It seems MSNBC Host Keith Olbermann has been suspended without pay for donating to three Democratic candiates in violation of MSNBC’s ethics policy. Ironically, FOX News’ parent company’s ethics policy is much more realistic when it comes to these matters.
There are basically two separate questions here, whether it’s wrong for media figures to give direct political donations and whether or not Olbermann should have been suspended. The fact that Olbermann interviewed at least one candidate he donated to on his show without disclosing it is a problem, and he should have been well aware of his employers ethics policy. At first glance, it seems like they’re well within their rights to sanction him.
The rules aside though, it seems somewhat silly to suspend someone as avowedly liberal as Olbermann for donating to liberal candidates. As with FOX News, the positive coverage he gives to other liberals is far more valuable than any cash contribution. That said, there’s a difference between being independent and being objective. One can be unapologetically liberal or conservative without compromising your independence, and one could argue that a cash contribution crosses a line of detachment by investing directly in a particular candidate’s outcome. At the very least, that kind of thing needs to be disclosed.
This episode really shouldn’t be used to draw any sort of false equivalency between MSNBC and FOX News. Aside from the fact that several FOX News commentators have given to Republican candidates over the years including Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee, Olbermann and fellow liberal host Rachel Maddow have two hours a day, five days a week, and they’re balanced by three hours of Joe Scarborough every morning. FOX News is a 24/7 Republican telethon whose owner gave seven figures to the Republican Governor’s Association. There’s no contest.
Furthermore, Scarborough, as Greg Sargent notes, made political contributions in the past without incident, as apparently did Pat Buchanan. Markos Moulitsas points out that NBC excused the donation at the time because Scarborough was hosting an “opinion program.” What was Olbermann doing?
It seems like the only commentators at liberal MSNBC prohibited from making political contributions are the liberal ones.