Potomac Primaries: Write-ups…
The New York Times’ Allessandra Stanley writes about MSNBC coverage of the Potomac Primaries…
At its best, which is usually on election nights or after a debate, MSNBC makes viewers feel that they are in a neighborhood bar with political insiders, listening in on the banter and smart assessments. At its worst, the cable news channel makes viewers feel they are in a neighborhood bar waiting on political insiders, the butt of their banter and smart-aleck assessments.
And Tuesday night, MSNBC tried very hard to be on its best behavior. Chris Matthews, who on “Hardball” often refers to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by her first name, switched to “Hillary Clinton, Senator Clinton.” Mr. Matthews was so intent on not causing offense he introduced a senior Clinton adviser, Lisa Caputo, by saying: “What a nice person she is. And I mean this, she’s a friend of mine, they are all nice friends.”
MSNBC was the only one of the three cable news networks that showed Mrs. Clinton’s speech at a Texas rally almost in its entirety; Fox News and CNN cut away much sooner to the primary results. Tuesday night’s coverage of the so-called Potomac primaries on MSNBC was so polite it was almost comical: the channel’s usually brash, voluble anchors were like schoolboys sent to the principal’s office, straining to look penitent and extra attentive.
I notice that all three networks have been showing virtually ALL of Obama’s speeches. And for me, that’s when the cartoons come on.
Not that I’m un-interested in hearing what he has to say… but after a while, give it a rest! Last night, I think he was on somewhere between 20 to 25 minutes! That’s a HUGE chunk of time!
Am I the only one who thinks the either he needs to be more concise, or the nets need to pull the plug a little sooner?
Comment by ImNotBlue — February 13, 2008 @ 11:21 am
MSNBC is doing its mea culpas like putting Chelsea Clintons Marquette speech on the air- did anyone else?
Comment by Arthur Marcus — February 13, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
Blue: At about 10PM ET, FNC cut away from Obama to cover McCain’s speech. MSNBC and CNN stuck with Obama until conclusion, about two minutes later. They then switched to McCain.
To be perfectly honest, after Obama’s rousing speech before a typical Madison, Wisconsin crowd, McCain looked extremely old and boring by comparison.
Comment by Ira — February 13, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
Ira- Yes, I noticed that his speech went to a little past 10. According to my PVR, it was about 22 minutes on FOX… perhaps, as you say, longer on the other networks. I am amazed at how much time the nets are giving him, and how (quite smartly) he’s taking advantage of all that time.
And I also noticed that McCain’s crowd looked much older. Plus, when Obama speaks… he has that stage in the center, so that every shot of him shows the roaring crowd. McCain, on the other hand, was standing in front of a solid background, with a bunch of former and current congressmen and women… and that’s fine, but far less inspirational.
Comment by ImNotBlue — February 13, 2008 @ 9:11 pm