Mary Sisney's Blog - Posts Tagged "keith-olbermann"
Stop the Hate: Ending Media Bullying
Recently, two MSNBC anchors, Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin, either resigned or (more likely) were fired because of their verbally abusive behavior. Baldwin's homophobic comments were made not while he was hosting his extremely dull new show but while he was in his other role as an in-need-of-anger-management-classes celebrity being harassed by the paparazzi. I suspect that the quick cancellation of his Friday evening show was as much because of the low ratings and bad reviews as because Mr. Baldwin lost his temper (again) and said something politically incorrect (again). But Mr. Bashir, who had been an MSNBC anchor for several years, lost his job because he said something vile on his show about that favorite liberal target, Sarah Palin.
Now I'm no fan of Sarah Palin; in fact, I don't understand why her fifteen minutes of fame didn't end when she decided not to run for President in 2012. But Mr. Bashir, who (unlike Mr. Baldwin) is apparently a serious journalist, had no right to use his news show to verbally abuse Ms. Palin. I'm not upset with Bashir because he attacked a woman. I would have been equally offended if he had made the same comment about Rand Paul or Ted Cruz. I am also not one of those humorless, politically correct people who find comedians Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, or Steve Colbert offensive. In fact, I'm a Keith Olbermann fan who wrote to encourage him to bring back his tongue-in-cheek "worst person in the world" segment because anyone with a brain knew that he was being funny. And while I don't watch Bill O'Reilly's show, if he is being sardonic when he calls people "pinheads," he can continue that practice. But so-called serious journalists need to stop the name calling and bullying. They should just report the facts, and let us viewers judge whether the politicians are slick, lying hypocrites or honest, trustworthy patriots.
While most journalists aren't as abusive toward their subjects as Bashir was, too many of them seem eager to promote hate. Why discuss which politician or celebrity is most hated? First of all, I've never seen or heard of a poll that asked respondents to pick which person they hated most. Surely, journalists recognize that we can disapprove of people without hating them. Many Americans may, for instance, disapprove of Obama's policies or the way he's handling the economy, but only the most racist jerks hate him. In fact, he's been one of the most well-liked Presidents. Second, people who hate other people should be ashamed of themselves; they are "pinheads," the worst people in the world. There should be no free speech for haters, so I don't want to hear about how many people hate President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Speaker John Boehner, or Ted Cruz.
Journalists should drop the phrases "most hated man," "most hated woman," and "most hated couple" from their news reports. Calling one of my least favorite Senators, Mr. Cruz, the most hated man is like calling him the most physically abused or tortured man and blaming him for it. Let's silence the haters, and stop the hate.
Now I'm no fan of Sarah Palin; in fact, I don't understand why her fifteen minutes of fame didn't end when she decided not to run for President in 2012. But Mr. Bashir, who (unlike Mr. Baldwin) is apparently a serious journalist, had no right to use his news show to verbally abuse Ms. Palin. I'm not upset with Bashir because he attacked a woman. I would have been equally offended if he had made the same comment about Rand Paul or Ted Cruz. I am also not one of those humorless, politically correct people who find comedians Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, or Steve Colbert offensive. In fact, I'm a Keith Olbermann fan who wrote to encourage him to bring back his tongue-in-cheek "worst person in the world" segment because anyone with a brain knew that he was being funny. And while I don't watch Bill O'Reilly's show, if he is being sardonic when he calls people "pinheads," he can continue that practice. But so-called serious journalists need to stop the name calling and bullying. They should just report the facts, and let us viewers judge whether the politicians are slick, lying hypocrites or honest, trustworthy patriots.
While most journalists aren't as abusive toward their subjects as Bashir was, too many of them seem eager to promote hate. Why discuss which politician or celebrity is most hated? First of all, I've never seen or heard of a poll that asked respondents to pick which person they hated most. Surely, journalists recognize that we can disapprove of people without hating them. Many Americans may, for instance, disapprove of Obama's policies or the way he's handling the economy, but only the most racist jerks hate him. In fact, he's been one of the most well-liked Presidents. Second, people who hate other people should be ashamed of themselves; they are "pinheads," the worst people in the world. There should be no free speech for haters, so I don't want to hear about how many people hate President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Speaker John Boehner, or Ted Cruz.
Journalists should drop the phrases "most hated man," "most hated woman," and "most hated couple" from their news reports. Calling one of my least favorite Senators, Mr. Cruz, the most hated man is like calling him the most physically abused or tortured man and blaming him for it. Let's silence the haters, and stop the hate.
