MSNBC just hit a new low in journalism -- They've jumped the shark big time

[Armstead]

This is really ridiculous and brought into stark relief what a bunch of jokers they have become.

Bernie is giving a press conference to outline his positions on free trade and related r issues.

MSNBC took a break from wall-to-wall Trump to give Sanders a few seconds of air time on the conference.


But then they cut away to Young Reporter Russert who was in the room with Sanders. Steve Kornachie starts chit chatting with Russert about Sanders electoral strategy blah, blah.....Russet proceeds to tell us what Sanders wants to say about free trade...

Bad enough that they could not just shut up and give Sanders a few minutes to state his case.

The thing is they keep Sanders on screen, and the sound is such that neither he nor Russert is decipherable because they're talking over each otehr.

[RKP5637]

1. In short, MSNBC sucks. It's a contrived MSM outfit much like Fox News. They don't report news, they

report distortions for the masses, Comcast, Inc.

[leveymg]

2. They report whatever they think sells best at the moment to their advertisers and the suits upstairs

Corporate news is all about keeping your cushy jobs. There is no other consideration.

[kracer20]

37. All Money

If Bernie were to be elected, and was able to pass campaign finance reform, that would be a gigantic blow to the bottom line of the M$M. Can you imagine the dollars they would lose?

[wendylaroux]

51. ^^^this^^^

Sanders is the last person greedy,rich people want elected.

[840high]

95. .^that

[Octafish]

59. ''Integrity is for paupers.'' -- attributed to Tim Russert

CHOCOLATES AND NYLONS, SIR?

By David Podvin, Jan. 9, 2002

In 1992, shortly after being named moderator of Meet The Press, Tim Russert was having lunch with a broadcast executive. The mealtime conversation was about the pros and cons of working for General Electric’s NBC subsidiary. Russert expounded on how being employed by GE had brought him to the realization that things functioned better when Republicans were in charge.

“You know, Tim, you used to be such a rabid Democrat when you worked for Pat Moynihan,” said the executive. “But now that you’ve gotten a glimpse of who’s handing out the money in this business, you’ve become quite the Jaycee. Were you wrong about everything you used to believe so strongly?”

“I still believe,” Russert said, leaning across the table. “I believe in everything I ever did. But I also know that I never would have become moderator on Meet The Press if my employers were uncomfortable with me. And, given the amount of money at stake, millions of dollars, I don’t blame them. This is business.”

The executive agreed. “But are you concerned about losing yourself? You know, selling out?”

Russert pounded the table. “Integrity is for paupers!”

When Tim Russert joined NBC News in 1984, he began a personal transformation from Democratic congressional aide to broadcaster-in-charge of General Electric’s political interests. His early efforts for the network drew some criticism from the GE corporate suites as being “too knee jerk”, a euphemism for “insufficiently pro-GE/ Republican”. The executives at General Electric viewed with hostility the Democratic Party that wanted to burden them with obeying laws that the company preferred to break and complying with regulations that it preferred to ignore. While Republicans turned a blind eye to the serial environmental crimes and bribery committed by GE, the Democrats were less submissive. The company was especially upset that the Democratic Party had taken a position against transferring public ownership of the broadcast airwaves to the media conglomerates.

CONTINUED...

http://makethemaccountable.com/podvin/media/020109_Russert.htm

[leveymg]

65. Celebrity broadcasters are set for life. Actually, their heirs are too. Guilded Serfdom.

The price is only your soul.

[mahina]

75. +10000

Nailed.

[Dustlawyer]

91. It goes way beyond this! Bernie is taking on ALL OF THE MOST POWERFUL INTERESTS IN THE

World! TPTB will stop at nothing to protect their ability to buy politicians and judges, thus controlling our country. Of course the MSM propaganda machine plays a crucial role as well. They would stand to lose big with Publicly Funded Elections. Bernie has promised that, with our help, we can end this corruption

[Gwhittey]

106. Vote Hillary

Sanders going to cost 1000 of American jobs!! The lobbiest and media people have families that need to eat. So what that they sell a false invasion of a country to American people where 1000s military die along with 100,000s civilians. Think of the poor News Anchors who would have to eat Hamburger instead of filet mignon because they lost their multi-million dollar jobs. You sir are heartless that you would subject someone to that.

