I posted a poll earlier today asking abut your choice of teevee newz sources. MSNBC fared the best of the whole sorry lot.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2732689I suspect a good bit of this sentiment can be traced directly to one Keith Olberman. But there may be other factors. I don't think MSNBC has ever been as bad as FOX and FOXLite (CNN). While the yakkers are who they are, the actual reporters are maybe better than most. Yeah ... I know .... Norah O'Donnell is supposedly a reporter. But she's more than balanced by her not sister, Kelly O'Donnell. And who's better these days than David Gregory? Or David Schuster?
But what gives me hope is this: Jack Welch is the man who turned NBC and MSNBC to the hard right. And he's gone. I don't know who's left, but not many men can match ol' Jack for pure weight of personality. He's the one who turned Russert and Matthews. No doubt he ruled with an iron fist.
But since his departure, there's been a softer edge to MSNBC. And now that Dan Abrahms has been named General Manager, there's even more reason to think better times are ahead. You may not have liked his show about missing women and featuring shrill lawyers screeching at each other, but think of the guy himself. To me he never came off as a hard right guy. I actually can't even say which way he leans ... he's that neutral.
After he took over, he said he would make changes at MSNBC that would play up their strengths and play down their weaknesses. His first move was to cancel Rita Foghorn and move Tucker to an earlier slot. Tucker, however, fails almost as miserably as did Rita, so maybe that was just using what's on hand and hoping to hold until real change can be made. He also added Allison Stewart with a new show (still not a great show, but she has promise, I think .... I know she was the best Olberman sub ever).
Over the last year or three, MSNBC has picked up the contracts of various B-Team on-air correspondants let go by (mostly) CNN (in its race to the bottom) and (a few) from Fox. These people are by and large not household names, but are good, solid, ***honest*** fact speakers who say what's going on with breaking news stories. No spin, no analysis. Just facts. Ned Potter and Michael Okwu, for example. Same with their daytime bland anchors. Not too much spin.
And that's all good stuff.
Anyway ... we all know damn good and well that an honest, no bullshit/no spin news organization would play to a HUGE unmet need in the US. Could that be where MSNBC is heading?
Or am I mistaking one of the kids' stashes for my pipe tobacco?