No Stomach For The Fox Hunt
by digby
Am I the only one who finds it just a little bit interesting that every time the political zeitgeist turns, MSNBC seems to shift ideological direction? I guess there’s a reason why their new slogan is “Lean Forward” (which could be interpreted as something a little bit cruder…)
I have no idea what really went on with Olberman but I suspect it may have had at least something to do with our one-sided obsession lately with “civility.” He did, after all, suspend his “worst person in the world” segment last week although that may have been entirely his decision. I sense that there are misgivings about the strong anti-rightwing slant of an Olbermann or Shultz (as opposed to the populist, pox-on-both-their-houses approach of Uyger or Ratigan) and that they may be afraid of the financial consequences of being too hostile to the GOP.
Given the mores of the Village, I also expect that they do not like being seen as the liberal answer to Fox. Fox doesn’t mind being Fox, because it was created as an alternative to the mainstream media with a goal of advancing an ideological message (even though they wink and nod and pretend otherwise.) But the rest of the media have been fighting the “liberal” label for so long that they reflexively recoil and withdraw when they are accused of it, and especially when they are accused of being shrill and uncivil about it. In other words, they don’t have the guts to stake out a real position and when they see uncomfortable comparisons between themselves and “the crazies” they back off. It’s the oldest working the ref play in the book.
I don’t watch Olberman all that often, mostly because of my schedule, but I think he — or someone like him — is a necessary part of the media landscape in this era. He’s a bombastic gasbag for sure, but he brings a point of view that’s not seen elsewhere in the cable universe. And the problem is that if MSNBC doesn’t want to carry that point of view, who will? .
Sadly, all the MSNBC hosts will undoubtedly be aware — if only subliminally — that regardless of Olberman’s eccentricities, the fact that the bosses are clipping his wings over something they could have technically overlooked (“it’s an opinion show”) is a message, particularly since he was getting good ratings. They don’t have a whole lot of rope and I’m sure they know it.
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