By John M. Guilfoil and Derek J. Anderson, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
Boston police moved in and began arresting scores of Occupy Boston protesters who refused to leave a large part of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway early this morning.
At 1:20 a.m., the first riot police officers lined up on Atlantic Avenue. Minutes later, dozens of sheriff vans and police wagons arrived and over 200 officers in uniforms and riot gear surrounded the Greenway.
Police Superintendent William Evans and Commissioner Edward F. Davis watched from across the street. Evans gave the crowd two minutes to disperse from the park, warning that they would be locked up if they did not comply.
The crowd of protesters, energized by the sudden appearance of the Boston and Transit police officers, chanted, ‘‘The people united will never be defeated,’’ “This is a peaceful protest,” and “the whole world is watching.’’
About 10 minutes later, the first officers entered the park and surrounded the group. Evans, using a loudspeaker, gave one more warning and then each protester was individually put on his or her stomach, cable-tied, and dragged off as others tore down tents and arrested and detained people on the fringe of the park.
About 100 people were arrested, Davis said. One police officer was hit in the face.
Ratings for Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and other hyperpartisans are declining as listeners seek honest talk from hosts like Michael Smerconish over angry rants. A more civil conversation will add value to our political debate, writes John Avlon.
There’s new evidence to suggest a demand for something different than hyper-partisanship in the world of talk radio and political media.
It’s not just the sunset of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox or the dispatch of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC to CurrentTV. It’s the shuttering of a pioneering conservative radio station and data showing the demographic decline of Rush Limbaugh.
In contrast, growing numbers of listeners are tuning in to independent voices who can be honest brokers in debates and don’t just angrily parrot talking points.
In February, I wrote a column asking whether right wing talk radio was dying and ruffled some feathers in that flock. A more accurate means of measuring listeners showed that conservative talkers’ ratings had either declined or flatlined in the heat of the 2010 election, while the world-journalism focus of the John Batchelor Show had seen a decided ratings climb. Now, a look at radical centrist Michael Smerconish’s national ratings growth since the start of the year provides more evidence of this emerging market.
First, here’s a snapshot that puts the shift in perspective: Just days after the 2010 election, the nation’s first all-conservative talk radio station, KVI in Seattle, switched back to a classic-rock format after 17 years. Its innovation had become media saturation—and music became an appealing alternative to the drone of a dozen Rush Limbaugh imitators.
The Hollywood Reporter 12:25 PM 2/9/2011 by Marisa Guthrie
The former vice president reached out to Olbermann less than 24 hours after he stepped down from MSNBC.
Less than 24 hours after Keith Olbermann anchored his last edition of Countdown on Jan. 21, Al Gore placed a call to his friend inviting him to join Current TV.
“We’ve been friends for a while,” Gore told The Hollywood Reporter during a press breakfast in New York on Wednesday.
A contract was quickly hammered out. But it was Gore who convinced Olbermann to join the network, say sources. The former vice president and co-founder of Current was a fan of Countdown where he had also been a guest in the past. RELATED: Tim Goodman’s analysis of the move.
Olbermann’s Current show will likely premiere in late May, when the non-compete clause in his exit agreement with NBC Universal will have reached its conclusion.
Sources tell THR that that agreement also stipulates that Olbermann cannot work for any network considered a competitor.
“He had no choice but to go to a place like Current because his non-compete excluded just about every other place,” said an MSNBC insider.
Current averaged 18,000 homes in primetime for fourth quarter 2010, lower than any other network measured by Nielsen.
Olbermann heading to Al Gore’s Current TV channel: report
Raw Story- By Sahil Kapur
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 — 9:26 am
WASHINGTON – Liberal former MSNBC star Keith Olbermann is reportedly taking his talents to Current TV, the channel led by former Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt.
The New York Times scooped in a story published Monday night that people “familiar with his plans pointed to a possible deal with the public affairs channel Current TV.”
Olbermann’s spokespersons and Current TV executives declined to comment to the Times but didn’t deny that a deal was pending. One source told the paper that Olbermann would have equity stake in Current TV.
Olbermann’s public relations firm said in a press release he would make the announcement regarding his next move on Tuesday in a private news conference.
There is a double standard at work with regard to Keith Olbermann’s suspension, not only between other personalities appearing on MSNBC as commentators, but also at the very top level of the food chain.
Comcast now owns is about MSNBC after their acquisition was completed earlier this year is approved (and it will be, I’m sure), despite protestations from many of us. A look at campaign finance disclosures for several organizations shows that Phil Anschutz, chairman of Comcast major shareholder and content partner with Comcast, donated large sums of money to the First Amendment Alliance, one of the largest outside groups targeting Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.
