This is more about the Corporatist manipulating our Media for political purposes. When ABC ran with an out right hit job on the Clinton administration ABC and it's Corporate just in effect ignored the enormous "Liberal" outcry. When CBS,NBC,ABC cheered the Bushbag's propaganda based march to war they confidently ignored any dissent. These Companys are run mostly by Repiglican and Conservative sympathizers they feel it's their job is to preserve the power of the Rethuglican party while pretending to be neutral. Unfortunately it's working. The real question is what to do about it!

I didn't try to watch NBC over the air coverage, but watched on MSNBC because they ran a lot of coverage not just in prime time. And this is not really just about MSNBC anyway, because if the ratings are to be believed, 51% of the electorate is NOT watching MSNBC, but is saying in the polls that they think the press is hurting Palin. MSNBC is the smallest of the outlets, but it is the one to be punished, because it is left outspoken, while Fox is right outspoken and is fine and dandy.

When I went to the over the air networks during the conventions, they were still running lots of their regular commercial schedules.  If I understand the situation correctly, there are two more or less parallel organizations, NBC over the air and MSNBC, which have different histories and audiences and different styles including a brawl about Over the Air  retiring Tom Brokaw involuntarily, and what the bosses tried to do was to integrate them.  Badly.  

They could have dealt with it by putting Brian or Tom on to chair the evening sessions, but chose not to, and ended up with both of them complaining about their own bosses, and the loss of their automatic primacy  and prestige in the overall news organization. And then the bosses put both O and CM on in the same slot at a time when the two are apparently vying for primacy at MSNBC and CM's contract is up for renewal. Another flash point of conflict there.

I don't remember Tim Russert having that problem with the MSNBC folk.  

Part of the curse of that is the tendency of NBC over the air to try for reporting which shows what is happening with a lot of self censorship more easily seen over at ABC where Gibson has already announced he is decreeing various issues off limits from the git go in the Palin interview, without dealing with the content of it, and the over the air crowd demanding more status and the banning of the MSNBC gang to the back room for being bad little children.

Gregory is also a bad little child as his race for the White House became a place to hear today's talking points about how badly Obama is doing, with no similar treatment for the Republicans or Clinton, but they are keeping him because despite his admitted biases, he had a long stretch as a White House correspondent, and even did skits with Rove at the White House Press corps dinner, hardle a sign of neutrality, but within the over the air ethos of what is or is not acceptable.

MSNBC is always going to be different, because they have outright conservative commentators, indeed former Republican candidates and officeholders, as part of their mix, which ensures a hotter atmosphere.

MSNBC was on the verge of becoming the liberal version of Fox News.   It was crazy.   Emotion and bias ruled the day and with panels made up of Maddow, Robinson, etc. being lead by Oldermann or Matthews going just way over the top in their support / defense / advocacy of Obama.  

MSNBC was a great network a year ago.  One that gave voice to people that CNN and certainly FOX would not, and it did so that was straight up and credible in a way that people couldn't ignore or brush aside as partisan.  Now all that is basically in tatters and MSNBC is a joke.

Palin as VP showed what an inexperienced politician with many skeletons in the closet is supposed to be treated by the media.

MSNBC didn't give Obama that treatment because he was THEIR candidate.  Keith O went to the kos website and strategized what he would do and say vis a vie Hillary.

MSNBC was literally an extension of the Obama campaign.

We will now lose this election largely because the media and elements of the DNC decided they didn't need to be unbiased.

If we were running Hillary/Obama now we would be winning.

Last night I saw an hourlong documentary of "Sarah Palin: American Woman," which baffled me both in its incompetance (an "American" woman?  Really?  I thought she was a Canadian or, you know, from that terrorist country, whatchmacallit... France).  It was the most blatant head they could have given a candidate; in no way objective or fair... and yet everyone just shrugs their shoulders at the fact that FOX is the PR wing of the Republican party.

This is a real travesty. I migrated from years of watching CNN after I could no longer stomach the eternally bloviating Wolf Blitza and pretty boy Anderson Cooper. The only one left there worth watching is Jack Cafferty and he only inserts brief comments from time to time.

Once I gave up my CNN addiction, I moved to MSNBC after accidentally coming across one of Keith's stellar "Special Commentaries" about the Bush administration. I was blown away at how fresh and truthful the commentary was. I had never previously considered watching MSNBC until I was looking around for something to replace CNN with. I had become so used to the constant right-wing cant on all news shows that I felt I had finally found a home at MSNBC. I have been watching MSNBC regularly ever since -- at least until the Republican Convention when Olbermann was sent to the woodshed and Gregory took his place. I stopped watching then and went to PBS to watch the convention.

I still tune in each night to watch Matthews and Olbermann, but distinctly do NOT like Gregory. I have not watched Meet The Press since Brokaw took over. It was once a weekly diet for me. If they put Gregory there, I won't be tuning in again ever. I've been waiting to see who will replace Russert permanently, hoping for once we might get someone who isn't kowtowing to the Far Right.

Guess I will now watch the debates on PBS as well. If they continue to screw around with the evening lineup, I will just give up entirely on MSNBC. I'm sick of the fact that they can put obviously rightwing mouthpieces (e.g., Scarborough, Buchannan) on the show, but balk at balancing them with voices from the Left. Enough already. I'm going to take a walk if NBC/MSNBC continues in this direction. When Olbermann is gone, I'll be gone too.