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Hope they are feeling like toadies I'd forgotten all about Phil Donahue's dismissal from MSNBC in 2003 for questioning the Iraq war, until I happened on C-SPAN coverage of a conference put on by FAIR. Now I want to read Jeff Cohen's book so I can hear more stories like the one he told at the conference about how MSNBC decreed there should be two conservative guests for every liberal. Funny how the national political climate dictates whether or not the truth is OK. Keith Olberman is now free to get down. There's a market for it now. Here are some background links: - A post about MSNBC internal workings from All My TV that quotes a leaked internal report "The study went on to claim that Donahue presented a 'difficult public face for NBC in a time of war ... He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives.' The report went on to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes 'a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity.'" - Followup post with more juicy stuff, but this bit helped me put something together "By late August, network executives had began to discuss ways to boost the numbers, and for many, that meant moving the show towards a more 'centrist, women-friendly environment.'"I'm guessing (as I roll my eyes) that they think women like to hear about guys killing their pregnant wives and honeymoon murders in Aruba and real and merely-confessed pedophiles. You think that's it? Or do they believe that women by their nature lean right and hawk? I can't speak for younger women, but for women my age, I'd think it would be just the opposite. a) I remember Vietnam, b) I have military-age sons. Thank God there's no draft, so there's no danger of my own kids being sacrificed, but that doesn't stop me from feeling protective of other mothers' children. - Interview with Phil Donahue on Democracy Now. - More examples of war fever in the media in 2003 from FAIR. |
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