The Oct. 30 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, drew in tens of thousands who gathered to express their exasperation, in part, at the lack of objectivity in news media, calling for a return to truth-seeking journalism. Many media giants forbade their employees from attending the rally, although Jon Stewart claimed that the rally was non-partisan.
One such news organization, MSNBC, again appeared in the news on Friday, when Politico reported MSNBC's suspension of Keith Olbermann, the host of "Countdown" known for his highly opinionated and left-leaning coverage of daily news events. Olbermann was suspended indefinitely and without pay after being discovered to have contributed to three democratic campaigns in the lead-up to the Nov. 2 election. Last night, MSNBC announced he could return to his show tomorrow.
News of Olbermann's suspension was met with considerable contention by the public. Many found his suspension seemingly out of the blue and undeserved, noting that Olbermann is hardly the first reporter to have donated to political causes. Fox News, for example, does not even discourage its employees from publically making these sorts of contributions to political candidates and parties.
In following the loyally outraged viewers' reasoning, one must consider the fact that "Countdown" is well known as a liberal source and Olbermann has offered frequent and open criticisms of right-wing policies since the show's inception in 2003.
It is no secret that Olbermann supports many liberal causes, and therefore, his recent donations should hardly surprise people or create such an uproar. If MSNBC's goal for "Countdown" was to provide unbiased reporting, then the show failed years ago. It is absurd for MSNBC to pretend that Olbermann's show is any less biased than Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor."
It could be argued that just as reporters have a right to vote for whichever candidate they please, so too should they have a right to support those causes in which they believe strongly. Olbermann never publicized his donations until they came to light last week.
Many have pointed to the unfairness of singling out Olbermann when he was only one of multiple NBC News personalities to have contributed to campaigns. But it must also be noted that Olbermann did not go through the procedures required of NBC News reporters desiring to support a particular political cause.
Additionally, Olbermann is one of the most well known hosts on MSNBC, and his network's decision can be seen as a strategic statement against such behavior in general.
Perhaps MSNBC's decision is a sign that the network was listening when Americans called for a return to previous standards of accuracy in journalism last week at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
The entire incident points to the larger fact that these news corporations, and cable news stations in particular, are corrupting their role as a purveyor of objective information. We can fall victim to this game, allowing show hosts to preach their politics as facts and only listening to sources of information that agree with our own biases. In the process, we forget that each time we let this happen, another door to the truth is closed.
Whatever NBC's reasoning was for suspending Olbermann, the controversy calls attention to the fact that we are continually subjected to subjective partisan media. The question is, are Americans ready to demand the truth, or are we going to continue to limit ourselves to picking out the facts from an ever — going back-and-forth debate over which media giant can shout their partial truths the loudest?
