Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Worst, Indeed

Tonight, at approximately 8:50 P.M., those rescuers down in Chile were valiantly pulling out the 33rd and final trapped miner. CNN and Fox News were both providing continuous/live coverage of the event. You want to know what MSNBC was doing during this historic event? They were showing the 800 millionth installment of Keith Olbermann's "Worst Persons in the World" segment. Yep, that's right, folks, the programmers over at MSNBC thought that it more important to stay on message/continue to allow one of their guttersnipes to spew ad hominems than it was to cover one of the greatest, most inspiring rescues of recent memory. And it absolutely continued like this the entire evening; CNN and Fox News covering the event, MSNBC propagandizing/stumping for the Dems..............................................................................................I mean, you want to talk about some irony here. Isn't it in fact Olbermann himself who's constantly going around saying that Fox News doesn't really cover the news, that they're only a propagandist outlet masquerading as a news channel? Wow, huh?................................................................................................Oh, and, just for the record, this post wasn't in any way provided to defend Fox's enterprise. I still very much consider them to be biased. My only point is that for people like Olbermann to so flat-out say that they don't cover the actual news is just plain ridiculous. And, yes, me-buckos, based upon tonight's performance, more than a little hypocritical, too.

7 comments:

Rusty Shackleford said...

Whats their new campaign? Lean foward.

Commander Zaius said...

Lean Forward? I watch MSNBC and I'm still figuring that one out. I just want to lean forward and see big boobs and cleavage.

Dervish Sanders said...

From the 10/12/2010 transcript of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann"...

At the top of the program...

KO: The Chilean miners -- as the hope for miners nears, possibly even later tonight. The latest from Copiapo.

After the first commerical break...

KO: First, this might be a night of significant rescue of miners trapped deep in the earth for 69 days. For the quick updates, our Kerry Sanders is live at the mine site in Copiapo in Chile.

Kerry, do we have a timeline yet for tonight?

Kerry Sanders, MSNBC Correspondent: We believe that we may have the first rescue take place at 9:45 Eastern Time... (conversation continues)

From the 10/12/2010 transcript of "The Rachel Maddow Show"...

At the top of the program...

RM: We begin our show tonight with the world's eyes on Chile, where 33 miners trapped under half a mile underground at a gold and copper mine for 69 days are right now awaiting imminent rescue.

Later on in the RM show...

RM: We will be monitoring developments from the rescue scene at Chile all night, bringing you details on the rescue live as it happens.

And at the VERY END of the RM show...

NBC's Kerry Sanders monitoring rescue operations of these 33 miners near Copiapo, Chile. Kerry, thanks so much. We will be covering this ongoing rescue. It's on throughout the night. Please stay with MSNBC for the very latest. Now, it's time for "THE LAST WORD" with Lawrence O‘Donnell. Hi, Lawrence...

So, my question to you is: how could KO have cut away from his "worst persons in the world" segment to cover the Chilean miners rescue -- when (as indicated by the RM show transcript -- a program that airs AFTER Keith Olbermann) the rescue had not yet begun?? ZERO miners were rescued during KO's program.

World's worst? I agree. World's worst fact checking by a blogger obsessed with bashing Keith Olbermann.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Wrong day, wd. I was talking about 10/13. On THAT day at 8:50 PM, the 33rd miner was being taken up and, yes, Olbermann was doing his "Worst Persons" schtick. Compare this to Fox, who had preempted O'Reilly and were doing instead a live feed.

Dervish Sanders said...

Clearly you believe the coverage of this event was inadequate. I strongly disagree. As you pointed out -- other networks were covering it. Obviously you believe that when a "major" news story breaks all networks should cover it 24-7 until it is resolved.

As for people who want to watch something else -- well, screw them. I tuned in to see the worst persons segment and would have been perturbed if they had cut it. I applaud MSNBC for not giving in to peer pressure and airing what could be seen on a half dozen other networks (at least).

The bottom line is -- KO covered the story. If his coverage wasn't good enough for you -- there were MANY other options. WATCH A DIFFERENT CHANNEL!

BTW "Worst Person" isn't "ad hominem" because KO isn't, for instance, naming Rush Limbaugh the worst person in the world because he's fat and ugly. He's highlighting outrageous and despicable things said and done which NEED to be highlighted. You clearly believe these things should be ignored...

I have to ask why the hell do you even watch shows which are political commentary? Obviously what you're looking for is simply straight news. There are a LOT of other channels that cater to your needs.

I find it extremely strange that you continue to attack political opinion programs for not being straight news programs. Do you not get the concept of a political OPINION program?

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

The pulling out of the 33rd and final survivor was a huge story that MSNBC, were it not such a propaganda machine, would have/should have been covering......Same thing with the Haitian earthquake. Olbermann covered it for a couple of days and, boom, it was back to business as usual. This, as opposed to CNN's Anderson Cooper, who stayed with the story and covered it brilliantly.

Dervish Sanders said...

You may want to flip through the news/commentary channels and see the same story covered on every single one -- I don't. Offering an option to viewers like me doesn't make you a "propaganda machine".

The Chilean miner rescue story was not 22 hours huge. I didn't see the last miner being pulled out and I don't give a damn.

BTW I seriously doubt MSNBC is more concerned about propagandizing for the Democrats than they are about turning a profit.