MSNBC gets blasted and nobody comes to their defense

[MrLabGuy]

In a room full of television industry executives, no one seemed inclined to defend MSNBC on Monday for what some were calling its lopsidedly liberal coverage of the presidential election.

The cable news channel is "completely out of control," said writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat.

She added that she would prefer a lunch date with right-leaning Fox News star Sean Hannity over left-leaning MSNBC star Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann was criticized by many who attended Monday's luncheon sponsored by the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event was dubbed "Hollywood, America and Election '08."

Bloodworth-Thomason and others seemed especially critical of the way MSNBC -- and other media -- has attacked Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while demeaning her supporters.

"We should stop the demonizing," she said, adding that Democrats have been worse than Republicans as far as personal attacks on candidates are concerned. "It diminishes us," she said of her fellow Democrats.

Bloodworth-Thomason even suggested a defense of Palin and her supporters should be written into TV programming, just as she went out of her way to portray Southern women as smart in her hit TV show "Designing Women."

Attendee Michael Reagan, the radio talk-show host and son of President Ronald Reagan, said he no longer will appear as a guest on MSNBC because "I actually get death threats."

"I'll stop sending them," joked Larry Gelbart, the writer, producer and director best known for the "M*A*S*H" television series and such movie screenplays as "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!"

Pollster Frank Luntz, a regular guest on the Fox News, joked that MSNBC is "the only network with more letters in its name than viewers."

On a more serious note, Luntz said it's a problem that the electorate chooses to watch news programs not for information but to confirm already-held beliefs, and that applies to viewers of CNN and Fox News as well.

Luntz predicted a Barack Obama victory and said that one of the many reasons the Democrats have been more effective with their message is because, while Republicans dominate talk radio, Democrats have begun to dominate the Internet.

"I'd rather have the Internet," he said.

Obama also gets credit because he's a better communicator than past Democrats, Luntz said, comparing the previous Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, to one of those trees that threw apples at Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz."

Actress Patricia Heaton noted that Hollywood workers too often just assume everyone they work with is a like-minded liberal. When those around her belittle John McCain or Palin, she politely reminds them that she's a Republican.

"That's what you have to do in our town," she said.

Actor Beau Bridges lamented that there is "too much entertainment" in elections nowadays. "Just put 'em in a room -- like we are now -- and let 'em talk about the issues," he said.

Some of the most spirited debate came from the panel's moderator, outspoken conservative Lionel Chetwynd. The writer, director and producer passionately defended the Iraq War and Palin, whom he called "the ideal Jeffersonian political figure."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...700b7bc78273ae

[Krimson X]

Who watches MSNBC? Liberals dont even watch MSNBC. I'm more of a Fox News (when I can stomach it) and CNN. It is apparent that Fox is more right-leaning and CNN is more left-leaning. Hopefully watching the two would allow me to strike a balance. Fox should definitely drop the whole "Fair and Balanced" bit, it is simply not the case. Sean Hannity has a conservative agenda, Fox and Friends has a conservative agenda, Bill O'Reilly has a Bill O'Reilly agenda. Fox News Radio is conservative all of the time. Too much yelling, bloviating and pithiness.

Cable news has become "Edutainment."

[JCL]

I won't come to their defence. I think they are in the entertainment business, not the news business. Same with many of the other stations listed in the post, such as Fox.

Try independent news sources, or international news sources, and you get a very different view.

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by JCL

I won't come to their defence. I think they are in the entertainment business, not the news business. Same with many of the other stations listed in the post, such as Fox.

[AzX5]

Originally Posted by Krimson X

Fox should definitely drop the whole "Fair and Balanced" bit, it is simply not the case. Sean Hannity has a conservative agenda, Fox and Friends has a conservative agenda, Bill O'Reilly has a Bill O'Reilly agenda.
Cable news has become "Edutainment."

Fox definitely has an overall conservative agenda, but in their defense, they almost always give both points of view by allowing both a liberal and a conservative equal time in defending each side of the issue being discussed. Sean Hannity is also balanced by Alan Colmes, who is very liberal.

Something you don't see on most other news and edutainment channels, at least not very often, is both points of view.

[Krimson X]

Originally Posted by AzX5

Fox definitely has an overall conservative agenda, but in their defense, they almost always give both points of view by allowing both a liberal and a conservative equal time in defending each side of the issue being discussed. Sean Hannity is also balanced by Alan Colmes, who is very liberal.

Something you don't see on most other news and edutainment channels, at least not very often, is both points of view.

I agree that the panel consist of opposing points of view. Where I judge conservative v. liberal I look to the moderator. Sean Hannity can have a liberal on his show, but he will dominate the conversation, and talk over his guest.

[Eric5273]

Originally Posted by AzX5

Sean Hannity is also balanced by Alan Colmes, who is very liberal.

And MSNBC has Pat Buchanan.

It doesn't change the focus of their subjects. Fox takes conservative ideas and lets Combs argue against them. MSNBC takes liberal ideas and lets Pat Buchanan argue against them. But neither channel really presents the other side. It's not as if these channels are reporting all the news and just giving you a liberal or conservative slant on it. If you were to watch Fox and then watch MSNBC, you would think they were each covering news on a different planet, because there would be very little overlap of news reporting. They each only report targeted news stories and discuss targeted issues which fit with their viewpoints. It's not really news, it's more commentary.

If you want a real news report, watch the BBC or PBS news where they actually report the news and are not worried about ratings. You will never get a true news report on any station that has to raise money by advertisements/commercials.

[Quicksilver]

None of that article is as disturbing as some of the added comments
that followed it. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...700b7bc78273ae

[ylwjacket]

if you have ever watched olderman or rachel maddow, you would know how ridiculous msnbc has gotten. i used to like them the most because they were balanced - no more. even chris mathews has taken to bashing the repubs too much. everyone knows he's a democrat, which is fine, but he was neutral in his programming. even chris has gotten the memo from corporate, which is very disappointing.

maddow is disgusting. olberman has lost all credibility. i don't watch msnbs at all any more.