[RKP5637]

69. Yep, that's pretty much the bottom line. P&L rules after they discovered there was big money to be

made rather that the old 15 minute newscasts from eons ago that as I understand were done at a loss.

[metroins]

3. And they're not even good at it.

At least Fox knows how to get ratings. MSNBC fails at journalism and still doesn't get ratings.

The only thing I do like is on election days they go into detail about the statistics more than CNN and I like the bright color scheme.

[JaneyVee]

4. I cant and dont watch any cable news.

Its 24/7 Trump.

[NurseJackie]

17. Same here! In our house it's BBC World News or streaming Sky News ...

... yes, I know, I know... but I enjoy the world coverage that gives much more information than one typically finds on US-centric cable news channels.

The US primaries/election coverage isn't wall-to-wall either, but when they do cover the topic, it's very interesting to see that their coverage isn't hyped or obsessive.

[oldandhappy]

21. yes, there is a world out there, giggle.

Congrats re your choices.

[NurseJackie]

27. Our son gave us a "ROKU" box for Xmas that has MANY free channels and shows ...

... that we can watch on TV through our internet connection. I'd only ever seen Sky News when traveling, and it's not offered on any of our standard cable channels. I love it!!

As you noted, there's an ENTIRE WORLD out there that (seemingly) the US media neglects. Little wonder that so many Americans have minimal understanding about the complexities of the world and world events (and even geography).

[oldandhappy]

29. oops. My world does not include ROKU.

Where do you connect with a ROKU box? I think I need this. I watch Sky News when I travel out of the country. Thank you for your advice. Smile.

[VulgarPoet]

34. I've only got Netflix; I might have to look into Roku.

I get the vast majority of my news from arsTechnica nowadays.

[oldandhappy]

41. Thank you for jumping in here. Appreciate all suggestions.

[JDPriestly]

99. It is great.

[NurseJackie]

36. The technical side of it appears to be simple, but it's something ...

... that we wouldn't have ever thought of getting on our own.

It connects to our wireless high-speed internet and plugs directly into one of the video inputs on our TV. We have to click the "input select" button on the TV remote (to view the signal coming from the Roku box) then use the Roku remote to switch between channels.

Some of the channels are free, some are subscription, some are commercial free, some have commercials. Something for everyone... you can pick and choose which channel blocks to display. You can even re-arrange the "tiles" on the Roku main screen and put your favorite channels right at the top of the list.

But you DEFINITELY need a high-speed internet connection with a wireless "WIFI" connection.

http://www.roku.com

[oldandhappy]

40. thank you lots

[Seedersandleechers]

108. You can live stream those stations

http://pro.livenewschat.tv

[RKP5637]

62. The ROKU box is incredible!!!!! That, was a great xmas gift!!!!!! Another one

is Internet Radio. I have a Grace Internet Radio. It receives about 50,000 free stations from across the world! https://gracedigital.com/

I have the Mondo https://gracedigital.com/shop/mondo/

It's extremely impressive with what it can do and sounds rather well.

[TrueDemVA]

105. Definitely purchase a Roku

I got a Roku 2 about 6 months ago and it is amazing. Now that I have come to the realization that virtually all news channels offered on cable are Corp mouth pieces, I will never go back to cable.
Now, we have to work to make sure the Internet stays free from corporate censorship.

[RKP5637]

107. Yeah, they'll do their best to take that over too! It's a constant war! n/t

[earthside]

5. I really have stopped watching.

I was trying to remember to tune in to "With All Due Respect" ... but I'm already out of the habit of going to MSNBC and I'm not even looking at that show.

Sure, Trump and the self-immolation of the Repuglican Party is a pretty big story, but the contrived and obsessive nature of the coverage is ridiculous.

I've noticed that lately even when I think about Maddow, Matthews, Hayes, et al., in retrospect they seem like political pantomimes.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. That truly is horrible coverage

Sanders deserves to have his platforms heard and evaluated, and not by that legacy hire Luke Russert.

