Olberman EXPOSING those White House talking points! /Joe Wilson

[liveoaktx]

I really enjoy Olberman. He showed that he had received, not one, but three emails with talking points that he said were *nuanced* and he avoided all questions but one that he personally felt was legitimate.

This is the first time I have actually SEEN the White House attempts to influence the press by showing the emails.

[Lex]

1. Holy crap!

The White House is emailing talking points to the TV anchors?

Jeez. I guess the other anchors have conveniently failed to mention this?

Tells me the White House *did* call CNN about something as stupid as the 'yawning boy.'

This is damn scary. Why haven't the other "news" shows 'fessed up?

[seabeyond]

14. WE knew it all along

the fun is someone finally said it out loud

[xultar]

64. Please send POSITVE FEEDBACK to Keith Olberman

[email protected]

:kick:

[Blue Gardener]

73. Done

I watch Countdown every night. Besides, the rest of the programming at that hour stinks.

[Democat]

2. What were the talking points? Does anyone have a scan?

Are they directly from the White House or the RNC?

What money is being spent to send these out?

[liveoaktx]

4. He said they were emailed from the White House

as opposed to the RNC

[LittleApple81]

5. No. He only used one because the other were "too nuanced" (read crap)

The only one he asked was that Wilson had said that the only one McClellan completely cleared from being involved in outing his wife was Rove when, according to the WH, McClellan had cleared all of the three mentioned by Wilson in his book. Wilson said that MacClellan had given a "non-denial denial".

[quispquake]

3. I almost fell over when I saw that...

Kudos to Olberman...I'm glad at least one anchor has the balls to expose these creeps for what they are...

[Killarney]

13. Dude, your avatar just traumatized me.

[belle]

15. Dude!

[charlie105]

6. This was an unbelievable segment. Please make sure

you watch it when it's re-run. Keith kicks ass!!!


:headbang:

[Wind Dancer]

12. Finally,

I hope he has a job tomorrow.

I have a newfound respect for him, maybe others will follow. (the fantasy world becomes necessary during this insanity)

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. It's over and you will see this more and more

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Whoa! Did Wilson comment on the questions coming from the WH?

[LittleApple81]

11. see post 5. n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

29. I meant to ask if Wilson commented on the issue of the WH feeding...

Olbermann questions, not the questions themselves, and I didn't make myself clear. Wilson made some pretty strong statements about press intimidation to Russert on Sunday --

[liveoaktx]

9. Reward Good Behavior -Send him an email!

[email protected]

[SheepyMcSheepster]

58. done .nt

[newsguyatl]

10. i can't say too much

with fears of outing myself to an extent, but i CAN tell you that the white house has its dirty little hands wrapped TIGHTLY around the press... we often get "threats" that if we don't tell this story this way, or have this guest on here, that we'll lose "access."

now of course these "threats" aren't blatant.. but it's understood.


it's an ugly business folks... the stories i could tell you that i've seen in my rather young professional career.

[Wind Dancer]

17. I wish I could say I was surprised!

Thanks for sharing.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. You better be writing them down in a secret diary

so that you can publish them someday!

[Lex]

20. For our country's sake

someone in the press HAS to step forward and tell how the White House is manipulating the press, and how the press is letting it happening.

Fuck "access." What happened to the importance of the country itself?

[Windy]

21. That is frightening!

reminiscent of the former USSR or maybe even as bad as Nazi Germany.

You news folks need to speak up an bring this to light. Did you see this with any other administrations? Just wondering

[newsguyatl]

27. i'm too young to say if this occurred in other administrations

but i'd gather it's common to a certain extent... i think the bush white house (as with most everything) takes it to a different level.


as for taking notes, i do, trust me... i've got quite a booklet already started...

[liveoaktx]

22. What types of *threats*? Example?

[newsguyatl]

28. threats that

we won't get a heads up on so and so story... or that other news outlets will have first access to so and so guest... the bush white house pr dept. is hard core, and if you don't at least FEIGN niceness, they'll make you pay in several ways.

[KittyWampus]

33. If All The Main Media Outlets Refused To Be Intimidated

then that would leave only Fox or whatever... and it would be obvious.

So it's not a very good excuse....

[liveoaktx]

34. I agree-it's not as if the WH is not pushing out phony propaganda anyway

is it that 24x7 news channels cannot get enough fodder without having it spoonfed to them?

[belle]

23. Damn. And that's so typical of bullies...

the part about the threats not being blatant, but "understood," I mean.

