Peter Arnett "fired" by NBC

[Guest MD2020]

Regardless, you don't fire someone for poor ratings when their show is the top one on your network.

 

If this was true, ECW would still be on TNN...

[Guest hardyz1]

Regardless, you don't fire someone for poor ratings when their show is the top one on your network.

 

If this was true, ECW would still be on TNN...

And WCW wouldn't have been kicked off TNT and TBS. But that's besides the whole point.

 

By the way, Arnett didn't say these things on MSNBC, he said them in an interview with Iraqi state TV, and that's why he's gone.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Those companies went bankrupt, I don't think Phil Donaho is bankrupt.

[Guest Powerplay]

Those companies went bankrupt, I don't think Phil Donaho is bankrupt.

They were trying to save themselves FROM bankruptcy. Phil Donahue was obviously not getting them anything.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Au contraire, he was their best rated show.

 

EXPLAIN THAT, OH JUDGED ONE!

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Conceding argument due to the fact that I can't find my original support.

 

You win this one, Judgy.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

Au contraire, he was their best rated show.

 

EXPLAIN THAT, OH JUDGED ONE!

It doesn't matter how high he was rated, he was trailing Bill O'Reilly and Connie Chung by a country mile.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

And thus, due to the fact that I couldn't support my argument any further, I conceded.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

As far as unbiased news sources go, you won't find many better than Canadian channels, specifically CBC. It gives you the whole story opinion-free, but will give an opinion when the time comes. If there's a story, they let you decide first.

[Guest hardyz1]

Some links about Donahue...

 

Here's one

 

And here's another

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

The first one pretty much backs up the claims I had before, but the ratings obviously played a large role, too.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I thought he was fired because he was hired in the first place to be the missing link that would bring back viewers to MSNBC. Much like ECW was the highest rated on TNN, it still didn't satisfy TNN enough to keep them on. Donahue, although rated high on MSNBC, didn't bring enough NEW viewers for their liking.

[Guest TheMikeSC]

... Tyler, they fired him because of complaints. He has every right to say what he wants, but if the people don't want him...

I was TOTALLY unaware that is now censorship to fire a reporter who gives an interview, praising the enemy, on their state-run television network.

 

Man, Tokyo Rose was 60 years ahead of her time.

-=Mike

[Guest Boromir's Smirking Revenge]

His comments were used by Iraqi TV as propaganda that they're winning the war. Whether or not that was Arnett's intention (it wasn't) is irrelevant. The fact that that happened during a goddamn time of war is a major deal. I can't imagine anyone would be surprised by his firing.

[Guest Vyce]

Actually, not really.

 

It was MSNBC's highest rated program.

Which isn't saying much.

 

Damn, Gagne stole my joke.

 

Thus, I don't watch much of Faux News. That and, of course, because they're blatantly conservative.

 

As opposed to......just about every other news network, which is subtlely liberal.

 

And I just have to say this: GodDAMN the American media, for being, you know, PRO-American. How DARE them. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

 

I was TOTALLY unaware that is now censorship to fire a reporter who gives an interview, praising the enemy, on their state-run television network.

 

Man, Tokyo Rose was 60 years ahead of her time.

-=Mike

 

How DARE them. I'm so full of outrage tonight. GodDAMN them for firing Arnett! Those so-called media sources, look how they violate free speech, they won't allow pro-Iraqi propaganda here in the States. SHAMEFUL.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Uh, think about what you just said, Mike.

 

Firing someone for giving an interview.

 

Yeah, that sounds like censorship to me.

[Guest TheMikeSC]

His comments were used by Iraqi TV as propaganda that they're winning the war. Whether or not that was Arnett's intention (it wasn't) is irrelevant. The fact that that happened during a goddamn time of war is a major deal. I can't imagine anyone would be surprised by his firing.

Heck, that his comments were so INACCURATE should be reason enough to fire him.

 

If this is an unsuccesful war plan, then the world has yet to see a successful one.

-=Mike

[The Robfather 0]

The point is, the average American doesn’t want to watch and support a news channel they perceive as actively/passively cheering against the American Government, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the soldiers in the field.

 

No one wants to hear the Peter Arnett/pro-Saddam point of view over here. That’s why NBC fired his ass. They didn’t want to be perceived as “Saddam’s News Channel.”

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

The NBC reporters are dropping like flies for one reason or another, it seems.

 

Another guy died of a heart attack.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"The point is, the average American doesn’t want to watch and support a news channel they perceive as actively/passively cheering against the American Government, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the soldiers in the field."

 

I'm sure that channel would get good ratings in Berkley and San Fran.

 

"Another guy died of a heart attack."

 

Who? -- (edit) Just answered my own question...

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_tv/obit_bloom

 

NEW YORK - NBC News correspondent David Bloom, one of the most recognizable reporters covering the war from the Iraqi desert, collapsed Sunday and died from a blood clot, the network said.

 

The 39-year-old co-anchor of the weekend "Today" show was traveling with troops about 25 miles south of Baghdad when he suddenly collapsed, said Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for NBC News.

 

He was airlifted to a nearby field medical unit, where he was pronounced dead from a pulmonary embolism, Gollust said. She said his death was not combat related.

 

Bloom, a native of Edina, Minn., lived in the New York area with his wife, Melanie, and three daughters. He had been on assignment in Iraq (news - web sites) for several weeks, reporting from the middle of desert sand storms and while columns of military vehicles rumbled toward Baghdad.

 

"You couldn't keep him away from a story," Tim Russert, the network's Washington bureau chief, said Sunday. "Whenever something was breaking, he wanted to be there."

