Which MSNBC Personalities caved today?

[brooklynite]

I was told this weekend that Keith Olbermann's departure was part of a plot by Comcast to stifle liberal voices, - and - that the remaining stable of TV hosts would be too afraid to continue advocating their progressive opinions. So who sold out this evening? Or is it pretty much business as usual at MSNBC?

[elleng]

1. No one caved, and they all said they wouldn't,'business as usual,'

and sounded that way. Today, anyway.

[LawnLover]

2. Huh? nt

[Skip Intro]

3. I don't think KO's departure was a Comcast/NBC/Universal (sheesh) move. I think he quit.

I think that explains the last minute shuffle of shows. I think that explains the shock of the other on-air personalities. I think everyone knew there was friction with Keith and the suits, but the stammering responses among his network piers make it seem as though it was unforeseen. We may never know, but the sheer logic of a network firing its highest-rated personality without warning, without a planned backup, for me, at least, puts to bed the idea that this was some corporate move to remove him.

[napi21]

4. They not only didn't cave, they all paid tribute to Keith!

I said it last night & I'll say it again, neither Rachel nor Lawrence will stop the way they present their comments, and although I know Ed somewht less than the other two, I don'pt believe h will either.

[bdamomma]

10. I thought they were all very humble Rachel, Ed and Lawrence

in their appreciation to Keith. Sad nevertheless, I missed seeing Keith last night.

[regnaD kciN]

5. Wrong question...

The question isn't "which of them caved today?" but "which of them will tone down and become more timid over the next few months?" And, to answer that, all the brave rhetoric in the world on "the day after" means nothing. Remember G. H. W. Bush's noble words about how the Tianneneman Square massacre "would not stand"...and, within a year, how he was pushing to grant China most-favored-nation status?

[coolhip33]

6. Absolutely! of course they would say that nothing is going to change

What did you think they would say? "Yeah we have all been told that Phil Griffin is now reporting to NBC News Prez so we are going to have to now follow NBC News policy." And Phil Griffin told them "We won't check your copy before hand.... for now... but once we think that you have gone too far... like we think Keith did om occassion ... BAM you hand will get slapped and we will start reviewing your copy before hand...."

[deutsey]

12. I recall it was only a couple weeks after the massacre that Brent Scowcroft

was in Beijing toasting the butchers.

[Supersedeas]

13. exactly regna....great post

[Cleita]

7. Too early in the game to see what Comcast will do.

Ask the same question six months from now. You probably will see the liberal talk being gradually replaced with the company line if they are still determined to shoot themselves in the foot.

[HEyHEY]

8. Anyone who thinks these people are in the office with a gun to their head

With some mysterious man saying "You better not say liberal things" needs to seriously re-examine their life.

[Joyce78]

9. Mr. Olbermann ... thank you.

I don't care for MSNBC during the early morning nor the afternoon. I usually watched Ed at 6:00 pm EST, avoided Chris Matthews at 7:00 pm, and truly enjoyed Keith at 8:00 and Rachel at 9:00. I've decided I've had it with MSNBC. I'd love to see some movement for consumers to contact cable companies and demand that we only pay for what we want to watch ... I don't watch FOX, Disney, and now MSNBC.

[Cleita]

14. Not to mention about 10 religious stations

I unwillingly get on my satellite.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Then You Were Told Wrong...

A "plot"? Hardly. The best handle on this has been David Schuster's who knows all the people involved and the politics around them. This is a byproduct of long-festering egos within NBC News and MSNBC...people who are currently in charge of the network and not Comcast. The other hosts were caught blindsided by this and what could they say? It's easy for someone to rush to a message board and conjecture...spin all sorts of conspiracies and go with feelings over facts. This happened late on Friday and festered over the weekend. If this was some plot to eliminate progressive voices, we would have seen a major house cleaning. Didn't happen.

[Cleita]

15. Or maybe they were reading the message boards over

the weekend and decided not to ruffle more feathers right away.

[KansasVoter]

16. All of them said what MSNBC management told them to say. Down the line.