Keith Olbermann And Chris Matthews Have Sissy Fight, Get Sent To The Corner
Chris Matthews has never been my cup of tea, and I haven’t had the least bit of interest in Keith Olbermann since he left SportsCenter. However, it seems that these two primadonnas managed to screw up a very high-profile gig, that of anchoring MSNBC’s political coverage. First of all, they couldn’t manage to keep their personal opinions and PMS moods to themselves:
The benching of the blowhards comes amid accusations that the pair has been shilling for the Democratic ticket.
When Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination, Matthew’s hard-hitting critique of the speech was that it sent a thrill up his leg. [...]
During the Democratic convention, Olbermann appeared to be upset by Matthew’s long-winded analysis of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech. Olbermann made a hand-gesture imitating a flapping mouth. Matthews shot back, “I can do the same to you!” and defended his commentary, saying, “That’s what I thought, all right?”
The bickering and infighting has caused embarrassment among colleagues and may have caused the ax to fall.
NBC news legend Tom Brokaw recently said, “I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far.”
An insider told The Post that Olbermann responded by pushing to have Brokaw banned from MSNBC.
Okay, woah woah woah…do huh? Keith Olbermann is wanting to get Tom Brokaw banned from NBC? Tom Brokaw? That would be like banning Walter Cronkite from CBS. Who does this guy think he is, anyway?
Well, the fallout from all this is that they’ve been replaced with David Gregory…however, there is a bright side, at least for one of them:
NETWORK execs mollified the cantankerous Keith Olbermann as they demoted him by promising to sweeten his $4 million-a-year contract. But his more professional MSNBC co-anchor, Chris Matthews, didn’t get anything but half the blame. David Gregory was given the job of anchoring MSNBC’s political coverage, following a firestorm over the cable news outlet’s liberal bias and on-air squabbling between its prima donna pundits. Olbermann told reporters he initiated the demotion. “So he threw Matthews under the bus,” said one insider, who added, “This has [GE chairman] Jeff Immelt’s fingerprints all over it - if not his fists.”
Have some chocolate and settle down, boys.
I realize that television anchors are people too, with opinions just like the rest of us peons. But when I tune into news, I don’t want the anchor’s biased opinion of what is going on, I want to know the facts of what is happening. That is what news is…reporting facts as they happen. Now, if at some point they decide to offer their opinion, it needs to be designated as such. Newscasts used to have a little opinion piece where the anchors could sound off on whatever, but you knew when it was coming, and you knew it was separate from the “real” news. These two seem to think that whatever hot air comes out of their mouths is the news and everything else is just gravy.
If they want to endorse a certain candidate in their personal life, then fine. But last time I checked, that ain’t news, as much as these two divas like to think it is. And frankly, there’s no way that you’ll ever hear, “Alongside my tag team partner Keith Olbermann, I’m merely Chris Matthews.” You can’t have two egos of this size in a room together without somebody losing some fur. What was NBC thinkin’?
Besides, I have had even less to do with either of them when it came out that they were both jockeying for Tim Russert’s vacant seat before poor Tim was even cold yet. Oh yeah, these two are classy.
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I’ve always liked Chris Matthews and Glen Beck. Keith Olberman IS the diva. He comes over TV (to me) with (hidden) gritting teeth and this hurts the viewer. When I am “surfing” I pass his remarks by. He has been hurtful to many of the anchors I like and I usually come in on the end of his broadcast with his WORSE, WORSEST,e.g. It is un-professional. I’m an ordinary viewer, but think as a viewer my comments will be important.
Comment by DAISY STARKS — September 9, 2008 @ 10:56 am
An insider? Who is this insider?
“An insider suggested that Perez Hilton wanna-bes over at Gloss Lip give cash to militant anti-Semitic groups so that it is untraceable.”
Give me a break. An insider? And you’re rolling with it?
Looks like there’s a campaign to bring your diva back to the coverage: Facebook groups, while well-meaning, don’t stop anything. Campaigns need to show a pledge of action. There is a campaign at The Point that promises action in exchange for Olbermann’s return to election coverage: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/bring-back-olbermann-and-matthews
Comment by Alex @ Make Something Happen — September 9, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
I stopped watch both of those guys about 6 weeks ago when their comments were to bias. It was obvious that Olberman was in a swoon over Obama…Matthews? I thought he tried to be unbiased but some of the time he went over the line…They lost me when they attacked Hillary…at that point, I thought there was enough swooning over Obama….
Comment by Larry — September 9, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
keith olberman is an idiot! It’s amazing that anyone would have him doing the news on a serious issue. I mean, why don’t they just bring in RUsh Limbaugh and have the two do the conventions. Chris Matthews is opinionated, but is fair. I’ve seen him praise and bash both sides, depending on what happens. This is just a joke. No way I would ever have Olberman work for me
Comment by jamie — September 10, 2008 @ 2:42 am
I bet these are the same insiders that told everyone that GlossLip and anonymous are paid by big pharma, the German government and the Marcab Confederacy. Nice one linking to those credible and unbiased NY Post articles which also seem to have the same insiders telling all kinds of insider facts. Seems interesting that a paper, which is owned by everybody’s favorite Rupert Murdoch, is slinging “insider” mud at a reporter/commentator who ridicules Fox News on a daily basis. Who was it that owned Fox news again…?
“Now, if at some point they decide to offer their opinion, it needs to be designated as such. Newscasts used to have a little opinion piece where the anchors could sound off on whatever, but you knew when it was coming, and you knew it was separate from the “real” news.”
In Countdown it’s called “a special comment” which is usually at the end of the show. But if someone happens to be tuned to a real news channel like Fox News, it’s understandable that something like that can be easily missed.
Comment by Hypocrisy — September 10, 2008 @ 3:02 am
Well, Hypocrisy, it isn’t too hard to watch the events themselves and make up one’s own mind, if you don’t like the links.
And y’know, I almost wish I was paid by big pharma. Can you imagine the check?
Comment by k — September 10, 2008 @ 3:21 am
Agreed on the on screen bickering k. It was pathetic. But the mystery insider quotes are still nothing but smear “journalism”.
Comment by Hypocrisy — September 10, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
I am voting for Obama and I know that Keith is biased. I don’t know how you can argue against that- I don’t think that he would argue it. I am a little uncomfortable with him being on TV as a news anchor- even though I enjoy his show for what it is.
BUT, Fox News network is biased for the Republicans. Is it fair to have 2 competing networks each with their own bias? Maybe that is a fair way to handle it? This is a complicated thing to regulate. Back in the early days politicians (like Jefferson) funded there own papers to circulate their own views. Maybe the experiment with unbiased media is ending…
I think the “insider” comments are probably all BS. Keith addressed the Meet the Press rumors on his show, and the Brokaw thing is totally unsubstantiated.
Comment by Ken — September 11, 2008 @ 11:03 am
Eh, that incident kind of turned me off to Keith. Actually, on the day of Obamba’s acceptance speech, I was looking at these two talk about it. Well, based on the way they were gushing on about Obamba, I almost expected them to un onto the stage to kiss and dry hump him.
Then again, I thought that Sean Hannity was about to do the same thing to John McCain in the following week, so take that for what you will.
Comment by Joseph Furguson — September 12, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
fwiw, I don’t like Sean Hannity either. Just give me the facts and let me sort it out for myself. If I want opinions…well, that is what blogs are for.
Comment by k — September 13, 2008 @ 3:03 pm