 

Bloom had been the co-anchor of the weekend "Today" show since March 2000. On Sunday, his co-anchor Soledad O'Brien described him as "a dedicated, tenacious and talented reporter."

 

"He died doing what he loved, and doing what he did best," she said.

 

Before joining the "Today" show desk, Bloom was a White House correspondent for NBC. In his decade with the network, he reported on major stories including president races, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Washington-area sniper shootings, the O.J. Simpson (news) trial and the war in Bosnia.

 

Bloom attended Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and started his career as an investigative reporter for NBC-owned WTVJ in Miami in 1989. He joined NBC News in Chicago in 1993 and then reported from Los Angeles starting in 1995.

 

"In times like these, a journalist's contribution to his country is measured in terms of illustrious commitment and sacrifice," NBC Chairman and CEO Bob Wright said in a statement announcing Bloom's death Sunday.

 

"There was no one more devoted to his calling than David Bloom and for that we are both grateful and humbled," he said.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

I enjoyed his reporting. He was very gung-ho and into what was going on.

 

Why we lose him but not Geraldo, I do not know.

[Guest TheMikeSC]

The point is, the average American doesn’t want to watch and support a news channel they perceive as actively/passively cheering against the American Government, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the soldiers in the field.

 

No one wants to hear the Peter Arnett/pro-Saddam point of view over here. That’s why NBC fired his ass. They didn’t want to be perceived as “Saddam’s News Channel.”

Which begs the OBVIOUS question ---

 

After his embarrassing performance in 1991 and that piece on CNN that got him turfed --- why did NBC hire the guy?

-=Mike

[Guest TheMikeSC]

"The point is, the average American doesn’t want to watch and support a news channel they perceive as actively/passively cheering against the American Government, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the soldiers in the field."

 

I'm sure that channel would get good ratings in Berkley and San Fran.

 

"Another guy died of a heart attack."

 

Who? -- (edit) Just answered my own question...

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_tv/obit_bloom

 

NEW YORK - NBC News correspondent David Bloom, one of the most recognizable reporters covering the war from the Iraqi desert, collapsed Sunday and died from a blood clot, the network said.

 

The 39-year-old co-anchor of the weekend "Today" show was traveling with troops about 25 miles south of Baghdad when he suddenly collapsed, said Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for NBC News.

 

He was airlifted to a nearby field medical unit, where he was pronounced dead from a pulmonary embolism, Gollust said. She said his death was not combat related.

 

Bloom, a native of Edina, Minn., lived in the New York area with his wife, Melanie, and three daughters. He had been on assignment in Iraq (news - web sites) for several weeks, reporting from the middle of desert sand storms and while columns of military vehicles rumbled toward Baghdad.

 

"You couldn't keep him away from a story," Tim Russert, the network's Washington bureau chief, said Sunday. "Whenever something was breaking, he wanted to be there."

 

Bloom had been the co-anchor of the weekend "Today" show since March 2000. On Sunday, his co-anchor Soledad O'Brien described him as "a dedicated, tenacious and talented reporter."

 

"He died doing what he loved, and doing what he did best," she said.

 

Before joining the "Today" show desk, Bloom was a White House correspondent for NBC. In his decade with the network, he reported on major stories including president races, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Washington-area sniper shootings, the O.J. Simpson (news) trial and the war in Bosnia.

 

Bloom attended Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and started his career as an investigative reporter for NBC-owned WTVJ in Miami in 1989. He joined NBC News in Chicago in 1993 and then reported from Los Angeles starting in 1995.

 

"In times like these, a journalist's contribution to his country is measured in terms of illustrious commitment and sacrifice," NBC Chairman and CEO Bob Wright said in a statement announcing Bloom's death Sunday.

 

"There was no one more devoted to his calling than David Bloom and for that we are both grateful and humbled," he said.

I'm not that familiar with Bloom --- but this sucks.

 

It's a real shame that the guy died --- but I do sincerely hope it was doing the thing he loved in life (well, behind his family).

-=Mike

[Guest Powerplay]

Uh, think about what you just said, Mike.

 

Firing someone for giving an interview.

 

Yeah, that sounds like censorship to me.

Tyler, he was giving an interview to a country that we are in armed conflict with proclaiming inaccurate facts about the status of the progress of colition forces which could be used as propaganda to convince the civilians of Iraq that Saddam would hold onto power. If you were a civilian and were told that Saddam was gonna win the war, would you want to help the colition forces? And as Mike said, the things he spouted out were so inaccurate that he could have legitimately been fired for bad reporting.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

It's still firing someone for expressing their opinion.

 

Regardless of whether it's right or not, look at the base of the issue. He was fired for expressing his opinion.

[Guest Powerplay]

It's still firing someone for expressing their opinion.

 

Regardless of whether it's right or not, look at the base of the issue. He was fired for expressing his opinion.

It's quite arguable that his opinion and his interview presented a clear and present danger to the United States war effort and U.S. troops in the field. He is lucky that he isn't being prosecuted for hindering the United States war effort.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think you're quite grasping my point.

 

His opinion was likely faulty (after all, we can't confirm either way since we're not over there). It was tasteless and on the wrong forum.

 

But, in the end, he was fired for having an opinion which didn't concur with the majority of the nation.

 

This is exactly what this jingoist patriotism questioning bullshit encompasses... and it's stupid. Fire him for bad journalism. Don't fire him for having a fucking opinion.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Mike and Powerplay said he should be fired for poor journalism.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

And they're supporting the fact that he was fired for other reasons.

 

The MAIN REASON why he was fired was because of the said opinion. Nobody is denying that, even MSNBC. That's dangerous. That's my entire point.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

So having an opinion no matter where you say it, or how absurd it is. By no means should you be fired?