MSNBC lets Keith Olbermann out of the Doghouse

MSNBC has decided that Keith Olbermann has suffered enough, bless his little heart. The sentence was commuted after two shows. A total of 120 minutes, or 40 minutes per campaign contribution.

Cheap publicity stunt?

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Keith Olbermann will be allowed to resume his nightly program on MSNBC on Tuesday, the channel’s president said Sunday night, after he was suspended for donating money to three Democratic candidates.

The policy at MSNBC’s parent, NBC News, says journalists cannot make political contributions without permission from the head of the news division. “After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night’s program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy,” the MSNBC president, Phil Griffin, said in a statement. “We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.”

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It’s certain to boost ratings for his triumphant return Tuesday night, one week after his beloved left got hammered by the Republican Tsunami last week. But will it last, or will MSNBC continue its slide into ratings irrelevancy?

The “professional left” blogosphere took Olby’s suspension as a cause celebre, generating petitions and using terabytes of bandwidth hammering MSNBC. Even some members of the professional right got into the fray.

Personally, I think Olbermann should have had his contract terminated. What’s good for Juan Williams and NPR should be good for MSNBC and Keith Olbermann, no?

Rachel Maddow’s rant about Keith Olbermann: “And, FOX News!”

From last night on MSNBC:

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“They run as a political operation, we are not. Yes, Keith is a liberal and so am I, and there are other people on this network whose political opinions are shared with you, our beloved viewers. But we are not a political operation, we are a news operation.”

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Please. Admitting that you’re a liberal is akin to having Madonna admit that she’s provocative. Or, having Howard Stern admit that he’s a shock jock.

Well, duh.

But denying that MSNBC is a political operation is the height of media dishonesty, the kind of dishonesty that has sent the once high-flying cable network into the dust bin of also-rans.

Fox News has Geraldo Rivera, Alan Colmes, Juan Williams and Shepard Smith.  Who does MSNBC put on during any prime time broadcast who describes themselves as a conservative, for any other purpose than for ridicule, hyperbole or personal attack?

I’ll wait while you compile the list.

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Crickets.

MSNBC is destined to go the way of Air America. The network is losing in the marketplace of ideas, and the reason for the hemorrhaging is not that Fox News is a “political operation.” No, the reason is that Fox News really is a news operation, and that MSNBC is not only a political operation, but a particularly bad one. It’s a bad political operation masquerading as a news network, and it’s anchor baby directly and intentionally violated company ethics policy by donating campaign cash to the very guests he had on his show.

Physician, heal thyself.