MSNBC: Right or Wrong to Cut from Mumbai?

Wednesday night, pretty much right after reports of the terror attacks in India were coming in, MSNBC continued on with their broadcasts of Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show. They had updates, and cutaways, but ran much of the regularly scheduled segments of both shows. For that, they are being challenged and criticized.

Add to that the fact that both of the above shows are left-of-center commentary shows, and you have a recipe for right-wing frothing and lathering. The article excerpted below takes them to task for all of this, and says that MSNBC is no longer a news channel. I have no problem with that.

I'm a regular MSNBC watcher; not a fan of the network per se, but a fan of both of the criticized shows. And while I believe that calling them the anti-FOX is a bit overblown, I agree that at least in prime time, they are not a news channel. Neither is FOX "News", Headline News, or arguably CNN. Most of the cable news prime-time lineup is news commentary, or news commentary debate. To comment on news requires that subjective opinion be entered into the mix, and thus you have--by definition--a bias.

I am all for labeling these programs as such, across the board. If a program is to be known as news, it should have to meet certain journalistic standards. If it is commentary, it should be disclaimered as it used to be back in the 70s. This would mean disclaimers before (or during) Countdown, Maddow, Hardball, The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, and. . .shoot. . .darned near everything on FOX "News." Go for it. It should be pointed out that of the four cable news channels, MSNBC does not have the word "news" in its name anyway, so they're half-way there.

But there is another point here, and that is when there is "breaking news" like Mumbai, there is often not yet much to say. They tend to show the same looped footage over and over while the talking heads. . .um. . .comment on the event. News commentary. Biased. Am I right?

And one more thing: If this guy thinks that MSNBC is no longer news "after Maddow," what must he think of FOX "News" after Alan Colmes leaves?

[Excerpt]

MSNBC since Maddow -- the used-to-be news channel

In an analysis of TV journalism on Wednesday night, I wrote that a red-ball event like the terrorist attacks in Mumbai often provided a great look into a news oganization.

But in expressing my dismay at the way MSNBC couldn't let go of the comedic shtick of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow to provide viewers with a steady diet of hard news and information on Mumbai during prime time, I missed a key point: MSNBC isn't a news channel any more in any way, shape or form. It is a 24-hour used-to-be-news channel that now appears to want to be a cross between Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Fox News from the left. . .

Read more at: Z on TV