Even if you set aside the hypocrisy of the Joe Scarborough double-standard, Phil Griffin's explanation for suspending Keith Olbermann doesn't add up.
Griffin says Olbermann violated a policy requiring NBC News reporters to obtain approval for making political campaign donations that "jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist." But Olbermann isn't an "impartial journalist" and doesn't claim to be. Neither is Joe Scarborough, a point that NBC itself made in excusing Scarborough's donations. To quote NBC in 2007:
Joe hosts an opinion program and is not a news reporter.
It's the same thing with Olbermann. As John Cook reports on Gawker, MSNBC's opinion hosts aren't subject to the same rules as NBC News reporters.
MSNBC's increasingly left-wing programming and personalities aren't required to abide by NBC News' exacting rules—if they were, it would be a much less bombastic and politically charged network. So while Olbermann's donations may have run counter to the NBC News brand and Griffin's wishes, there doesn't appear to be a chapter-and-verse policy applying to MSNBC employees barring them.
"The standards department has told us that MSNBC doesn't answer to NBC News standards," the insider said. "They don't have coverage over MSNBC. They used to, back before MSNBC went political, but at some point it became too hard and MSNBC was taken out of their portfolio. As far as I know, there are no ethical standards at MSNBC. And if NBC says MSNBC is supposed to be living up to the NBC News standards, that's a preposterous lie."
Given that Olbermann is MSNBC's top draw, you'd think Griffin would have an airtight case for suspending him. The fact that he doesn't suggests that Griffin's real motivation is either personal or political, because from a business perspective, it just doesn't make any sense.