[Punkingal]

7. But they let Trump talk non-stop all the time.

And Luke Russert is an idiot.

[riversedge]

8. So Sanders calls another press conference to hit on Hillary. ha ha

[FailureToCommunicate]

12. That wasn't the point at all of this OP.

And you know that. If MSNBC were doing the same to your preferred candidate, you might post the same viewpoint.

[LibDemAlways]

15. My ignore list of people on DU displaying the

right pointing Hillary arrow keeps getting longer. They are like obnoxious bullies on the school playground who won't stop interfering in other kids' games or flies that keep landing on the picnic spread. They do their candidate no favors.

[snort]

47. I try and give the benefit of the doubt and this is one of the times

my doubt has benefited. To the ignore list it goes. (engaging in reasoned discussion will never get a person on my ignore list).

[Manifestor_of_Light]

58. Listen to Thom Hartmann.

You can stream his radio show on thomhartmann.com, listen to it on Pacifica, Noon to 3 pm Eastern,

and watch his TV show THE BIG PICTURE on RT America from 6 -7 PM Central Time Weekdays.

[snort]

68. Already on his email list. :)

[Sienna86]

83. I watch RT now instead of MSNBC.

Excellent. Thom Hartmann and Ed Schultz both have shows.

[Mira]

9. It is so infuriating. If they weren't so expensive to replace my TVs would be broken

at times like this.
The person I want to hear is talking but screened and muted, and the bobble heads tell me what he/she is saying as if I did not have the capacity to interpret it myself.

[Fumesucker]

67. Back when I watched TV my last one was a projector

That was in 2008, when I wrote this...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3919168

[jalan48]

10. I wished we had some form of real debates between the candidates.

Give them a topic and let them speak and then question one another-no interference from a moderator. The speaking and questioning periods would be held to strict time limits-like in a real debate. We're adults, we can handle it without people like Baby Russert interpreting what the candidate is saying for us.

[Jack Rabbit]

11. Visualize this in your living room

[center]

[/center]
C'mon America. You can do it.

[Armstead]

20. I ust spent $400 for a new Tee Vee Machine so I don't think I'll do that..

It's nice for watching movies on

[mwooldri]

54. Hmmm... now we got a case for a fishtank!

Now this I can visualise!

[Jack Rabbit]

61. You minght want to use the sledgehammer to clear out the inside of the boob tube

Also, leave an opening at the top to insert fish food.

An alternate idea would be to convert the boob tube into a terrarium and grow houseplants within. I'd rather listen to a houseplant than Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity any day. On the other hand, fish, too, have more profound thoughts than most FoxNews personalities or most politicians nowadays, for that matter,

[olddots]

13. cut the cord. repeat cut the cord

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. I am a living testament to the benefit of cutting the cord. 8 years post TV surgery

Best decision I ever made!

[Armstead]

22. Works on a personal level but TV is still the information infrastructure

It's how people connect to the larger world

[pangaia]

39. What is this TV thing I keep hearing about?

Is this some kind of new disease?

I have no idea..

[Fritz Walter]

44. That was true in the past, but...

It is changing rapidly, and the corporate media are pissing themselves Because broadcast/cable/satellite viewership continue to drop so dramatically. The ones who adapt to this shifting paradigm will survive; the others will go the way of Blockbuster video.

Why else would the governments in China, North Korea and other authoritarian regimes control Internet access and content so tightly?

[VulgarPoet]

35. I haven't watched cable that I pay for in four years

and I think the last time I watched cable in general was when I took leave to go home. Had an enjoyable debate with my center-right father.

[Fritz Walter]

42. Especially if you're in a Bombast/Hexfinity area

BombastNBC's greedy hands controlling content have come to embody what's wrong with corporate-run media!

It's been six months since I cut cable TV; paid $400 to install a HD attic antenna and run Ethernet to both TVs in the house. I'm still on Hexfinity high-speed Internet, because other options are extremely limited (I don't think that dial-up is available). Regardless, I control the content... at least for now. The cost of making that change has since been recovered -- no longer paying $100+ a month for TV service is pretty sweet.

