MSM Tensions Erupt
posted by Eric Alterman on 08/27/2008
from The Nation
I could go on for at least another piece, maybe two, about all the nonsense surrounding Hillary Hype '08--from Fox News's immediate, persistent commentary after the speech that she didn't mean it, didn't do nearly enough, and the whole party is screwed, to CBS News bringing on a body language expert to testify to the same.
But let's just agree they're all nuts and move on, shall we?
The media news-du-jour here is that the tensions at MSNBC--both political and personal--erupted, leading to several on-air fights between the talent. While Fox News stays ruthlessly on message, as I wrote yesterday , MSNBC has been looking increasingly like The Real World. (What happens when overpaid media personalities stop being polite--and start getting real....)
First, when Joe Scarborough started talking up a perceived McCain surge in the polls, Keith Olbermann muttered that he should "get a shovel." Scarborough heard the comment, and went on a long, angry tear listing all the reasons McCain was in the race. When he finished, Chris Matthews asked snidely, "Are we done?"
Next, Scarborough again lost his temper with David Shuster. (Video here.) Scarborough was prattling derisively about Nouri al-Maliki's demand that the United States be out of Iraq by 2011, suggesting that Iraqis would kill al-Maliki immediately, and that he was happy to just have US forces out now, if they weren't welcome. David Shuster pointed out to Scarborough that "your party" has been ridiculing the idea of withdrawal for years--and Scarborough completely lost it. He savaged his own network ("Oh, I feel so comforted by the fact that you're an independent. I bet everyone at MSNBC has 'independent' on their voting cards. "Oh, we're down the middle now." Go ahead, David. No, no, go ahead. You're an independent, David. Go ahead. Talk about my party. Go ahead.") He also went after Shuster personally, accusing him of never watching the show, and even oversleeping for three different appearances.
(Continued here.)
from The Nation
I could go on for at least another piece, maybe two, about all the nonsense surrounding Hillary Hype '08--from Fox News's immediate, persistent commentary after the speech that she didn't mean it, didn't do nearly enough, and the whole party is screwed, to CBS News bringing on a body language expert to testify to the same.
But let's just agree they're all nuts and move on, shall we?
The media news-du-jour here is that the tensions at MSNBC--both political and personal--erupted, leading to several on-air fights between the talent. While Fox News stays ruthlessly on message, as I wrote yesterday , MSNBC has been looking increasingly like The Real World. (What happens when overpaid media personalities stop being polite--and start getting real....)
First, when Joe Scarborough started talking up a perceived McCain surge in the polls, Keith Olbermann muttered that he should "get a shovel." Scarborough heard the comment, and went on a long, angry tear listing all the reasons McCain was in the race. When he finished, Chris Matthews asked snidely, "Are we done?"
Next, Scarborough again lost his temper with David Shuster. (Video here.) Scarborough was prattling derisively about Nouri al-Maliki's demand that the United States be out of Iraq by 2011, suggesting that Iraqis would kill al-Maliki immediately, and that he was happy to just have US forces out now, if they weren't welcome. David Shuster pointed out to Scarborough that "your party" has been ridiculing the idea of withdrawal for years--and Scarborough completely lost it. He savaged his own network ("Oh, I feel so comforted by the fact that you're an independent. I bet everyone at MSNBC has 'independent' on their voting cards. "Oh, we're down the middle now." Go ahead, David. No, no, go ahead. You're an independent, David. Go ahead. Talk about my party. Go ahead.") He also went after Shuster personally, accusing him of never watching the show, and even oversleeping for three different appearances.
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home