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Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

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Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

Oblermann gone, eh? One down. An entire industry of hardliners to go.

I know we'll never get the media to start reporting the news and stop relying on hyperbole driven "punditry", but boy would it be nice if pretty much everyone in the cable news side of things found their way to the curb.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

St. Clown said:
I wonder if Comcast is taking a more cautious tone to its programming given the current bickering following the shooting in Tucson, Arizona. People want less inflammatory rhetoric and Olbermann is easily the most caustic voice on MSNBC. Think of all the people he labels as "The Worst Peson in the World" as a regular part of his show. Would Comcast fire him in order to prevent a 0.x% chance that another shooter is out there like that and chooses one of Olbermann's targets? It could get ugly.

We're seeing a call from Congress for some censorship of various media outlets. Comcast may simply be hedging. I doubt that would be the case, it's extremely overreactive, but it's a thought.
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I think the chances are slim and none... the calls to civility are mostly opportune of the moment since one side believes they own and have license to said civility. Remember, both political sides don't like each other... that hasn't changed in the last few weeks and they'll still pull for opposite things... the media is just going to leverage "civility" in order to push for their own agenda.... disagreeing with them with vigor will be deemed "uncivil"...

Further, this will all blow off in a month. It is highly unlikely that this "call to civility" movement has any real legs other than to say "so those uncivil people better straighten up and agree with us".

I doubt any of this has to do with current moments... if Olbermann was let go because of his attitude its because its been a long running problem for him... not some paradigm shift.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

Lets present this idea... GE used MSNBC to get in good with the politicos and as such were accepting to take losses on coverage in order to get legislation (ignorant green tech and the rest). What if Comcast has decided that they do not want to operate at a loss? Would they try to recast their news hour.... Keep Maddow and Matthews but then essentially strip away people like Ed and Cenk (whose last names I don't recall) both who are rather caustic and not particularly bright.

Comcast has probably already caused problems with the left so maybe they can't get in good politically to get favors for running an operation that promotes liberalism in its way... further, any loss leading actions for Comcast would really run against stated liberal policies and would likely be anti-consumer (not that this necessarily stops anybody). The other option would be to find ways to make for profitable programming while maintaining a liberal niche which it has already created.

edit: alternatively, if they are trying to become more-profitable or less-money losing maybe $7 million is just too much for their comfort. Moneyball, you can find a mediocrely charismatic left speaker out there... there are tons of them on TV... certainly you can find one or a dozen for cheaper.
 
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Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

huskyfan said:
the (in)famous quote was "he didn't burn bridges at ESPN, he napalmed them"
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Considering how the Mothership has treated Dan Patrick it seems the bridges around Bristol self-destruct.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
Oblermann gone, eh? One down. An entire industry of hardliners to go.

I know we'll never get the media to start reporting the news and stop relying on hyperbole driven "punditry", but boy would it be nice if pretty much everyone in the cable news side of things found their way to the curb.
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What about the print media?
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

joecct said:
What about the print media?
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They have their sins as well, but I think their issues are more driven by being desperate to compete in a digital world. The cable news networks don't have that excuse. They are just 100% pure hyperbole and yellow journalism. CNN at least (sort of) tries to report things and be more respectable than Fox and MSNBC, but that really isn't saying a whole lot. I have zero respect for the 24-hour cable news channels. They're as useful as E! News and SportsCenter.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

I understand your position and I get what you're saying; so don't take this wrong way, but honestly, who cares?

To me, cable news stations being the way you (correctly) describe would only be an issue if they were the only source for news- and they clearly aren't. If you don't like them, change the channel.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

WeWantMore said:
I understand your position and I get what you're saying; so don't take this wrong way, but honestly, who cares?

To me, cable news stations being the way you (correctly) describe would only be an issue if they were the only source for news- and they clearly aren't. If you don't like them, change the channel.
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I get what you're saying (and yes, I change the channel... in fact, most days I just don't bother with them), but that's not the only way its an issue. It's an issue (even with other options) because it makes cable news a totally wasted opportunity.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

I guess I agree with that, but if you owned a cable channel, what exactly would you do differently? To be honest, I almost prefer the partisanship to be overt, rather than have anchors masquerading as unbiased.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

WeWantMore said:
I guess I agree with that, but if you owned a cable channel, what exactly would you do differently? To be honest, I almost prefer the partisanship to be overt, rather than have anchors masquerading as unbiased.
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That's the whole point of being an anchor - subeverting your bias and reporting the news.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

Slap Shot said:
That's the whole point of being an anchor - subeverting your bias and reporting the news.
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In theory, definitely. But I'd argue the current crop (with a few exceptions) is doing a pretty terrible job. I don't care how hard you try to "subvert" your bias, it's still going to show through to some extent.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

WeWantMore said:
In theory, definitely. But I'd argue the current crop (with a few exceptions) is doing a pretty terrible job. I don't care how hard you try to "subvert" your bias, it's still going to show through to some extent.
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The directors, editors and other people in the office make the decisions on a lot of what is presented (and how). Unless the ownership, management, news directors, anchors and editors are all certified political agnostics, there is going to be creep into the news. We have to recognize that what we all grew up on may not have been unbiased...certainly it wasn't biased to the degree today's broadcasts are but we shouldn't assume Brinkley et al were impervious to influence of their beliefs or the beliefs of those with the gold.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

There is a movement to draft Olbermann for the CT Senate seat. First, he would have to move back to CT and I'm not sure the Mothership would let him in the state.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

Priceless said:
There is a movement to draft Olbermann for the CT Senate seat. First, he would have to move back to CT and I'm not sure the Mothership would let him in the state.
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Well, he'd be smarter than 95% of the current crop, and it may be the only place where his pomposity would actually be an asset. Yeah, sure, whatever. I wouldn't want to be his staffer, though.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

So apparently Barry gave a speech last night. Anyone hear it? Surprisingly quiet fan club. Disappointment, or were you all hospitalized for uncontrollable leg tingles?
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

geezer said:
So apparently Barry gave a speech last night. Anyone hear it? Surprisingly quiet fan club. Disappointment, or were you all hospitalized for uncontrollable leg tingles?
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it was being discussed over in the Congress thread.
 
Re: Obama Presidential Thread XIX: Starting a new chapter

I didn't see it, just read the text. The text was not a "home run" to me. It seemed like there was even more "America, F yeah!" in there than usual and even less indications of future policy, though this could also be my changing perception as I live outside of the US for longer and longer, too.

However, having said that, the little policy information in there did appear to be significantly more acceptable to both sides of the aisle than what Obama has been pushing in the last few years, so that did give me some hope that some useful things (simplification of tax code, closing of loopholes and overall rate reductions, acknowledgement that Medicare and Medicaid growth are unsustainable, etc) might actually get done in the next 2 years.

We'll see...
 
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