Never looked back, and I highly recommend it anyone who is as frustrated with hundreds of channels of video-dysentery as I was.

[mwooldri]

56. Cable company makes it hard... their pricing.

I need their fastest package, so that's $65/mo. I need regular phone service, so that's $25 a month. Cableco wants to bundle the internet, phone and tv for... $90/mo. Yeah I tried negotiating. Also there is no competition, unless I want dialup. 50 mbps vs 28.8kbps... no contest.

[tazkcmo]

102. Magic Jack phone service.

I have internet (45/month) and MJ phone service (35/YEAR!). Love it because my phone stays home like Gawd intended it!

[nc4bo]

16. I started watching more CNN.

At least the coverage on the program before Blitzer was more evenly discussed re: the 2 Dem candidates. Blitzer wasn't too horrible either in between Trumpgasms.

[jwirr]

18. I wonder if MSNBC has noticed how may of us have turned

them off?

[LovingA2andMI]

43. They Don't Care...

They are used to being last, have Comcast at their back and will keep on trucking with Fox Lite MSNBC.

[ReasonableToo]

19. I don't know if they are really meant to be a "real" news channel . . .

I think they are actually kept around for the two-fold purpose of giving the right-wing talking heads ammunition to claim the media has a liberal bias and infecting the masses with the same fearfulness that Fox does. Actually competing for viewers is not necessarily on their radar.

-in at least one market region, COMCAST does not carry it on their "bare bones" cable tier. You have to pay extra for MSNBC so they are cutting their ratings by limiting # of households that have access.

-on the Friday, the "new dump day" the regular political shows are pushed aside for the lockup show - makes viewers fearful of their fellow citizens and softens them up for any "tough on crime" stands

-now that we are in election season, they fire the folks that report on TPP

-the way they cover Bernie and other topics now reminds me of the Fox model where they onscreen folks are told in the morning what to report on and what not to report on and how.

If their goal is to support the goals of Faux news, this is a genius way to go about it.

[oldandhappy]

23. I have joined all of you away from MSM

Mostly PBS for me . Great one hour on Scott returning from a year on the space station. Watch for it. I am sure it will rerun. Definitely worth your time.

[Person 2713]

97. Yes I just saw that. Recommend the documentary

[Eric J in MN]

24. Did C-Span show the speech? NT

NT

[Armstead]

25. Dunno...I work at my desk with back to the TV as background noise

It sorta stays on autopilot. MSNBC has been the default channel but that may change soon

[andrewv1]

26. Well, you have Main Stream News Boosting Clinton & Clinton Nomination Network

I am sure the Establishment Marching Orders in this case are coming out of the Comcast Building in Philly....

[Armstead]

28. Well this one was just plain incompetent and stupid

A blatant insult to the intelligence

At least they could have been subtle and ignored it altogether...But they don;t even do devious well

[andrewv1]

38. Not any more....They are pretty out in the open now. Try RT America....

Hey, the Elite sees Rubio as "going south" & Hillary is now "the chosen one" but we also have Romney "waiting in the wings" if charges against her are recommended.

You have to bet on different horses to keep your agenda in place!

[elljay]

33. MSHRC

I have basically stopped watching, too. I have a pet peeve about having my intelligence insulted. Do they really think we we're too dumb to see what they're doing?

[andrewv1]

48. They don't care....Tweety & Senior Valley Girl Borger are not trying to relate to us.

What they want to make sure is a consistent message for those Lockheed Martin & Northrup Grumman ad dollars coming in for "Meet the Press."

And I'm not aware of any preowned F-22's we could buy out there.


Unfortunately we have the beginnings of a corporate fascist state & Bernie is a threat against it's expansion.

[Betty Karlson]

30. B-but... It's her turn and 9/11 and ovaries and...

you are going to Hell and you are sexist and racist and socialist and whatever other -ist we think sounds bad and shameful. Did I mention she is a woman?

[HassleCat]

31. The media want Clinton vs. Trump

It will be very exciting, providing them with endless hours of nasty back and forth, scandals and fake scandals, etc.

