You are no Tim Russert, Mr Brokaw

As garnerered from the New York Times article, It is Mr. Brokaw we have to thank for the sacking of Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews from the anchor desk at MSNBC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/arts/t elevision/30brok.html?_r=2&hp=&p agewanted=print&oref=slogin

     "In an interview here after Sunday's broadcast, Mr. Brokaw said that over the summer he had "advocated" within the executive suite of NBC News to modify the anchor duties of the MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews on election night and on nights when there were presidential debates. Their expressions of strong political opinions from the MSNBC anchor desk has run counter to the more traditional role Mr. Brokaw played on "NBC Nightly News" for more than two decades. NBC said earlier this month that the two hosts would mostly relinquish their anchor duties to Mr. Gregory, while being present as analysts."

The interesting thing about this comment is the sheer hypocracy of the situation.  Brokaw speaks as if he holds no biases in his presentation to the public.  We have seen him on Meet the Press beefing up McCain:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28 meet-the-press-brokaws-fairness-facts-p ulled-out-of-thin-air-to-make-mccain-loo k-better

Tim Russert would be turning in his grave if he knew that this sort of advocacy was being pushed during his Meet The Press, taking the credentials of said program and giving an unfair lean to the right.

And now we hear that not only has Brokaw used his senior status at the network to eliminate the anchor positions for Matthews and Olbermann, but he is also advocating for the McCain campaign at NBC.  Again from NYT:

"Mr. Brokaw said he had also conducted some shuttle diplomacy in recent weeks between NBC and the McCain campaign. His mission, he said, was to assure the candidate's aides that -- despite some negative on-air commentary by Mr. Olbermann in particular -- Mr. McCain could still get a fair shake from NBC News. Mr. Brokaw said he had been told by a senior McCain aide, whom he did not name, that the campaign had been reluctant to accept an NBC representative as one of the moderators of the three presidential debates -- until his name was invoked."

So Brokaw is not only advocating for McCain in the organization, but now is the ONLY reason the McCain campaign would consider allowing an NBC anchor at the debate.

NYT:

"One of the things I was told by this person was that they were so irritated, they said, `If it's an NBC moderator, for any of these debates, we won't go,' " Mr. Brokaw said. "My name came up, and they said, `Oh, hell, we have to do it, because it's going to be Brokaw.' "

Well since Brokaw is such a great advocate inside the NBC organization for the McCain campaign, he obviously cannot be objective and ask the hard even handed questions that will be needed for the people to discern which candidate will be the best for the country.

Until Mr. Brokaw is able to answer questions of fairness, he should NOT be the moderator of ANY debate (and this goes double for Fox news and other questionable anchors).

So lets call upon NBC to suspend Brokaw from anchor duties until such a time as he can be shown to be fair to both candidates and not and advocate for one.

viewerservices@msnbc.com
MTP@NBC.com

You can also mail a letter to:

NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112

Tags: debates, nbc, Tim Russert, tom brokaw (all tags)

Comments

18 Comments

Say what?

Okay, I always kinda figured that Brokaw was a Republican in his personal life, but what you're doing is criticizing him for trying to appear neutral.  And I'm not talking like FOX-style-fair-and-balanced, I'm talking legitimately neutral.

There's a difference between giving someone a fair shake and blatantly pandering to them.

Now, Olbermann is great, and Matthews has moments of brilliance (very brief moments), but they are NOT unbiased anchors.  In fact, I was cringing at their convention coverage.  It was painful.  They may have been drunk, but they were certainly sleep-deprived, and their first instincts are not towards unbiased fact-reporting.

Brokaw is a legendary newsman and I think he's doing fine on Meet the Press.  If he can get McCain onboard for interviews on NBC and MSNBC, then he should, by any legitimate means.  Rachel Maddow has been hitting a brick wall in her very genuine non-ambush requests for interviews with RNC/McCain types, and if it helps Rachel, I'm down with it.

Suggesting that Russert is "spinning in his grave" is a little strong to be saying about one of his close colleagues, don't you think?

by Dracomicron 2008-09-30 08:16AM | 0 recs
Re: Say what?

So we should legitimize the position that only McCain friendly outlets should be allowed at the table when the debates occur?

I am not saying that Olbermann and Matthews don't have biases, but this is also true of Brokaw.  Legendary or not, he's advocating, and not staying neutral.  Olbermann shouldn't be the debate anchor either, but I don't see him being promoted as one, but Brokaw IS.  What's more, he is the only representative from the NBC network which is acceptable?  This just strikes me as a farce.  

NBC and MSNBC in particular have been the only main stream sources of news that are not leaning or heavily leaning to McCain, and to put the anchor who is advocating McCain as the only representative of this station makes no sense.

I'd like to see Chuck Todd be the anchor for the debate well before Brokaw.  At least he isn't "in the tank" (as they say) for McBush.

what's so wrong about asking for fairness at the debate?

by Why Not 2008-09-30 08:24AM | 0 recs
Who says he wouldn't be fair?

I have not been convinced that Brokaw would be anything other than fair as a debate moderator. Unlike McCain, Brokaw cares about his reputation, and as much as we love the left turn that MSNBC has taken of late and think it a much-needed response to Fox News, their most visible representatives have been very critical of McCain and favorable towards Obama.

We didn't criticize Obama for refusing to debate Clinton on Fox, did we?

by Dracomicron 2008-09-30 08:34AM | 0 recs
Re: Who says he wouldn't be fair?

Again, I didn't say that the campaigns couldn't try to make demands.  I agree that Obama shouldn't put himself in a lopsided debate and neither should McCain.  But not debating in a certain setting has a political price to pay.  And if McCain wishes to avoid MSNBC then he should have to pay the price just as Obama had to when he rebuffed Fox.

