on-air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.
I genuinely look forward to rejoining you on Countdown on Tuesday, to
begin the repayment of your latest display of support and loyalty - support and
loyalty that is truly mutual.

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MSNBC vs. Keith Olbermann

“Hey there — anything crazy happen where you work today?” said Rachel Maddow at the start of her MSNBC show on Friday night. She was referring, of course, to the suspension of her prime-time neighbor, Keith Olbermann, for making donations to three Democratic congressional candidates.

According to NBC News policy cited by MSNBC president Phil Griffin, its employees cannot do that unless they have prior permission. Griffin put out the usual boilerplate: that “these activities jeopardize his [...] standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

Come on: Does anyone think Keith Olbermann is an impartial journalist? His show Countdown is intended as a presentation of the day’s news as recalibrated from a liberal point of view; his “special comments” are editorials. Over on Fox News in the same time period, Bill O’Reilly is doing the same thing, but from a conservative point of view. Does the idea that a liberal or a conservative opinion-giver is also a money-giver to campaigns he or she endorses really sully your sense of journalistic integrity? We’re not talking about Brian Williams or Diane Sawyer or Katie Couric taking to the air with ringing hosannas for Michele Bachmann or Barney Frank, and writing them big checks. It’s Keith Olbermann. It’s MSNBC.

And as Rachel Maddow pointed out in the final segment of her show this night, Fox News show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee have donated money and appeared at fund-raisers for politicians whose politics they praise on their shows:

(Please note: Maddow is also taking an implicit shot at Jon Stewart and his “Rally To Restore Sanity” for equating MSNBC and Fox News. So did Bill Maher on Real Time with Bill Maher. I agree with both of them, and was wondering when this was going to start.)

The notion that the Olbermann suspension is ridiculous has united both liberals and conservatives. Maddow said on Friday night that she, Olbermann, and some others on MSNBC are liberals and identify themselves as such; she called for her network to restore Olbermann to his show immediately. On The Weekly Standard website, conservative William Kristol says, “MSNBC’s suspension of Keith Olbermann is ludicrous. First, he donated money to candidates he liked. He didn’t take money, or favors, in a way that influenced his reporting. Second, he’s not a reporter. It’s an opinion show. If Olbermann wants to put his money where his mouth is, more power to him.”

Bill O’Reilly was a guest on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night. Maher didn’t ask O’Reilly about the Olbermann suspension; I’ll have to assume it’s because the interview was taped earlier in the day, perhaps before the suspension was announced. But O’Reilly did make one comment to Maher that, by extension, supports his foe Olbermann: “There’s a difference between the opinion people and the hard-news people,” he told Maher. He’s correct.

Can’t wait until Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert get hold of all this on Monday.

For more: Keith Olbermann suspended by MSNBC

Twitter: @kentucker

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