[TeamPooka]

32. and they'll drop everything to show 45 minutes of a Trump speech. #fuckers nt

[UglyGreed]

45. I saw that

it is disgraceful........

[rtracey]

46. I refuse

I refuse to watch MSNBC anymore. I believe All on that shit station are no longer a voice of the democratic party being moderate or Liberal. I believe Rachel Maddow has sold out and the very last straw was the horrible treatment of Melissa Harris-Perry, and Ed Shultz. I actually have just about had it with politics and I am pretty much disgusted with the democratic party. I believe I may just renounce and go independent. I live in MD so independents cant vote in primaries, but too bad...

[turbinetree]

49. I just wonder if there live feed ear pieces where exploding .....................

cut away, cut away now, ..............................because, let's face it, they (the oligarchies) got rid of the Fairness Doctrine, it doesn't exist, because Bill Clinton signed into law to have it repealed-------------------now its almost entirely controlled by right winger owners, producers ect,. and there right wing BS.........................





Honk-------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016


It is about getting a Progressive President, U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, and State and Local Legislatures

[JohnnyRingo]

50. Unless he's outlining something brand new....

...they have to grant equal time to the other candidates, and you wouldn't like that either. The news director listens while he explains the reason for the press conference then cuts away when he shifts to his stump speech. If you want to hear his platform speech over and over go to a rally or donate for TV ads.

That's why Trump gets so much face time. His campaign ad strategy is to say something crazier and crazier to put his mug on TV for free.

[Armstead]

53. This was a press conference, and they covered it in a fucked up way

He was explaining his positions on free trade, and taking questions.

I have seen them give Hillary uninterrupted air time to "unveil her foreign policy vision" and such....not to mention an hour straight of Trump over and over.

But this was a new low in standards. Read the description. They show the conference, but had two pundits talking over him telling us what he was saying and how that fit into his "campaign strategy." And the whole mess was indecipherable as a result.

[Hoyt]

52. Tuesday night, they left Clinton's live victory speech to report on Texas. I guess that was

disregarding Sanders too.

[Armstead]

64. They disregard everyone

They're equal opportunity fuckups

[Hoyt]

66. Exactly. They do what they think will attract/keep the most viewers.

They are often wrong, but they want viewers.

[rockfordfile]

55. yes MSNBC is getting worse. People are starting to make fun of it.

[Jopin Klobe]

57. CRAPmedia at its most expressive ...

... they're either torturing the directors or they've thrown them out ...

... and replaced them with ... with ...

... whateverthehell's jumping up and down on the Director's console ...

[2naSalit]

74. I think things were turning bad

when Bill Wolffe left a couple years ago. The RMS show started its downward trajectory around that time.

[JEB]

60. Shoot the f'ing TV.

[Armstead]

63. Just bought one...though it's tempting

[morningglory]

70. Little Russert is a blight on the tv screen! nt

[left-of-center2012]

71. MSNBC also likes to broadcast from noisey restaurants

As if then clanging pots & pans, dishes, loud voices of diners adds something to the commentators.

[Enthusiast]

72. MSNBC is as bad as Fox.

[YOHABLO]

73. We don't live in a Democracy anymore. It's an Oligarch. So very sad.

I don't understand why they want to destroy the country. As long as they can keep ''us'' entertained, we won't question their greed and power grabs. Sick people. Evil if you will. Not many are paying any attention. Check your Comcast bill lately?

[Cheese Sandwich]

77. MSNBC is Fox News for liberals

They are corporate fascism enablers.

[Armstead]

78. Not even for liberals anymore -- They've taken off the makeup

They seem to be adding a lot of right wing "editorial contributors" these days, including the awful Benjamin Ginsberg

[Cheese Sandwich]

80. Yep and...Fired Cruz Spokesman Rick Tyler Joins MSNBC

Well that was fast; four days after being fired as the national campaign spokesman for Ted Cruz, Rick Tyler has joined MSNBC as a political contributor.

