MSNBC was worse than Fox last week and will continue to be after the new branding.

[Stinky The Clown]

They have really great left leaning hosts who say what we want to hear. But the fact is they're owned by GE and are part of the other side, the same side that uses Fox as a house organ. Fox is bad, but obviously so.

MSNBC is playing the left for fools. They have an agenda that is not left leaning and they push it very subtly.

Worse than Fox.

[Pirate Smile]

1. They work hard to alienate Democrats and liberals from the Democratic Party.

That is great for Republicans.

Having a RW channel to reinforce all the Republican talking points to the Republican base works out great for Republicans and Corporate interests.

Having a Left-leaning channel to alienate Democrats and liberals from the Democratic Party ALSO works out great for Republicans and Corporate interests.

edit to add - I should have said "sometimes" instead of making it sound more like a blanket statement that they do it all the time.

[WeekendWarrior]

3. Wow

That's some heavy paranoia you've got going there. How does MSNBC alienate anyone from the Democratic party? That's absurd.

[Pirate Smile]

4. More Jane Hamsher & Dylan Ratigan - that'll help.

I don't think there is a concerted effort to help Republicans but if the Corporate owners decided they wanted to then they could certainly help spread discontent. Put on the people on the left who blame the Democrats for everything and give the Republicans a pass. There are plenty of them.

[WeekendWarrior]

7. Sorry

I don't buy it.

The only thing going on here is a desire for more ratings and more money. MSNBC has found a formula that works -- leaning left -- and they hope to make even more money off of it. And that's the only thing that sways them.

There's no concerted effort to do anything more than that.

By the way, maybe Democrats should own up to the fact that a big part of the reason people blame them is because they so utterly bad at getting the message out, which Republicans happen to be genius at. When Democrats learn the art of sound bytes and standing up forcefully for what they believe in (like Anthony Wiener, for example) things might change.

This isn't MSNBC's fault. We're lucky we have them.

[Scuba]

11. I absolutely love Rachel Maddow, but she alienates some, no doubt.

[WeekendWarrior]

2. Sorry, Stinky

But you are absolutely wrong, here. There's nothing worse than Fox. Nothing.

MSNBC, for the most part, hires people who have actual brains with actual opinions -- whether we agree with them or not.

Fox hires robots who do nothing but follow the script. Doesn't matter whether or not it's up front and in your face. It's still disgusting and much worse than any other cable news outlet out there.

[HughMoran]

5. Bullcrap

Nice try with the big-brother framing, but nobody owns Rachel or Keith or BigEd (who blew his top at management recently) or even Tweety for that matter. You're just wrong.

[Cal Carpenter]

6. You make a good point

I haven't watched cable TV in years, to tell you the truth. But the reality is that these news channels are all owned by *huge* media conglomerates, and their goal is to make money. Sure, they cater to different crowds, but NONE of them challenge the status quo on any deep level because, well, they *are* the status quo.

People gotta get their info from somewhere, if they choose cable news then so be it, but there's no use in pretending that there are substantial differences. They are all opportunists. That's their job. They are good at learning how to be palatable to certain viewers.

The same can be said for the Walmart vs. Target arguments, Whole Foods vs regular grocery stores, Borders vs Barnes and Noble, and so forth. Sure there are some minor, relative differences, but they mostly just pertain to who their targeted *market* is. To media and big business, all we are is consumers, and all they want is our money. Ideals, values, all the rest is just marketing ploys to them.

That's how our economy works.

[WeekendWarrior]

9. How can you say

that the OP makes a good point if you haven't watched cable TV in years? That makes no sense to me.

Now, I agree that they're only real goal is to make money -- but that doesn't mean MSNBC is making a concerted effort to undermine Democrats.

[Cal Carpenter]

10. I was referring to the OP's comment about ownership

not content. Thus my disclaimer about not watching it. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

[WeekendWarrior]

14. Fair enough. nt

[flyarm]

8. when Bush started his wars of lies GE got the 5th largest no- bid contracts for Iraq.

They took Donahue off air to silence the anti war voices.
MSNBC pushed the war meme as hard as Fox and CNN!

Thats a fact.

[suston96]

12. Uh, and those free clinics Keith Olbermann and MSNBC sponsors for any needy person ........?

All those patients from the left, right, anywhere, showing up for treatment? Are they being played for fools?

[Bullet1987]

13. I do think there is a point to be made about not following pundits

Like what they say is the word of God. But to say MSNBC is the same as, or worse than Fox is asinine.