Furthermore NBC (which is who the McCain campaign wanted to exclude entirely) has not taken the left turn you describe, it is pretty much exclusively MSNBC. NBC and especially CNBC have a much more right wing slant.  

My only point is that Brokaw is not neutral as he advocates for McCain. A more neutral party should be selected to moderate debates.  This is why it should be Chuck Todd and not Brokaw.  I don't think that is too much to ask.  

by Why Not 2008-09-30 09:08AM | 0 recs
Chuck Todd

Well if you're going to talk up Chuck Todd, I can't argue with you, now can I?

I mean... of course Chucky T would be better.  That's just a given.

by Dracomicron 2008-09-30 09:31AM | 0 recs
Re: Who says he wouldn't be fair?

Brokaw gets one fact wrong about a poll and now he is "in the tank" for McCain?

Brokaw is not as aggressive a questioner as Russert, but he has clearly been neutral throughout the election. To argue that he would be a moderator who favors McCain is really far-fetched.

by fsm 2008-09-30 09:57AM | 0 recs
Re: Who says he wouldn't be fair?

This isn't just about one fact, it's about his admitted ADVOCACY on behalf of the McCain campaing inside NBC.  If he is advocating one party, how can he claim to be fair when moderating a debate?

by Why Not 2008-09-30 09:59AM | 0 recs
Re: Who says he wouldn't be fair?

Sorry, I missed anywhere in your post of linked where Brokaw "advocated" for McCain or his campaign. He "advocated" for a non-partisan anchor during convention and election night coverage -- which is pretty much the standard most people would expect from a major network, Fox News aside.

Where's the part where he "advocated" in favor of McCain?

by fsm 2008-09-30 10:03AM | 0 recs
Re: Who says he wouldn't be fair?

I think you will be proven wrong. Brokaw will be the storm that Obama never sees coming.

by vcalzone 2008-09-30 09:20AM | 0 recs
I don't think Obama will be caught off guard

First, I don't think that Brokaw wants the storm that Charlie Gibson got for ABC at the last Clinton vs. Obama debate.  I think his advocacy of McCain is being over-blown

Second, Obama's getting to be an old hand at these debates, and I doubt he'll be caught off-guard again.

by Dracomicron 2008-09-30 09:29AM | 0 recs
Re: I don't think Obama will be caught off guard

Yeah, Obama would definitely not be speechless at this point, and he wouldn't stammer his way through either. But it could still be rough and push him slightly off balance.

by vcalzone 2008-10-01 02:31PM | 0 recs
Re: I don't think Obama will be caught off guard

See, I think Brokaw just doesn't give a damn. He's retired, he only came out of that to fill the hole left by Tim Russert.

by vcalzone 2008-10-01 02:32PM | 0 recs
Re: Who says he wouldn't be fair?

If you think msnbc is fair, you haven't been listening to David Gregory. I wonder if HE's running for the Meet the Press spot and what HE's doing to get it. I quit watching Gregory some tim ago when he had a long run of undiluted anti O material without anything like counterbalance against O's opponents.

by Christy1947 2008-09-30 12:56PM | 0 recs
Gregory is a hack, yes.

I'm not going to argue that one.

by Dracomicron 2008-09-30 01:08PM | 0 recs
Re: You are no Tim Russert, Mr Brokaw

Frankly, I'm glad Olbermann isn't an anchor because he's deeply partisan and his preferred style is to editorialize.  He has his place, but opinion and reporting need to be kept separate.  For example, the WSJ has a terrible editorial page, but top-notch reporting.  Whatever Brokaw's personal political beliefs, he tries to act as an unbiased source of information.

Plus, he's not a hectoring douche.  He's no Tim Russert, and that's a good thing.

by failsafe 2008-09-30 09:01AM | 0 recs
Re: You are no Tim Russert, Mr Brokaw

This is the first time I have heard of any allegedly neutral newscaster having a liaison position to one of two campaigns in a political campaign, one side specifically. What's worse, he has not declaared that position when we listen to him, and the CROOKS AND LIARS transcript says he is not managing his conflict well. If he were a true neutral, he could not be an unannounced liaison because that is a conflict with neutrality. I am not surprised though, because he has taken  his demotion badly, and used this improperly biased liaison position to boost himself into the moderator's desk. It is a shameful way to end a career, but that's the choice he made.

IMO, he should announce this as fair disclosure of a conflict whenever he appears.

by Christy1947 2008-09-30 01:00PM | 0 recs
Demotion?

The guy's partially retired.  Dude's old.  He wasn't demoted.

You're making a mountain out of a mole hill.  He's trying to get actual journalism out of a source that's clammed up.  

Would you say that Woodward and Bernstein advocated for Mr. X by arguing to their editor that they should print the story with an anonymous source?

by Dracomicron 2008-09-30 01:12PM | 0 recs
Re: Demotion?

On W and B, the editor knew who the source  was, I think. Or enough about him to decide what to do.

On semi retired, Brokaw was ousted from the nightly news and remains bitter about it, vocally, and wants his status back.  

And are you really prepared to hope for the best for him when he has ninety minutes to skew the result ala Stephanopoulos, so late in the campaign that the damage will be hard to undo. I am not. You know and I know that he will take all the filthy arguments the repubs are making, and make O defend them, and will never raise medical or any of the similar ones against McC and not Troopergate or the arguments she has made to suppress it against Palin.

Election or no, it was his duty as a supposedly neutral and professional journalist to disclose his link, whether created by him or his employer, to one side of a contested campaign, and, really, to stay away from it the same way Andrea Mitchell has to stay away from commenting on the content of the bailout because of her relationship to her economist Alan Greenspan.

by Christy1947 2008-10-04 06:08AM | 0 recs

Diaries

Advertise Blogads


----------- myDD - skin -----------