Mixed Feelings

The "suspension" of Keith Olbermann for contributions to political campaigns stirs mixed feelings for me.

On the one hand, in the ideal world the "news" should be apolitical, give me the facts and let me make the judgement call. Editorial is fine, I'm cool with open discussion of many viewpoints, but making it clear that it is editorial is key.


On the other hand, there is a difference between an organization and the individuals who work for them. As far as I know, Keith Olbermann never explicitly endorsed publicly (and especially on the air) those to whom he gave money. And as far as I know, MSNBC as a network/its parent companies, have never explicitly endorsed nor given money to any candidate, party, campaign, or special interest group. I firmly believe that the citizens and legal residents of the United States cannot be excluded from personally taking part in the American political process, regardless of what their professional lives are.

Here is where I will probably get myself into a bit of trouble with some partisans, but I think I have defensible enough position to take it publicly. To accuse Keith Olbermann (and any other individual in the media with a similar oppinion of events) of hypocracy for contributing privately to any compaign (emphasis on the "any" makes no difference what the actual partisan bent was) while publicly criticizing News Corp for its $1,000,000 donation to the Republican Governors Association is wrong.

The key difference is that between an entity (News Corp) and an individual (Olbermann et al). While I'm sure as their top rated host, Olbermann has quite a bit of clout, he probably does not determin the course of the entire network. Compare that to the actual organization as a whole taking a position, and it is unlikely that much more than token dissent will be given much air time.


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