MSNBC Removes Ohbermann, Mattews From Election Anchoring Duties



(image via moraboutpolitics)

Could the conservative backlash at the Republican Convention -- angry chants of "NBC! NBC!" -- have motivated the peacock network to disentangle intself from the leftward-leaning MSNBC's regulars. NBC's Today Show host Ann Curry probably didn't help things by bristling by the Alaska delegations. From Brian Stelter of The New York Times:

"After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

"The change — which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle — is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left.

"'The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what’s supposed to be straight news programming,' said Davidson Goldin, formerly the editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin."

This, on the cusp of the debut of The Rachel Maddow Show which marks the unofficial debut of MSNBC as the central media hub of left-of-center prime time broadcasting.