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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged msnbc

1. November 3, 2010 01:46 AM

   Election Night Coverage Roundup

   What was said on CNN, NPR, the BBC, the NYT, and elsewhere

   By CJR Staff

   CNN CNN clearly wants to wow viewers with the whiz-bang: the “data wall,” the “election matrix,” the “sentiment analysis” of the “Twittersphere,” the exit poll 3-D doodads that from time to time crowd Ali Velshi out of the shot entirely. But what I am watching—really, watching—is Wolf Blitzer. Wandering the set. With pen and notepad. (A human foil, sort of,...

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2. June 30, 2011 10:43 AM

   Halperin Sorry for Calling President a “Dick”; Still Suspended

   By Joel Meares

   Speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, TIME editor-at-large and Beltway Terminator Mark Halperin said the president acted like “kind of a dick” at yesterday’s press conference. Naturally, every Tom, Dick Mick, and Harry is seizing on Halperin’s comment because of its volcanic implications for the debate over how Washington should address the debt and job crises. Okay, that’s a...

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3. June 21, 2011 12:58 PM

   He’s Back

   Olbermann and Countdown back on Current TV

   By Joel Meares

   It’s probably unwise to make any big calls on Keith Olbermann’s return to the big chair last night on Al Gore’s Current TV. Television programs, particularly live ones, are like restaurants: they take time to settle and find their groove. Even Broadway allows for kink-ironing previews before letting the wolves into the orchestra level. The wiser critic will give a...

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4. October 15, 2012 11:00 AM

   MSN.com launches news service

   MSN News is built for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10

   By Hazel Sheffield

   It’s only three months since Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC.com, the news site it produced for 16 years in partnership with NBC, but the computing giant has already announced that it will launch a news service called MSN News with the release of Windows 8 on October 26. After that date, visitors to MSN.com will see a blend of...

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5. November 11, 2010 04:06 PM

   MSNBC’s Ratigan Goes Way Off the Deep End

   Discussing violent revolution as if it's just another policy option

   By Ryan Chittum

   MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan not only decided it was a good idea to have on far-left cartoonist Ted Rall to discuss his new book The Anti-American Manifesto, which calls for the left to consider violent revolution if its aims aren't met, but Ratigan overtly endorsed revolution and implicitly endorsed considering violence. If this were on Fox News, the media would...

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6. November 2, 2010 11:54 AM

   Olbermann Suspends “Worst Person” Segment

   What other segments, programs, or people should be cut from cable news?

   By The Editors

   After accusing Jon Stewart of jumping the shark on Twitter over the weekend, Keith Olbermann last night gave in to the siren call of America’s self-professed sanity restorer and announced that he would be temporarily suspending his "Worst Person in the World" segment. Here is a taste of "Worst Person," if you’ve never had the “pleasure.” Olbermann explained the move...

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7. February 9, 2011 03:13 PM

   Olbermann’s Big Gamble?

   Maybe, maybe not: Current TV is a very unsure bet

   By Joel Meares

   The Al Gore-founded Current TV has been called many things since it first went to air on August 1, 2005—and even before that. When rumors surfaced that Gore had television ambitions, many thought he was looking to start a Fox News Channel for the left, a kind of televised Air America. Then, when Gore and co-founder Joel Hyatt confirmed that...

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8. February 23, 2012 02:24 PM

   Pat Buchanan and His Enablers

   Why did MSNBC hire him in the first place?

   By James Kirchick

   Last week, MSNBC fired Pat Buchanan following a four-month suspension. The proximate cause of his dismissal was the publishing of his latest book, Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? That tome, which included chapters like “The End of White America” and “The Death of Christian America,” crystallized the central themes of Buchanan’s four-decade oeuvre as a political...

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9. January 14, 2011 12:58 PM

   Play With The 2010 News Cycle Thanks To Pew

   How did Fox, NBC, NPR fill the year's "newshole"?

   By Joel Meares

   Forgive us for not noting this sooner—our attention has been devoted to the Giffords shooting and debates that followed. But a big hat-tip to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism for their interactive project “The 2010 Year in the News.” The tool allows you to compare and contrast the media’s coverage of 2010’s biggest stories, newsmakers, and...

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10. January 25, 2011 01:05 PM

    So Long, Olbermann

    What’s next for NBC?

    By The Editors

    With one abrupt announcement at the end of his show on Friday, Keith Olbermann ended his run on MSNBC, where he had hosted Countdown since 2003. The fiery host is “a highly talented broadcaster, a distinctive and outspoken voice and a mercurial personality with a track record of attacking his superiors and making early exits,” wrote The New York Times...

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11. March 20, 2012 01:17 PM

    Stories I’d Like to See

    Examining the insanity defense, MSNBC’s weekend sleaze, and suing OPEC

    By Steven Brill

    In his weekly “Stories I’d Like to See” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. 1. The Afghan massacre and the insanity defense: Beginning late last week we began to see the outlines of a possible defense for Robert Bales, the army sergeant...

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12. April 3, 2012 11:47 AM

    Stories I’d Like to See

    Cable conflicts, BlackBerry’s demise, and China’s millionaires

    By Steven Brill

    In his weekly “Stories I’d Like to See” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. 1. Disclosure on cable news shows: When talking heads come on the cable-TV news shows to support their causes and attack the opposition, are there any standards imposed...

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13. January 26, 2011 02:43 PM

    Talked Out

    Who needs Keith Olbermann, anyway?

    By Steve Daley

    Like a lot of folks I was surprised by the apparent sacking of Keith Olbermann at MSNBC, if for no other reason than it’s unusual for marginal enterprises such as cable networks to rid themselves of their most popular commodity. But as I read the postmortems and the sendoffs, it occurred to me that it had been some time—a long...

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14. November 9, 2010 01:22 PM

    The Olbermann Question

    What are the journalistic consequences of reporters donating to political campaigns?

    By The Editors

    One question which has gone largely unaddressed in the Keith Olbermann controversy is this: Is there a difference between donating to a candidate before they appear on your program and donating to a candidate after they appear on your program? What changes, if anything, with the exchange of cash? Olbermann made his three donations following Democrat Raul Grijalva’s appearance on...

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