Greg Sargent and Markos Moulitsas have already pointed out that NBC suspending Keith Olbermann for violating their ethics policy against employees donating to political candidates is pretty ridiculous in light of the fact that they've allowed their conservative commentators to contribute without incident.
This episode is another reminder that MSNBC is far from the "liberal equivalent" to FOX News. Aside from the fact that several FOX News commentators, including Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee, have given to Republican candidates over the years, the channel is basically a 24/7 Republican telethon that gave seven figures to the Republican Governor's Association. Twice. Newscorp has a far more permissive -- or realistic -- ethics policy:
The prohibitions and limitations on political contributions outlined above relate only to the use of corporate funds and services and are not intended to discourage employees from making personal contributions to candidates or political parties of their choice. Personal involvement in political activity is permitted as long as the activity does not interfere with or impair the performance of the employee's duties for the Company. In addition, any employee who becomes involved with a political group must make it clear that his or her activities are being conducted purely in a personal capacity and not on behalf of or in connection with the Company.
FOX Hosts wouldn't be able to headline all those Republican fundraisers otherwise.
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 if you're covering the individual in question. But at the moment, it seems as though the only commentators bound by liberal NBC's ethics policy are liberals.
