As had been shown a couple of days ago on Gawker.com, the whole Keith Olbermann debacle unraveled quickly to demonstrate that the journalistic standards being applied to KO haven't been applied to MSNBC at all......even according to their own Standards department. Why? Because MSNBC isn't NBC News, and hasn't been measured by the same journalistic standard for quite some time.
And today, NY Times quoted an open statement that Olbermann has made, both about the incident, and about his response to the massive support he got from many corners to have him reinstated.
In an open letter to "Countdown" viewers, he blamed NBC for creating a donation policy that was "inconsistently applied," and said he did not know the rule existed. He also, referring to what he called a "ground-rattling" outpouring of support from viewers, said their efforts "should remind us of the power of individuals spontaneously acting together to correct injustices great or small."
He acknowledged that there should have been a conversation with NBC executives, saying that the donations merited public acknowledgment and perhaps an internal warning. Instead, he said, he was suspended even after one of his representatives was told he would not be, and he learned about the suspension through the media.
Well, NBC and MSNBC are two different orgnaizations entirely, NBC News being a "hard news" type of organization, while MSNBC has many more obviously opinion-based programs. It also runs way too many weekend episodes of Lockup, but that's a subject for another day.
As the Gawker article mentioned further:
"The standards department has told us that MSNBC doesn't answer to NBC News standards," the insider said. "They don't have coverage over MSNBC. They used to, back before MSNBC went political, but at some point it became too hard and MSNBC was taken out of their portfolio. As far as I know, there are no ethical standards at MSNBC. And if NBC says MSNBC is supposed to be living up to the NBC News standards, that's a preposterous lie."
This is sounding more and more like Phill Griffin being a bit butthurt over something or another.....they're obviously not bff's, and I'd sooner expect to see KO add Hannity to his Xmas card list (they are both baseball fans after all, and seem to consider that neutral ground) than his own "boss", but for Griffin to make such a huge deal over something that apparently hasn't been applicable even according to the people in the organization that are the ones doing their Standards and Practices watchdogging, it sounds like some serious retaliation.
Additionally, it wasn't like he was trying to sneak these in under the radar or anything. We all know, due to the Citizens United decision, that anyone can basically donate any amount of money they like through a SuperPAC without anyone the wiser. Keith didn't do that.
He wrote:
You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient ‘mistake’ by their recipients. When a website contacted NBC about one of the donations, I immediately volunteered that there were in fact three of them; and contrary to much of the subsequent reporting, I immediately volunteered to explain all this, on-air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.
I think the point is clear. If you supposedly don't apply this standard to anyone else at MSNBC, then doing so with Keith as a "special case" seems to be about the pettiest thing imaginable. It should have been dealt with internally, and apparently Keith offered to do so, but Griffin decided to fire off a press release Panzerfaust first rather than just have Keith disclose the contributions on his show without making a huge deal of the whole thing.
If nothing else, Griffin's actions are one of the most clearcut cases of Executive Flouncing I've ever seen.
If anything good came out of this, perhaps it is that there will be more notice taken of where political contributions come from and go to....and perhaps it will also help us re-draw appropriate lines where these things should be restricted, and other cases where so long as there is some form of transparency, then individuals like Keith Olbermann should darn well be able to contribute their own money where they like without needing to have a buy-your-leave from an employer first.
KO did also have the class to apologize to his viewers, many of whom came out in support of him over the weekend, including huge campaigns on Twitter, and an overwhelming response on the petition started by BoldProgressives.org which has, as of this writing been signed by over 317,000 people.
Mr. Olbermann also acknowledged that the episode had caused a bit of a media frenzy.
"I also wish to apologize to you viewers for having precipitated such anxiety and unnecessary drama," he said.
True, it may have been unnecessary, and avoidable by any number of parties. However, every situation like this seems to have a beneficial side effect of both making people curious and cause them to look in to why these issues are so important, as well as motivating people to get involved and do something to speak out when we see the rights of others being infringed upon.
Even if it's just our right to be able to watch the Keith doing the "Oddball" segment on Countdown every night. (TIME. Marches on!)
UPDATE:
Here's the entirety of Keith's Statement, thanks to ericlewis0.
A STATEMENT TO THE VIEWERS OF COUNTDOWN by Keith Olbermann
I want to sincerely thank you for the honor of your extraordinary and ground-rattling support. Your efforts have been integral to the remedying of these recent events, and the results should remind us of the power of individuals spontaneously acting together to correct injustices great or small. I would also like to acknowledge with respect the many commentators and reporters, including those with whom my politics do not overlap, for their support.
I also wish to apologize to you viewers for having precipitated such anxiety and unnecessary drama. You should know that I mistakenly violated an inconsistently applied rule – which I previously knew nothing about – that pertains to the process by which such political contributions are approved by NBC. Certainly this mistake merited a form of public acknowledgment and/or internal warning, and an on-air discussion about the merits of limitations on such campaign contributions by all employees of news organizations. Instead, after my representative was assured that no suspension was contemplated, I was suspended without a hearing, and learned of that suspension through the media.
You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient 'mistake' by their recipients. When a website contacted NBC about one of the donations, I immediately volunteered that there were in fact three of them; and contrary to much of the subsequent reporting, I immediately volunteered to explain all this, on-air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.
I genuinely look forward to rejoining you on Countdown on Tuesday, to begin the repayment of your latest display of support and loyalty - support and loyalty that is truly mutual.
Keith, we look forward to seeing you back on the air tomorrow night. Repayment may be made in the form of continuing to do what you do best, which is to tell the truth. Even when it makes many as Rachel Maddow put it on her show recently, want to "Stop, Squirm, and Run".
UPDATE 2: Hey, made the rec list! Thanks, guys! :)
UPDATE 3:
For those who didn't get to see it on Friday night, I thought I'd add the link here to Rachel Maddow's segment about this whole thing. I think she offers some valuable insight on how what Keith or anyone else at MSNBC has done is completely different than the wholesale fundraising that happens over at Fox News on behalf of the Republican Party and its candidates. What's more she's just made of smarts and awesome, so there's that. Her show and Countdown have been part of my daily ritual ever since she started her show, and Countdown was even before then.
I'm glad they'll finally be back, and my daily dose of truth and wonkiness will once again be met. I have to confess that I'm just enough of a KO/Rachel newsjunkie geek that my ideal trip to NYC would consist of hitting a ballgame with KO, and having cool cocktails with Rachel. (Yes, I'm a total nerd) Hey, it could happen! :p
UPDATE 4: Got a front page rec! Sorry, I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure if that's got a special name or not. Enlightenment is appreciated.