Los Angeles Times Takes On Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews & Dan Abrams -- MSNBC Prime Time Trio

WOW... I don't know how much more blatant you can get in a media review of MSNBC prime time than one posted in the LA Times. Has the network, more specifically its "stars" gone too far this election season. Take a look at an excerpt from his very pointed criticism of Keith Olbermann (and right on target some would argue).

From Howard Rosenberg:
"Countdown With Keith Olbermann" is the bean ball between "Hardball With Chris Matthews" and "Verdict With Dan Abrams" in MSNBC's weekday lineup. This trio has spent the election season heckling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from deep inside Sen. Barack Obama's hip pocket and hammering Sen. John McCain since Day One.
Olbermann and Matthews co-anchored MSNBC's coverage of this year's party caucuses and primaries, and when Obama clinched the Democratic nomination this week, calming down these guys would have required a defibrillator. But the low point was New Hampshire, when they spent probably 15 minutes giggling at and making fun of the speech McCain gave after topping that primary's GOP field....
"Is Keith Olbermann the Future of Journalism?" the American Journalism Review asked last year. The piece quoted Chicago media critic Phil Rosenthal saying Olbermann "flows from funny to poignant in connecting the seemingly random dots of a day's events, important and trivial, steadfastly clinging to basic tenets about what is and what isn't news without being bound to traditional approaches." He's right about Olbermann loosening the vise of tradition, which can be a good thing. And Olbermann doesn't just flow funny, at times he hemorrhages funny. But poignancy? Connecting random dots? "Steadfastly clinging to basic tenets about what is and what isn't news"?
Get a grip. The man's a big ham.
NOTE: Check out the full American Journalism Review article mentioned above.

While I have blogged several times before here about the creative writing and production of 'Countdown' (and I still believe that), you won't find posts since the political season heated up that support that attacks on Hillary Clinton. I don't think Olbermann was alone in the pro-Obama, anti-anyone else approach this season though. The general spin of cable news this political season has been more than annoying. Everyone screams "fair", "most trusted", etc. But if you watched a compilation of the season, you will find very little in-depth reporting on key issues, how they affect Americans and how candidates planned to take real action instead of standing on more political rhetoric. Clinton seemed to be the only one challeged there. MSNBC has been most heavily criticized for its attacks on Clinton.

Is Olbermann the future of news? I think the question is too narrow. The future of TV news is eroding, thanks to the 24-hour entertainment, opinion-driven philosophies driving the cable news madness. There is a serious lack of depth and insight... but a great deal of influence from the cable newsers. In the end, I don't think you can blame this trend on Olbermann, Matthews, Abrams, Bill O'Reilly, Anderson Cooper and others.

SAMPLE COMMENT FROM ONE OF MY PREVIOUS OLBERMANN POSTS:
Anonymous: "NBC should be ashamed for giving this moron more airtime. He is a tabloid sportscaster posing as a journalist. He preaches his hatred for everything conservative and wears his bias on his smug grin. He offers zero dissenting views while he preaching the same hate day in and day out. His show is continualy dominated in cable news(sadly enough still MSNBC top rated program), so now their trying the network again. His rating were atrocious when strategically placed ahead of NBC's Sunday night football game, so I guarantee they'll be even worse tonight. I am glad to see he decided to discuss the weighty issues of the day with a comedian tonight, because his show is a joke. NBC has truely reached rock bottom."
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Dan Abrams, Verdict, "Beat The Press" Targets FOX

Dan Abrams is on the attack again agaisnt FOX News. He took a quick shot at FOX in his 'Beat the Press' segment during his show, Verdict. Abrams claims FOX News might want to send a memo to production assistants telling them to at least try for a 'fair and balanced' approach. The hub-bub comes after a FOX staffer told John McCain she voted for him and that he was going to win. It was caught on camera. FOX fired her Friday morning. Take a look at the clip.
It's hard to believe that Abrams believes this rasies beyond levels exhibited by all the networks in the anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-Barack Obama reporting. It was only last Wednesday that an MSNBC anchor (I believe it was Norah O'Donnell) was yelling at Terry McCollough about why Hillary Clinton was not getting out of the race after the loss in North Carolina. It was so jarring, that even I paused while at work to think, 'This is going too far." It's even worse when you look at 'Countdown' or 'Hardball'... and how journalists are supposed to remain objective. The FOX News firing was a cheap, easy target. The issue of fair and balanced reporting in this race are far greater.

Here's how TVNewser was the first to report the event Friday.
Insiders tell us the assistant, identified as Jennifer Locke, was on assignment with a camera crew to cover the entertainment angle of the event. When Sen. John McCain walked by, the assistant said, "I voted for you in the primary, you're going to win."
McCain was overheard saying to her, "You're not supposed to reveal that." Locke apparently continued to explain that she is the daughter of a Vietnam veteran.
Insiders who were at the event were surprised and shocked to hear the disclosure, which was recorded on videotape. A Fox News insider called it "journalistically unacceptable."