I've often wondered what was up with the press. And wondered, specifically, whether the real fear was about losing the job. Sometimes I think that the Bush people just know how to press all those old authority buttons with people, including the press, who after all are often people who (espceially, i mean; we all do this) deep down want to be liked and approved of. I had often suspected that the threats, if such there were, were vague enough that they'd actually be *more* effective; they know how to tap into that deep ineffable anxiety that you've been Bad. In a way, it's easier to stand up if someone says "do this or you'll never work in this town again;" at least you know where you stand, and that the stakes are.

[DeepModem Mom]

24. That's what Wilson told Russert on MTP; he knows the threat...

newspeople live under, with calls from the highest WH level over the slightest criticism. Can you say whether not going along with this obstruction of our free press is ever considered? Does any member of the press, or news organization, ever consider telling the WH to go to hell? Is there fear of a literal trip to Gitmo, and not just the "figurative" trip to Gitmo Wilson said reporters feared?

Apparently, Keith O. may have refused to play their game. Guess we'll see his show cancelled soon --

[liveoaktx]

30. He's not as dependent on up to the minute breaking news

so may feel more freedom to reject the threat game. Seems like, along with every other secretive aspect of this White House, if the news agencies brought this to light in no uncertain terms, that it would take away the Bushco Press power.

Thinking also about the emails-assuming by this that there is an office in government whose job it is 24x7 to monitor all the news shows. what is that office/department?

[newsguyatl]

32. self deleted

[maryallen]

37. Tape Record that b*stard, Rove ...

When he calls with the threats!

Publish the threatening e-mails on the Internet!

[Generator]

31. Yeah if you lose access

then all you have is the internet. We're all a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists.

But anyway, without courage, we have no country.

I would like to see the entire press abandon the next White House Press conference. IF this is the level we are at, that you are being threatened on what to print or ask, then I ask:

WHAT'S THE FUCKING POINT.

There are more important things than your job, like your soul.

But even "great men" like Colin Powell don't seem to get that point.

I thought this country was founded on give me liberty or give me death, but I guess it's really give me a high paying job where I kiss ass and tell them what they want because that's the good life.

[Athame]

44. So feed the stories to those who already lack access

We need a media underground. There will have to be heroic acts by many in the media to get the stories out regardless of corporate sponsorship and administration blackmail. You and your colleagues are smart enough, creative enough...spread the ideas. Don't out yourself. Use the position you have to do some good.

[WolverineDG]

62. a wise man once said

all it takes for evil to triumph is for enough good people to do nothing.

aaaaannnnnnnddddd:

if you're not a part of the solution, you're a part of the problem.


get a back bone, say "screw access, truth is more important," write a book about what you've seen & become rich.

dg

[Bread and Circus]

75. It's been so apparent to many of us and so frustrating to live with...

the Emperor is naked, dammit!

[Killarney]

16. We should reward his courage with ratings.

Watch him more!

[Rosco T.]

25. Keith is a gem and a treasure...

I've enjoyed his work for years and was very, very happy when he came back to MSNBC...

not only write countdown and show your approval, but the MAIN MSNBC comments address as well, make sure they know WE WANT THIS MAN ON THE AIR.

[Bluebear]

19. 'The White House has other venues to ask their questions'

Olbermann said, basically saying he wasn't entertaining their agenda. Bravo!!!!!

[Mz Pip]

26. I hope I can catch the re run

and that it won't be pre empted by some "breaking News" regarding some non event.

MzPip
:dem:

[kentuck]

35. Remember that Keith lost his last job because he wouldn't play ......

their games with the blue dress, all the crap in pursuing Clinton, etc, and he left. The Big Show!

Is he headed out the door again?

[liveoaktx]

36. He quit on the air-maybe his integrity is more important to him

than being a shill.

[Shopaholic]

38. Countdown Replay at Midnight & Main Feedback Addy for MSNBC

Countdown replays at midnight (eastern) time for those of you who missed this incredible interview. Way to go Keith! Not only do we need to send his show an e-mail expressing our gratitude for his statements tonight, but we need to let the network know how we feel too. Here's the addy:

[email protected]

And for those of you who miss the replay--the transcripts for all MSNBC prime programs are usually up the next afternoon on MSNBC's website. Countdown's web address is: [email protected]
That link will take you to a link for the transcripts

[Reciprocity]

39. Bump.

[VolcanoJen]

40. TRANSCRIPT of the WH emails part, for those who missed it!

Just watched the show, and thought I'd do a quick transcription of the relevant part. Thanks, Tivo! Oh, how I love and admire Keith Olbermann. I'm so happy he did this. My take on this is that the "Talking Points" Keith refers to were attached to three seperate emails sent to three different Olbermann show contacts... what do you guys think?

