Why MSNBC pulled Olbermann and Matthews
Did the news anchors show a liberal bias in their election coverage?
MSNBC “tried a bold experiment” by having “politically incendiary hosts” Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews lead the channel’s election coverage this year, said Brian Stelter in The New York Times, but “that experiment appears to be over”—they’re being replaced by David Gregory. This move is clearly “a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left.”
“MSNBC has finally come to it senses,” said Jeff Bercovici in Portfolio.com’s Mixed Media blog. Both Olbermann and Matthews are “opinion journalists” that lean to the left, and they obviously don’t have the “whole hat-switching thing” down—especially Olbermann. He’s just not capable of separating “news and editorial”—too bad he “knows frighteningly little about his chosen profession.”
Imagine if Fox did what MSNBC just did? said Adam Serwer in The American Prospect blog Tapped. “They’d have to drop most of their talent.” During their convention coverage, “Fox hosted the likes of Karl Rove and Laura Ingraham balanced out by Brit Hume, Sean Hannity and Carl Cameron—who still struggles with the idea that the South lost the Civil War.” It’s obvious that Fox’s conservatism is deliberate,” while “MSNBC’s liberalism is occasional.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The art world and motherhood: the end of a final taboo?
Talking Point Hettie Judah's new touring exhibition offers a 'riveting riposte' to old cliches
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published