MSNBC Palin hoax: the wages of partisan newscasting
By now, everyone knows the story of MSNBC being duped by a hoaxster in a report it aired on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. But what's distressing is that no one seems to notice or care about the obvious connection between the cable channel's journalistic faux pas and its recent all-out commitment to ideologically-driven programming.
MSNBC, which was once as solid in its newscasting as NBC, has now become as shoddy and subject to mistrust in what it presents as Fox News, the channel it has taken to imitating from the left.
While MSNBC has enjoyed ratings gains with its embrace of the partisan presentations offered by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, who joined the network in September, MSNBC has done serious damage to its credibility and that of sister network, NBC. And that is a stiff price to pay for a few hundred thousand more cable viewers a night.
The public's lack of confidence in MSNBC was evidenced by the NBC-owned channel finishing last on election night -- a time when a record number of Americans was looking to TV for information they could trust. What a diminished stature MSNBC now suffers compared to the days when Brian Williams rather than Olbermann was the "face" of the channel as Williams prepared for the day when he would replace Tom Brokaw at the network anchor desk.
Here are the nuts and bolts of hoax story as reported by AP, but again, it's the moral of the story that is not being told.
According to the AP: "MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about Palin.
"David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a Fox News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent. Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy.
"Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday (in first breaking the story). The Eisenstadt claim had mistakenly been delivered to Shuster by a producer and was used in a political discussion Monday afternoon, MSNBC said."
"The story was not properly vetted and should not have made air," said Jeremy Gaines, an MSNBC network spokesman. "We recognized the error almost immediately and ran a correction on air within minutes."
The irony is the way in which MSNBC was hoisted on its own petard. The ratings bump generated by Olbermann and Maddow comes from liberal viewers enjoying the echo chamber between what is in their heads and on the screen at MSNBC. And they will keep tuning in as long as you don't give them any facts that conflict with their world views and prejudices -- because such facts cause cognitive dissonance and tune out.
Of course, what that means is that you providing information, analysis and conversation that has more to do with propaganda than journalism. But who cares? Ratings are ratings, right?
In this case, the "information" that was too good to resists was that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent. It was just the kind of "information" that would delight its viewers. It would create an echo chamber with the world view in the viewers' minds.
Forget going the exemplary journalistic route that CBS anchorwoman Katie Couric went in preparing intensely and then doing a stellar interview with Palin to help viewers access the candidate's knowledge of world geography and affairs. This is easier: just grab the first piece of information that arrives in an email that conveniently fits your audience's worldview and present it on-air as verified fact.
And there are larger ramifications: MSNBC's careless mistake gives Palin followers a wedge to attack the "liberal" media and try to dismiss all of the mistakes and mis-statement Palin made in interviews with Couric and ABC anchorman Charles Gibson. Ask not for whom the gong sounds -- all of us in the media are diminished by such incompetence and carelessness as that of MSNBC.
I do not suspect MSNBC will learn anything from this emarrassment. Oh, they will probably issue more statements about "editorial controls" and ""checks and balances" being put in place to keep it from ever happening again. But it is all hot air, like the stuff that Olbermann blows every weeknight in prime time.
(Photo of David Shuster by MSNBC)
Comments
"But who cares? Ratings are ratings, right?"
I know these are rhetorical questions, but really, who cares?
Objective journalism is a myth, and even if it could be achieved, I'm not sure it should be. I'd rather have the biases up front where I can see them rather than clothed in self-righteous (and worse, boring) blather about objectivity.
As long as you're getting your information from more than one source, what's the problem?
Posted by: Baltimoron | November 14, 2008 1:31 AM
Z - You are dead on! I can't believe I didnt catch the partisan nature of MSNBC. I thought for sure the whole time they were in the tank for McCain. Especially since you hadn't alerted us to this prior to the election. With Chris Matthews having worked years ago for Newt Gingrich, Rachael Maddow for the Christian Coalition and Keith Oberman being a consultant to Richard Nixon. I would never have guessed they would convert to leftest phylosophies. I bet it was the stupid evil Bush that made them, along with Paul Bigala and James Carvell turn on their republican counter parts. Before we know it David Gergen will probably switch sides as well. Thank heavens Arianna Huffington hasn't turned on the republicans. I don't know what we would do with out her positive influence and outlook on life.
I have always read that the newspapers were geared towards 3rd graders but I hadn't truly noticed until I read this article. I guess it falls into the category of, " I was born, but I wasn't born yesterday".
Z - Do you take all of us for idiots? Anyone who follows politics know the truth regardless of your evaluation which programs are left and which are right. Those who don't know the difference obviously do not have a ideology that they follow, but can still decide for themselves who they wish to believe is credible. People who may be ideology challenged can still tell by their own intuition, lifes experience and common sense who speaks to their personal interests.
While I know you as a good liberal feel you have to look out for everyone and know whats best for them. We still have the right to think for ourselves and plan to continue to do so.
Again, thanks for pointing out how MSNBC has just caught your attention that they are as evil as FOXNEWS. It's good to know that you can be the judge and jury of who is looking out for the peoples best interests. I bet you can't wait until they cripple free speech with the fairness doctrine. But be careful what you wish for. There are often unintended consequences we regret later. Kind of like the unintended consequences of having a record African-American turnout and then watching the Gay Marriage right go down in flames in California as 70% of the African-American voters vote against it. With the ballot measure only passing by 2%, it's obvious that was the deciding factor.
So continue the good work as long as you can. In Fact, you should thank god everyday for Foxnews. Without them you will be relegated to critiquing "Dancing with the stars" and American Idol". Wouldn't that just drive you crazy?
Peace Brother
Posted by: shannondoodle | November 14, 2008 2:48 AM
Wow MSNBC got duped? I am amazing with all those brilliant reporters and entertainers they must still be blinded by the light of Obama shining in the Northern skies. I guess the proper thing to do is stand Oberman in a corner for an hour but I am sure his melon sized head will not fit in a corner and his female Maddow was probably still overwhelmed with grief over the failed proposition in California.
She is Gay isn't she? if not she is missing and opportunity. Keep up the good reporting Z. Now that is really funny! get it?
Posted by: wagb281 | November 14, 2008 7:31 AM
Z
Not again, Z, you need to have some other meme to push than the horribly bad monolithically liberal MSNBC.
David Shuster is an mediocre to ok pretty square reporter, who had one awful on-air comment about Hillary Clinton somehow "pimpin out" her daughter Chelsea back in the primary campaign and got suspended for 2 weeks.
Neither of these incidents occurred on the Maddow and Olbermann shows-I believe one was on the Abrams show and the other on Morning Joe to the best of my recollection.
Complaints about Maddow and Olbermann should be on their programming. This is a libelous guilt by association hiding behind conventional wisdom in the MSM; you need to do better.
Me, in my alternative universe of sight, was cheered by the use of Prof Andrew J Bacevich on the Maddow show, now that is booking i can believe in; you should too.
Posted by: Tony Joe from Baltimore | November 15, 2008 4:27 PM