OLBERMANN: You do know that they're still going after you, right? We promoted the fact that you'd be on this show tonight. (He holds up a few papers, the top one looks like an email, but you can't make out who it's from, no logo or anything) Today we received three seperate copies of the same email with talking points, from the White House, one asking a contact here, "Can you please get this to the Olbermann people?" They misspelled my name, by the way, but that's neither here nor there. (Screen graphic appears of the following words, titled "EMAIL FROM THE WHITE HOUSE") Another one asks one of our producers, "I understand you all have Mr. Wilson on this evening. Can you pls (sic) call me on this?" Are you surprised by this?

[krkaufman]

41. Thanks, Jen. n/t

[dmr]

43. It's on again at 3am in the east n/t

[wtmusic]

45. And 12 AM in the west? Anybody?

:shrug:

[Kanary]

46. The last time I see in my TV schedule is

10pm, mountain time.

I don't see anything after that.

Kanary

[wtmusic]

48. thanks anyway...

dayum!

[Kanary]

76. Did you see.... Wilson Thurs C-Span 1, 7:45 am ET...

Not the exact same interview, but another chance to catch him...

HOpe this helps....

Kanary

[VolcanoJen]

47. In Ohio, they show Scarborough Country at 3:00 am...

... and we're EDT, too.

I've always been irritated that they don't repeat Olbermann after the midnight showing... so, other folks in the country are not subject to that idiotic blowhard Scarborough at 3:00 am?

Not fair!!! ::P

[DeepModem Mom]

52. Scarier than the emails is the request for a phone call!

"Another one asks one of our producers, 'I understand you all have Mr. Wilson on this evening. Can you pls (sic) call me on this?'"

[VolcanoJen]

70. Yes! "Call me on this; I don't require a paper trail."

All hail Keith Olbermann, for the non-media-whore he is. He is not intimidated.

[atre]

42. He needs to get that email out; post it on the internet

That would expose the sham Pravda-like operation that's going on with all the media outlets. If all the other pundits who have interviewed Amb. Joseph Wilson have used these talking points, then we've finally got that smoking gun.

[grasswire]

49. wouldn't this solve the problem?

The Peoples' Bill of Rights for White House Media Transparency

1. The White House Correspondents Association shall be the sole credentialing authority for entry to press events and briefings.

2. The president shall appear before the White House press corps for a regularly scheduled monthly conference of no less than two hours.

3. Questions will be asked of the president in an order to be determined by the White House Correspondents Association.

4. No questions will be submitted in advance to White House employees. No suggestions for questions will be communicated from the White House to reporters.

5. No credentialed members of the press will be denied access to any press event except by the decision of the White House Correspondents Association.

6. Members of the White House press shall not accept faxes, phone calls, e-mails or other communications from the political office of the WH, from political campaigns, from the RNC, the DNC, or lobbyists or other politics-based agents, unless the reporter has initiated the contact. Such entities may provide copy of any background material to a WHCA library where it will be available for reporters.

7. There shall be no contact between political advisors to the White House and reporters for the purpose of punishing members of the press for their coverage. If the White House has a complaint, it shall be made in writing by the press secretary and submitted to the White House Correspondents Association, with any remedy or admonishment to be made by the Association to the correspondent in question.

http://webdems.blogspot.com

[VolcanoJen]

50. Yes, that would most assuredly solve the problem.

So, what gives? Can the WH really hold "ACCESS" over the press' head like a sick, twisted carrot?

[Shopaholic]

51. They can and they have. . .

denied access to the press. Bushco has refused to return phone calls and allow administration officials to speak to reporters. No access-no stories; no stories--no job. These folks are just like us-they've got mortgages and bills to pay. And forget about "all for one and one for all"--as someone who spent 10 years working in Television, I can tell you right now that TV folks are all far too competitive to join forces to defeat a "common enemy". Sad, but true. This is why what Keith did last night was so extraordinary. He and Lou Dobbs need to receive medals for what they've done in exposing the lies and hypocrisy of this administration.

[Riptide]

53. Obviously, they do punish the media. Just ask Helen Thomas.

[calimary]

74. Indeed. AND the rest of her fellows in the White House press corps -

NONE of whom stood up for her!

By the way, I can attest, as a retired reporter, that there is NO "all for one" spirit in the media. They're competitors. One thing I actually hated about it.

When I was still working, we had a little "radio cabal" with people who would share interviews, make copies of tapes for you if your machine crashed or you got there late, and somebody always had an extra battery or mike cable. But that was just our little group. I've known press groupings where some people actually cut other people's wires, or pulled their cable out of the mult box because there was no more room, so they could stick their own in, instead. ICKY.