CHECK OUT OTHER ABRAMS POSTS
Abrams Takes on Rush
Abrams To Judge the News
ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW
A sample of comments to recent posts about Abrams
Tmoney said...
I completely agree! He seems like an extremely stuck up wealthy elitist who lives in his own little bubble away from people he probably considers peasants.
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Anonymous said...
Please, in the seriousness of the situation of Obama's passport breach, lose the "Batman type" graphics for the on the phone conversations for the gravity of the situation.Instead, Please, Please use your staff's expertise to explore the linkages of the "contract employees" to their actual employer(s) and their linkages to the current or political affilitions. I greatly appreciate your aggessiveness in this situation. Respectively submitted, Jacke Hall Green
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Anonymous said...
HELP!! I find it impossible to watch "Verdict" because of the Dick Tracy comic book style of graphics! The bright orange and black explosions going on all the time look as if they should have a big "POW!" in the middle. Please, who designed this??? "Race for the White House" graphics are subdued and classy.
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Dan Abrams (Verdict) Takes On Rush Limbaugh - Give Me A Break

So, the latest tit for tat in cable news (and radio in this case) is the battle between Dan Abrams of MSNBC's 'Verdict" and Rush Limbaugh. Apparently Limbaugh has encouraged GOP members in Pennsylvania to vote Democratic to cause "chaos" in the Democratic vote. The same thing happened in Ohio. Well, that's apprarently upsets Dan Abrams... whose in-your-face, saracastic, spoiled-frat boy delivery each night is just plain annoying! Here's part of the squabble.

Cable news has a lot of personalities... Bill O'Reilly, Hannity and Colmes, Nancy Grace, etc. O'Reilly is O'Reilly. Limbaugh is Limbaugh. Neither ever forces their audience to think or do anything. If a listener or viewer acts, then he or she is to blame for anything illegal (or unethical). If you don't like Limbaugh, turn him off.

Abrams just seems out of place in his attempt to join the leaders of the opinionated pack in cable news. For me, 'Verdict" and Abrams are overblown in tone, overdrawn in cartoon-like graphics and over-played. I applaud MSNBC for trying (and if you've read my blog regularly, you know I am a long-time viewer of NBC news content) but Abrams is just way too much to handle. There's a great opportunity here for something of substance opposite the old-to-dead Larry King audience and the clearly conservative Hannity and Colmes audience. I worry it's another missed boat sailing out to sea. This one has Dan Abrams being pulled in a life boat behind it.
CHECK OTHER ANOTHER 'Verdict' POST

David Gregory and MSNBC’s ‘Race For The White House’

David Gregory opened the show with a declaration of fast and hard coverage. He promised the show would open each day with a check of the biggest headlines from the assembled panelists. I expected a quick hit from each panelist. But, everyone seemed to go on and on! It has potential… but keeping the panelists to :30 or less will help deliver on that promise for ‘hard and fast’ coverage. Plus, just moments before this show launched, news broke that Florida would NOT hold a second primary. What an opportunity! Only Chuck Todd really addressed the issue before Gregory and other panelists moved on to other headlines. How dynamic a start if the first segment with the panelists was refocused with Gregory opening the show and saying to the panelists, “…Florida Democrats have made a decision, give me :30 on what this means to Obama and Clinton.”

MSNBC is juggling is lineup, no doubt to capitalize on the great presidential election season. Gregory’s dedicated hour will happen each night at 6pm. Andrea Mitchell will handle her own political show at 1pm each day. Plus, Dan Abrams will issue a ‘Verdict’ on news of the day each night at 9pm.

Gregory is NBC’s Chief White House correspondent and a candidate for some position soon on ‘Today;’ He fills in for Matt Lauer regularly, but where would that leave Lestor Holt?

Dan Abrams To Judge The News In MSNBC's 'Verdict'

NEW POST HERE: Dan Abrams Takes On Rush Limbaugh

MSNBC annouced that Dan Abrams, the host turned general manager turned host agian, will now also take on the role of judge. TV Decoder reports about Adam's new show 'Verdict' which will air at 9pm on MSNBC. “This show will make judgments,” Mr. Abrams said. “We will declare a sort of ‘verdict’ on everything from politics to law to pop culture.” Wow, look for a lot of cheesy cliches and graphics to go along with this concept. I'll admit it if I am wrong.. but it's ripe with potential to go really bad... really fast.

"When a news show tries to do something offbeat, there's a sense that it's gimmicky," Abrams told the WashingtonPost.com. "It's supposed to be fun. The media make everything two-sided, even when it's not. Rather than saying 'one side says this, the other side says that,' it's helpful for viewers to know where I'm coming from."

I hate to say this, election night coverage aside, but cable news is now more about entertainment in prime time. O'Reilly is the king. Well Larry King was the king until the 'Factor' came on the scene. "News" shows have tried and failed in prime time. Anderson Cooper may be the closest thing to "news"... and that's a bit of a stretch. Who knows what CNN will try to wrap around Campbell Brown after 'Election Center' ends. It may not be such a bad thing to accept that cable news prime time is about entertainment. Perhaps Abrams can be the next Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown.

By the way, in all of this, Tucker Carlson is gone. I have to admit I didn't realize he was still around after 'Dancing With The Stars'.
Plus, check out the post about 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' getting the 10pm time slot as well as his 8pm slot.

Well, time for some shameless promotion of another fun blog I just launched. Hey, we all need to get away from this mad media world on ocasion right? Check out Meerkat Mania: LOVE FOR THE MEERKATS. Yes, I love those cute little critters that scurry across the Kalahari every Friday night on Animal Planet. I've watched previous seasons on DVR on rainy or sick days. It's easy-wastching TV! "Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation" starts Friday at 9pm. Enjoy the show.. and add comments on the blog anytime! GET YOUR MEERKAT RINGTONES AT: Meerkat Mania LOVE FOR THE MEERKATS!