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May 27, 2012

Matthews and Olbermann removed from election coverage

by Richard Keller, posted Sep 9th 2008 8:21PM

Matthews and Olbermann have been relegated to the sidelines in political coverageIn a move that can be considered either a turn back to neutral coverage of political events or a fearful tactic to curb further criticism on their network, NBC News has decided to dump Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as co-anchors of NSNBC's election coverage. Replacing them on the upcoming debates and election night will be White House correspondent David Gregory.

Some say the decision to drop the two most popular personalities on the network from the coverage stemmed from what critics both within and without the organization feared was the channel's perceived shift to the political left (though, many have said that MSNBC has always leaned left as opposed to FOX News that leans right. Apparently, none of their shoes have the same-sized heels.). Others say their demotion stemmed from numerous complaints that came after Olbermann's rant after a 9/11 tribute video was shown at the Republican National Convention. Then there are those who feel their on-air tiffs during the coverage resembled something out of Gossip Girl.

Really, Olbermann is probably more to blame in this demotion than Matthews is. It's no secret where Keith's opinions lay -- as seen nightly on his Countdown show. Adding him to election coverage and not expecting him to express his opinions on what was going on would be tantamount to putting FOX News' Bill O'Reilly in charge of election coverage and asking him to be neutral. What it comes down to is primetime talk show hosts should remain as talk show hosts and not news anchors. Be Conservative, Liberal, Socialist or Anarchist, the urge to express one's opinions are hard to cutoff when done so frequently. Why the suits over at MSNBC thought that Keith could hold it in during the coverage is beyond my thinking.

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tom

olberman should be used to being dumped by now, what a clown, he talks with so much passion spewing his lies, but then i realize no ones watching him anyway

October 25 2008 at 8:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Deb

Amen!

October 17 2008 at 7:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Deb

I'm sick about this. Finally I found a channel that summed up my own thoughts on this campaign. I love Keith and Chris. They are tough and it's no surprised to anyone that Fox news sucks bigtime with republican hoopla. It was nice to find the other side which is not so dark as Fox. You decision makers have made a huge mistake doing this. Now I boycott MSNBC !!!!!!!!!!!

October 17 2008 at 7:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ddaly

Olbermann is the squirmiest of worms when it comes to political coverage - he's a "useful idiot" enabling the socialist takeover of this country, and I hope he'll be proud of himself when we're all standing in cheese lines.....

October 12 2008 at 8:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
S2AJWALK

i seriously disagree with msnbc about this decision. I liked olbermann and matthews, because they were not afraid to bring the mccain lies to the forefront. They were the only anchors i saw on a daily basis repudiate the misleading mccain ads. I will no longer be watching as i did before. i will be moving on the cnn now. Big Mistake NBC. The only other person on MSNBC who asked the hard questions besides Russert is Matthews. I dont want to see David Gregory, he's a chump and he lets strategist spin answers. Rather see Rachel Maddow!

September 13 2008 at 6:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark and Lucia Miller

Excuse me, but I would rather watch people who have PASSION and ZEAL for their work. David Gregory is rather bland. If you can't remember what an anchor or commentator has said, have they really said anything at all? And are people really so blind that they can't see what is going on? Without these two, we would not have watched MSNBC's coverage. Countdown and Hardball were a "major" part of getting my wife and I watching this network in the first place. It's a shame that coverage and opinions are now being limited more toward the middle and the right. As American citizens and registered Republican(ReDUPED-lican) alternate delegates 2008 from Colorado Springs, CO we are not afraid of having a CHOICE. If we can hear all sides, eventually the TRUTH will win out. That's what America is all about. We don't have to be silent. We don't need to give away our rights. What if in the final analysis Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews were right?

September 13 2008 at 1:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark and Lucia Miller

WHATEVER, I MISS THEM BOTH! I KNOW you who don't, have CONVINCED yourselfs how much BETTER a job you could do....... GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!!! BE AND LET BE - DON'T BE RE-DUPED-LICANS: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, BURNED THE T-SHIRT

September 13 2008 at 12:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cray

I don't care for 'political pundits' shows. I think they are encouraging more divisiveness than sparking a good debate. None these pundits are willing to agree with the so-called otherside.

News stations should be reporting the facts, and leave the pundit shows for the entertainment channels.

September 11 2008 at 5:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brewer

I feel that Mathews and Olbermann are very good commentors. They make it interesting..Gregory may be a nice guy but not interesting.

September 11 2008 at 12:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
SkepticalReader

"many have said that MSNBC has always leaned left as opposed to FOX News that leans right"

Really now? Many others have observed MSNBC pandering to the right. Here is one example worth remembering - where MSNBC replaced Donahue's show with Lester Holt reporting on the invasion of Iraq:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Donahue#MSNBC_program

September 10 2008 at 11:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to SkepticalReader's comment

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