Here was a man talking about the very things that Rob and I discussed over breakfast. He railed against Bush’s invasion of Iraq and told us why he was against it. He exposed the hypocrisy in Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, dissed John Yoo’s validation for waterboarding and torture at Gitmo, poked fun at Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck and the other brain-dead humans at Fox News. He was Keith, this guy whom we invited into our home every night, night after night, and his show became the point in our evenings when we broke away from our own work to find out what was going on in the world.
We used to watch the evening news with Brian Williams. He fell by the wayside. Within a few months, Countdown was it, the voice of what we intuited about where things were headed in the U.S., in the world. Keith was the voice of integrity, the only voice in cable or network news that told it like it was, laid it out, A to Z. Yes, sometimes he was vitriolic, he was brutal. But so what? The other side plays that way 24/7. In some strange sense, Keith Olbermann became the voice for a segment of the American public that still believes in the Bill of Rights and in conducting political business in a humane and genuine way.
During the health care spectacle in Congress, Keith talked about the free clinics coming to various American cities, and asked for donations. His request raised millions for that clinics. When Governor Brewer of Arizona denied insurance coverage to 99 individuals in her state who need transplants, Keith invited some of these patients onto his show and asked for donations to a transplant organization. That raised money, too. When his parents were dying, he shared these details with us as well and always managed to tie in the personal stuff with the larger global issues. This guy, Keith, became a man who wasn’t just talking to us, but was sitting in our living rooms with us, part of the family nightly ritual.
Keith never mentioned the word synchronicity, but he highlighted coincidences, he recognized them, and sometimes they were related to sports.
Tonight (January 22, 2011), after Rob and I got home from an Otmar Lieber concert, I went onto Huffington Post and discovered Olbermann had just done his last show. I felt sickened, depressed, until I remembered that just a few days ago, the FCC had approved Comcast’s buyout of MSNBC. When I’d heard about the merger, my first thought was that Keith would be the first on the chopping block. I hoped I was just being pessimistic. The irony here is that Keith’s show was MSNBC’s top show, with 1.1 million viewers. What kind of business model is that, Comcast? Well, it isn’t a business model. It’s politics.
So let’s look at Comcast. From a CBS news site, we learn that “taking over NBC will transform the company into a media powerhouse. NBC Universal owns the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks; 26 local TV stations; popular cable channels including CNBC, Bravo and Oxygen; the Universal Pictures movie studio and theme parks; and a roughly 30 stake in Hulu.com, which distributes NBC and other broadcast programming online.” The merger, according to this article, is one of the largest in a generation. Comcast worked hard for this merger. It spent nearly $100 million, hired a hundred lobbyists who were former government employees, and made campaign contributions to three-fourths of all members of the 111th congress.
What did all this money achieve? According to Joe Torres, Free press senior advisor, government and external affairs, it achieved a great deal for them. “The new Comcast-NBC will have the market power and every incentive to favor its own content over its competitors’, destroying the emerging online video market and stifling cable competition. This new behemoth will control one out of every five TV viewing hours. While the FCC placed several conditions on the merger that are beneficial to the public, there’s no way to sugarcoat the harmful impact this deal will cause the public by giving Comcast unprecedented power over our media landscape.”
In practical terms, what’s this merger mean? Well, in addition to banishing Olbermann, one of the true progressive voices in the media, Josh Silver, writing in the Huffington Post, noted, “Culmination of the deal, combined with the FCC’s recent, loophole-ridden “Net Neutrality” rules, sets the table for Comcast to turn the Internet into cable television, where it has the ability to speed up its content, slow down or block its competitors such as Netflix, and hike the rates for its programming and services. We’ll all end up paying more — whether you’re a Comcast subscriber or not.” Even worse, as Silver noted, “The merger further squeezes what’s left of independent, diverse voices from the television dial, laying waste to President Barack Obama’s promise to reign in runaway media consolidation.”
So that’s where it all stands right now. We can certainly expect the other internet providers to follow Comcast’s lead.
Keith Olbermann will undoubtedly land on his feet and it would be great to see him on HBO, where his 1.1 million viewers would follow him any day of the week.
Just think of the brainless material all our kids are being fed via the electronic highways! So awful! Natalie, you're a riot!
