In late 2007, Mr. O’Reilly had a young producer, Jesse Watters, ambush [G.E. CEO] Mr. [Jeffrey] Immelt and ask about G.E.'s business in Iran, which is legal, and which includes sales of energy and medical technology. G.E. says it no longer does business in Iran.
Since June 1, Olbermann has not once mentioned Fox News or Bill O. in a single piece, cynically announcing at the end of his show that night that such a "quarantine" would help hasten the demise of O'Reilly's show.
All together now... Uh, yeah right.
As a Greenwald reader points out, whatever objections one has with O'Reilly -- I personally have many of them -- "this was one of the rare useful pieces of information O'Reilly ever presented to his audience, and Olbermann was there to show how lousy the rest of O'Reilly's information was. Though it was in the context of a bitter feud, the two men were actually engaging in real journalism, at least in this case."
"Real journalism" has become a joke in this country. Our major news outlets are owned by some of America's Very Large Corporations -- CBS by Viacom, NBC by G.E., ABC by Disney, and FOX by News Corp., plus CNN by Time Warner -- and the line between the parent corporation's interests and the news has never been blurrier. In fact, several former MSNBC on-air personalities have provided some rare insight into editorial policy:
Last May, CNN's Jessica Yellin said that when she was at MSNBC, "the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this [the Iraq War] was a war that was presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation"; "the higher the president's approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives ... to put on positive stories about the president"; and "they would turn down stories that were more critical and try to put on pieces that were more positive."
...
MSNBC's rising star, Ashleigh Banfield, was demoted and then fired after she criticized news media organizations generally, and Fox News specifically, for distorting their war coverage to appear more pro-government. And, of course, when MSNBC canceled Phil Donahue's show in the run-up to the Iraq war despite its being that network's highest-rated program, a corporate memo surfaced indicating that the company had fears of being associated with an anti-war and anti-government message.
In a sickly ironic twist, the current temporary host of Countdown is Richard Wolffe. Those of you who have watched Olbermann's show know Wolffe as a frequent "political analyst." According to Greenwald, Wolffe left his job at Newsweek last March to join Public Strategies, Inc., a corporate communications firm run by former Bush White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett.
So having this non-journalist, who works as a P.R. man for some of the very corporate clients who own TV networks, be the face of a news show or even a frequent guest on that news show, is about the vilest thing I've ever seen happen in journalism. Public Strategies itself thinks Wolffe's position and access to the airwaves is an asset. From his bio page on the firm's website:
In addition, Wolffe is an NBC political analyst. He provides political commentary on several MSNBC programs, Meet The Press, and TODAY.
But wait, it gets better. Amazingly, Wolffe of course sees no conflict in his dual role as journalist and public relations man. As he said in an interview with Newsweek:
"The idea that journalists are somehow not engaged in corporate activities is not really in touch with what's going on. Every conversation with journalists is about business models and advertisers," he said, recalling that, on the day after the 2008 election, Newsweek sent him to Detroit to deliver a speech to advertisers.
"You tell me where the line is between business and journalism," he said.
Greenwald has some further updates today, including a link to a Talking Points Memo story reporting that MSNBC announces that they should have disclosed Wolffe's other gig and will do so in the future. Don't hold your breath waiting for that disclosure to reveal some of his or his employer's corporate clients.
What blows me away here is that this is all Journalism 101. When I was a novice reporter at the UCLA Daily Bruin in 1984-85, I learned that reporters needed to maintain a significant distance between themselves and those on whom they might be reporting. So, when I became friends with a member of the UCLA Communications Board, which oversaw funding and production for the paper and other campus media, I was moved off that beat to avoid the conflict of interest.
Even in the fantastic film Almost Famous, the character of Lester Bangs, who edited the great magazine Creem, said as he was counseling young journalist William Miller:
My advice to you: I know you think those guys are your friends. You wanna be a true friend to them? Be honest, and unmerciful.
Weeks ago I wrote that I would stop listening to NPR News because of their editorial policy as it related to torture. I see this as no different. I am also on record stating that Keith Olbermann is an American Hero and a patriot. But because he has agreed not to mention Fox and Bill O. on his show because of pressure he's gotten from corporate brass has completely undermined any credibility he had as a journalist. Not only will I stop watching Countdown, I'm also done with MSNBC, including Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews.
Soon I won't even need a TV. My wife will be so happy.
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