The Anschutz Corporation, wholly owned by Phil Anschutz, gave $50,000 on 9/24/2010 to the First Amendment Alliance. The two candidates targeted by the First Amendment Alliance? Jack Conway and Michael Bennet.
Keith Olbermann gave to Jack Conway’s campaign along with Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords.
Additionally, Comcast Corporation has contributed $125,000 to the Republican Governors’ Association in the 2010 cycle (as of 9/30/2010).
There’s been a lot of chatter about MSNBC policy, and whether Olbermann should have gotten advance approval for his donations to Jack Conway, Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords on October 28th. The policy I’ve seen reads like this:
NBC and MSNBC TV require permission of the president of NBC News. (MSNBC.com is a joint venture of NBC Universal and Microsoft.)
“Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the President of NBC News or his designee.“
That language clearly says “should” and not “must”. Further, anyone who thinks Keith Olbermann is an impartial journalist should have their head examined. He’s not, never has been, never will be, and is not presented as one.
But it leaves this question lingering for me: How is it that the parent corporation of NBC and chairman of that corporation, Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough are accorded First Amendment rights to political speech and Keith Olbermann is not?
Huffington Post | Jack Mirkinson Posted: 08-26-10 12:02 PM
Keith Olbermann claimed he was worried about Glenn Beck’s sanity after Beck said that he wanted to let “the spirit” speak through him at his “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial this Saturday.
On Wednesday’s “Countdown,” Olbermann mocked Beck’s assertion that the rally will be an apolitical call to restore American values and to honor the armed forces, noting that Sarah Palin and conservative blogger Erick Erickson will both be speaking. He then played a clip of Beck on his radio show, talking about the speech he was planning for the rally:
BECK: I’m only writing a few bullet points. And I am doing that so I don’t get in the way of the spirit, in case he wants to talk…if you would just pray that I would be able to hear because sometimes–sometimes he’s screaming at me and I still can’t hear it.
“All right, he thinks someone–we assume–he said the spirit. We’re assuming it’s the almighty screaming at him,” Olbermann said to Think Progress editor Faiz Shakir. “Is he OK?”
“No, of course not,” Shakir responded. “The guy is insane.”
Keith Olbermann blames Bush, Cheney for 9/11 attacks
Raw Story- By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, February 13th, 2010 — 3:11 pm
The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 changed American politics forever. But in spite of the warning signs raised by the U.S. intelligence community, the Bush administration seemed preoccupied with other issues, aloof to the alleged threat until the day both towers fell.
Why then, MSNBC’s liberal host Keith Olbermann asked on Friday night, is it “taboo” to blame the Bush administration for allowing the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans on their watch?
His conclusion: For their lack of vigilance and because they “did not prioritize,” President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are to be faulted for the attacks.
Provoked by former Bush and Rumsfeld speechwriter Marc Thiessen’s allegation that President Obama is “inviting” another attack, Olbermann noted that when President Bush was warned by the CIA that terrorists were targeting the United States and may be planning to use airliners, Bush replied, “All right, you’ve covered your ass now” and proceeded to do nothing about it.
Joining him in the discussion was Lawrence O’Donnell, who had been cut off earlier that day by MSNBC’s resident conservative Joe Scarborough in the midst of a tirade in response to Thiessen’s claims.
O’Donnell, an MSNBC political analyst and former chief of staff to the Senate Finance Committee, held nothing back in his second shot at the former speechwriter’s assessment of Bush-era terror politics.
“Mr. Thiessen also claimed that torture, which, of course, he will not recognize by that word, saved Los Angeles from its own 9/11,” Olbermann began. “Is this that Liberty Tower, Library Tower, Liberia Tower crap again? Is that what he’s talking about? Is this something else they’ve made up?”
“It’s a very wearisome story that they refused to put away,” O’Donnell began. “It has been debunked time and time again. Timothy Noah on Slate, every time it comes up, he very patiently lays it out again as he did today, that the arrest of the ring leader of this so-called plot occurred the year before the waterboarding occurred of Sheikh Mohammed, and which they now claimed we got the information to stop the plot that had already been stopped. And the FBI has said this is ludicrous, that it did not happen. The FBI doesn’t believe the so-called plot even could have been carried out.”
At the time, intelligence officials attributed the claim of a foiled attack on the Library Tower in Los Angeles — which Bush called the “Liberty Tower” — to political posturing, suggesting it had been nothing more than talk.
