Sorry if this has been diaried already.
I love Countdown - it's the only liberal show I know of on television, except for Rachel Maddow's new debut show. Apparently there is some pushback from the powers that be, hating the fact that a liberal voice is being heard, not to mention that it's MSNBC's top rating.
The New York TImes has a vomit-provoking article about how MSNBC has pulled back on using Matthews and Olberman to host political events:
"MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election.
That experiment appears to be over."
The article goes on to say while Countdown is the highest rated show on MSNBC and averages a million viewers it is troubling to the McCain campaign and I guess McCain's pals, Brokaw and Brian Williams. Nauseating.
Sorry if this is a dumb diary but I am so disgusted. Finally! Finally we have a national media voice, as singular as it is, and it needs to be taken down as soon as possible because it goes against what the Republican establishment and it's friends in the Washington media want. They can't bear the people to hear the truth. These fuckers are who are the elite. they HATE equality - they have Limbaugh and Hannity and OReilly to spew their venom but when we get a liberal star to give it right back to them they moan and complain like big fucking babies.
I am so mad right now, because I am afraid NBC is going to cave to this pressure (as they have in some ways) and shut down KO. I just hope the genuine dollar signs in their eyes prevent it.
The McCain campaign has filed letters of complaint to the news division about its coverage and openly tied MSNBC to it. Tension between the network and the campaign hit an apex the day Mr. McCain announced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. MSNBC had reported Friday morning that Ms. Palin’s plane was enroute to the announcement and she was likely the pick. But McCain campaign officials warned the network off, with one official going so far as to say that all of the candidates on the short list were on their way — which MSNBC then reported.
“The fact that it was reported in real time was very embarrassing,” said a senior MSNBC official. “We were told, ‘No, it’s not Sarah Palin and you don’t know who it is.’ ”
Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of “NBC Nightly News,” have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, even while they anchored daytime hours of convention coverage on MSNBC and contributed commentary each evening.
The w hole sick sad story can be read here:
http://www.nytimes.com/...