We're Moogs with head antennas! Sounds right to me! 😉
same with me, cj – natgeo and discovery/history – well, and before, olbermann! 😉
Moogs with head antennas. 🙂
I fear all these takeovers. Soon as you know it, we will be living in a dictatorship.
wv=dicsta
:O
TV? I watch Hallmark movies, National Geographic, and The History Channel. Other than the weather, which I can get on the computer, I can do without a TV set. But, my hubby is TV addicted. Gotta watch those football games and Nascar races, ya know! 😉 Funny WV: uramooqg
Your'e a moog?? Maybe 'moog' is a new word! Smiling.
me, too, nancy, on watching tv any more – and the news, which means i don't have a clue sometimes as to world/other events but i'm thinking that works in a positive way, too – less negative impact – and the commercials! dear heavens! there are more commercials than there is actual show in a regular one-hour segment, i'm sure! some time ago i bought an expensive home theatre/recording/playing whatever thing but haven't gotten it hooked up yet – just an hour ago, when my daughter was here, we talked about her coming down to hook it up as i don't watch tv anymore to speak of and i've lots of movies/documentaries i've not yet seen – anyway, couldn't agree with you more on the entire thing –
fun wv – nuifixi – need to fix it! 😉
We are turning off the television more and more.We never watch the news anymore. I tried to watch Saturday Night Live last night and finally gave up because there were so many commercials.
I'm much more concerned with the FCC and their loopholes. We must fight to keep them out of the Internet. As for watching television shows on the Internet – I don't really care. But I do care about the Internet not being controlled by Comcast or anyone else. It needs to remain open to everyone, everywhere.
well, it's all been said by all above – what a mess! unfortunately, comcast is the only thing available to me now where i live – and i, too, have their "bundle" – and it IS so much like the days of old with bell south here in louisiana – less choice to no choice – if you don't like it, where're ya gonna go!!! wherever olbermann lands, i will follow along, but again – what a mess!!!
Corporate mergers anywhere always seem to result in one point of view.
We have an att bundle, I know how difficult it is to change providers!
Have to pass on this subject but big mergers I've seen in the UK often mean less choice and a one sided viewpoint.
I'm in the same place as DJan. Comcast has our landline phones, TV cable, and my computer access. We could shift, but the electronic complications would be overwhelming, as would other relevant issues, so essentially, we're pretty much stuck with Comcast, at least for now. Sooner or later we'll be able to change everything from this "bundle", but can't do it now, unfortunately. In this area, Comcast resembles the Southern Bell Company of many years ago. A conglomerate leaving customers with few options.
Agreeing on all points. I'm as heartbroken as so many. He will turn up again. Where? He has broadcast network clauses for his $30million buyout. Webcasts ala Democracy Now or Anonymous style? I'm good with that. Just as long as his voice reaches out.
Here's a Tweet from Anderson Cooper put out Friday evening before his 10 p.m. show:
Comcast deal is approved. Jeff Zucker leaves. #keitholbermann gets fired. Coincidence? Find out #ac360 at 10p
I agree with you on all points. However, Disney Corporation is the "ghost" (yet publicly known)owner of NBC and all the affiliates you mentioned. From researching the Illuminati, it appears that the Disney Corporation is one of the most active participants in that global shadow organization. I hate seeing Olbermann go, but I truly believe he will re-appear, and in a space that is better formatted for his originality. I do still watch and listen to Brian Williams. I was especially interested, a week or so ago, in Brian's interviews with Wubbya. Brian's attitude, his facial expressions, his almost-sneer, demonstrated dis intense dislike of Bush #2 and his utter disbelief in the ridiculous fluff Wubbya was peddling and spinning like cotton candy at a carnival. Brian didn't even try to hide his antagonism, and it was the first time, over years of watching Brian Williams, that I've seen him be overtly hostile. He wasn't hositle enough to be called on the carpet, but nonetheless, his intense dislike of Bush was very transparent and it was good to see his truth coming through in the interviews. It was almost as if he didn't even want to be in the same room with Wubbya but that he had a job to do and it was distasteful to him. he looked like a child being given a spoonful of castor oil. He reeked of sarcasm over many of Wubbya's responses, and I had to sit in my LR and chuckle and cheer and say "Go, Brian!!" Hopefully as time passes, Brian will continue to allow his true colors to show more and more, because he IS, in my opinion, one of the few good guys left in the media, if the higher-ups will keep their hands and controls off him and allow him to be himself as he was with Wubbya. WV: "nathwasc" Sounds a bit like 'mouthwash'!
Mergers are scary things, because they tend to herd people into their own brand of, well, everything. I was against this and wonder if you have any ideas of how to counteract the trend. Since Comcast is the only internet provider available to me, I use them for access. I am incensed over Olbermann's ouster.