“The FBI has always thought that this was not a serious threat and whatever it was, was stopped a year before the torture that produced the evidence according to this guy,” O’Donnell said.
“Why is it OK in polite company to say Mr. Obama is inviting attack, but you still can`t say that Mr. Bush not only invited attack but he sent the night watchman home?” Olbermann asked.
“Keith, it’s unconscionable to me,” his guest replied. “You know, I mentioned his oath of office to him because I took an oath of office to work in the Senate. It changes your relationship to the institution and to the government. And there are things after that, the places you don’t go. You don’t go to the spot that says this sitting president of the United States is trying to get this country attacked. You don’t go where Dick Cheney went in the 2004 campaign, saying John Kerry would allow an attack. You don’t go to those places. And it is just unconscionable to see someone do it after taking an oath of office to serve this country.”
This video is from MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, broadcast Friday, Feb. 12, 2010.
This video is from MSNBC’s Morning Joe, broadcast Friday, Feb. 12, 2010.
The commentators point out that liberals could not get an invitation to meet with President Bush to save their lives, while Obama meets with liberals and conservatives.
Recently Fox news commentators pointed to a meeting between President Obama and liberal commentators including Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann as evidence that the President has a special — and unfair — relationship with left-leaning media. In the segment below, Maddow and Olbermann hit back, pointing to out that unlike Bush, who invited only conservative media stars to the White House, Obama has met with both liberals and conservatives. Transcript below:
RACHEL MADDOW: Since Mr. Olbermann and I have been brought into this story by FOX News in this national story of White House versus FOX News, FOX News has decided to bring us into it, let‘s set the record straight here on what‘s being alleged and how the presidential — how various presidential administrations handle the media.
I have been in national talk radio since 2004. And during the Bush administration, I tried many times to get myself invitations to the White House when they held White House availabilities for administration staff or even meetings with the president for talk radio hosts. And although these meetings were billed as talk radio meetings, just talk radio meetings, they were always, in practice, during the Bush administration, exclusively for right-wing talk radio hosts. So, I could never get an invitation, much to my chagrin.
Huffington Post First Posted: 10- 6-09 12:21 PM | Updated: 10- 7-09 09:45 PM
***UPDATED 10/7 9:40PM*** Keith Olbermann delivered an hour-long “Special Comment” tonight on the urgent need for health care reform. Drawing on his personal experiences with the system, especially the ordeal of his father falling gravely ill and being hospitalized, Olbermann describes a decaying system that is failing to fulfill one of the most important priorities we have as a nation: taking care of our citizens.
Olbermann particularly targets the insurance companies, illustrating how their business models are more focused on making money than helping people, which leads to very perverse incentives. The insurance companies are concerned about profit, which is why they’re fighting against health reform. Olbermann concludes, “The insurance companies are at war with America.”
At the end of the show, Olbermann states that he is going to demonstrate his support for reform by donating money to help the establishment of free clinics in the capital cities of each of the states of the six senators who are blocking reform. He will offer further information on how other can participate.
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Keith Olbermann: Special Comment On Health Care- 10/7/09 (VIDEO)
Posted in health care, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Keith Olbermann, Video, tagged Countdown, health care, Health Care Reform, Keith Olbermann, Keith Olbermann Health Care Video, Keith Olbermann Special Comment, Keith Olbermann Special Comment Health Care Reform, Keith Olbermann Special Comment Video, Keith Olbermann Video, Video on October 8, 2009| 1 Comment »
Keith Olbermann Delivers Hour-Long “Special Comment” On Health Care (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
First Posted: 10- 6-09 12:21 PM | Updated: 10- 7-09 09:45 PM
***UPDATED 10/7 9:40PM*** Keith Olbermann delivered an hour-long “Special Comment” tonight on the urgent need for health care reform. Drawing on his personal experiences with the system, especially the ordeal of his father falling gravely ill and being hospitalized, Olbermann describes a decaying system that is failing to fulfill one of the most important priorities we have as a nation: taking care of our citizens.
Olbermann particularly targets the insurance companies, illustrating how their business models are more focused on making money than helping people, which leads to very perverse incentives. The insurance companies are concerned about profit, which is why they’re fighting against health reform. Olbermann concludes, “The insurance companies are at war with America.”
At the end of the show, Olbermann states that he is going to demonstrate his support for reform by donating money to help the establishment of free clinics in the capital cities of each of the states of the six senators who are blocking reform. He will offer further information on how other can participate.
WATCH VIDEO AND MORE HERE
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