Tyler was fired Monday after tweeting and Facebooking a fake story claiming that rival Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio insulted the Bible in front of Cruz’s father Rafael Cruz. Rubio actually praised the Bible, a fact that Tyler admitted in his apology.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fired-cruz-spokesman-rick-tyler-joins-msnbc/

They are reaching all the way to the very bottom of the barrel.

[Armstead]

81. Ollie North will be their new foreign policy adviser soon, I expect

[Cheese Sandwich]

82. LOL ya.

But even on their so-called liberal shows like Maddow, it's what they don't cover that is glaring for me. They don't really challenge power like the big banks and military industry and the oil industry.

Their flag is firmly planted for neo-liberal, corporate capitalism.

[Jester Messiah]

79. So... if they're not liberal, then what do they provide that CNN and FOX don't already?

Basically they're killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Stupid move...

[rpannier]

84. They pay these idiots millions of dollars

Unless it is Swampy Forrest Trump, they can't afford for them not be speaking. Everyone else be damned

[Bernblu]

85. Turn off the corporate media toadies!

[valerief]

86. That channel has been shit ever since (1) they fired all the liberal voices and (2) Comcast

set the All Conservative programming. Even Rachel and Chris and Lawrence have to chatter endlessly about Trump. Every other host is a hard-core conservative.

[silvershadow]

87. Comcast own MSNBC. Comcast wrote huge parts of the TPP, which Bernie rails against.

Shit like this should be illegal. At least they should be required to give equal time. Sad. We are a shell of our former country.

[redruddyred]

88. this is not the first time they have done so

about a week ago when they were livestreaming his rally they cut out just when he mentioned the TPP

[Uncle Joe]

89. I don't care what label they give themselves, the corporate media conglomerates are

the corporate media conglomerates, first, last and in the middle.

They're not trying to enlighten the American People, just trying to sell them, that's all the CMC knows and that's all they care about.

Thanks for the thread, Armstead.

[Ivan Kaputski]

90. Why do people watch and listen to rich people tell us what the news is?

[southerncrone]

92. And they will claim they give Sanders "equal time" to Hillary. But,

it's only face time w/o sound! Or, as you stated, the pundits are talking over his speech so no one can understand what he's saying!

I suppose MSNBC thinks they are being clever w/this tactic, but it is painfully OBVIOUS to anyone w/a brain.
They are now dead to me.

[SciDude]

93. Propagana is all that reamains in American media. n/t

[wagepeace]

94. MSNVC just hit a new low in journalism

Not surprising, MSNBC is FoxNews2.0...I've completely given up on getting any subsitive news from them additionally since this election cycle they've become all Trump all the time. MSNBC not liberal, progressive, fair or balanced... MSNBC has become irrelevant

[Koinos]

96. No TV in our house.

One of my favorite books about what is wrong with TV: Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, by Jerry Mander. And things have only gotten worse.

[Hulk]

98. Pull the plug on MSNBC....should be msnbc...

Minor league...given up....totally owned by the frightened powers that be...and just not worth the juice it takes to run the place. If Lawrence O'Donnell is still gracing the network, he and Rachel are the only shows that have on ounce or more of decency. Fook the rest of the programming. It's gone from struggling to DOA.

[Madmiddle]

100. Joe Scar borough and Yellow Russet

There's no wonder their ratings are tanking, they're beyond laughable, trying to be like FOX. They've failed miserably with these two and they keep alienating the good "commentators!"<-----??????Good commentators is the real problemo. They should maybe hire a journalist!!??

[aaaaaa5a]

101. They promised Alex Wagner a weekend show

then they cancelled it.

They have prominent beat reporters posing for pictures with known Nazis at Trump rallies.


This network has really fallen off.


Weren't they ahead of CNN in the TV ratings and starting to threaten FOX in key demos back in 2007-2009?

Why change direction? If viewers want FOX news, they will watch FOX news. Period. The network is never going to out right wing propaganda Rupert Murdoch and Roger Allies. Although they are certainly trying.


Alex Wagner's promised weekend show cancelled by MSNBC as the network moves right.

[bigwillq]

103. Turn it off.

Simple.

[Armstead]

104. That's a solution on a personal level, but like it or not, Media is the Information Infrastructure