And nobody seems to want to position him or herself as the "maverick." You CAN, TOO, do stories on this stuff if you've lost access. You make THAT the story. You repeatedly state, in your reports, standups and other commentary that you were REFUSED (an active rather than passive word choice) access, or so-n-so REFUSED comment, or REFUSED to make themselves available for interview, in retaliation for our previous report that... And then, you go even farther and fill your reports and wraps with soundbites and interviews FROM THE OPPOSITION, who would be only too glad to come on and talk to you at length, especially if they knew they were the only game in town, and you had no rebuttals from the other side. THEN, of course, YOU STATE THAT, TOO - that "we (repeatedly) offered the White House an opportunity to explain its side of this issue, and our offer was REFUSED. Turn the tables on 'em and make THEM look bad. THEN, you go to the man-on-the-street stuff, and, having stated the issue you're covering (or whatever it is), and how you can't get anything from the White House - possibly because you're being punished for not towing the line, and you ask people on the street what they think, and you use soundbites from them. FURTHERMORE, you now have people like Joseph Wilson plainly stating that reporters are scared, and have "kids in private school and a mortgage to pay" and are being intimidated to muzzle the truth, AND you show file footage of Wilson SAYING THAT ON MEET THE PRESS, or elsewhere. YOU MAKE THAT THE STORY. You can do A LOT about it. And you start turning the tables, so THEY end up looking petty and bad, especially now that you have Joseph Wilson to provide independent confirmation of this. EVENTUALLY, if enough people did this, the White House would HAVE to respond. And then, whatever their response, YOU MAKE A STORY OUT OF THAT.

You STATE THE FACTS back in their face. Unfortunately, for every reporter who wants to do something like that, there's probably a producer or editor or newsroom chief or news division VP who'll cave like crazy, and you'll be ordered to "Monica" whoever it is who's freezing you out. It's a shame. Defiance needs to extend beyond, and above, the newsroom. And I'm afraid it's just not there. I've seen it, repeatedly, where my higherups felt it was better to cow-tow and make nice-nice and bend over for the big guys (in my case, the big studios), when I was working, I was a mere entertainment reporter.

[dusty64]

54. VERY interesting!

The fallacy of our "free press" is being exposed daily and the corporate media is being shown as the propaganda arm of the extreme right that they are. Many of us were called paranoid cause we saw through this sham, now the curtain is being pulled back and the disease revealed. How many more lies will the People stand for?

[Shopaholic]

55. Between this and the Michael Moore debacle do we need any more proof

that Bush & Co. are a serious threat to our democracy?

[Hubert Flottz]

56. CBS told on them too!

KKKarl tried to stop 60 minutes from doing the show about the POW torture! KKKarl wanted to delay the release of the story for two weeks!

[JimT]

57. coincidence?

I think the increase in FCC "indecency" fines is a veiled threat to the media outlets. Some may be afraid to appear negative of the * administration for fear that they will be put under a microscope by the FCC and be nailed with an astronomical fine for a trumped up "indecency" charge.

[ieoeja]

65. And maybe that is why this happened.

W had a reputation for getting his way by bullying politicos in Texas. Then he tried the same thing against the senators in Washington costing him Jeffords and the threat of losing several more senators.

It appears he may be doing it again with the press. Having gotten away with bullying them around for three years, he tries using the FCC to get them on a tighter reign only to have CBS and others yank off the halter. He again goes too far.

He is learning that most Americans aren't as cowardly as those in Texas.

[BabsSong]

59. Actually, I'm hoping Pres. KERRY treats the press the same way!!

Seriously. If suddenly Kerry reinstates actual journalistic freedom these bastards will ravage Kerry. Why should they be able to protect Bush because they quake in fear but be given free demolition rights to Kerry?? If they are this easily intimidated then let them stay on their knees during a Dem administration, too. Screw "let's all play fair". We, too, need to control this press and feed them "liberal" stories and liberal slants and pull access from those who will not play the game. In fact, I think there is a smattering here and there of the same thoughts in the media community----they must be asking "what happens if Kerry wins" and we were major Bush whores during the campaign. Cowardice is such a nail biting experience...

[DeepModem Mom]

60. PLEASE GIVE OLBERMANN POSITIVE FEEDBACK --

See my GD thread about contacting media with positive feedback for any newspeople with the courage to face White House media intimidation, the extent and seriousness of which is becoming ever more clear:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1532196

[grasswire]

61. kick, kick, kick

and pass the link for the Citizens Bill of Rights for WH media Transparency.

http://www.webdems.blogspot.com

[maggrwaggr]

63. IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME SOMEBODY EXPOSED THIS

sorry about the screaming, but GOOD GOD why don't journalists do their FUCKING JOBS?

[keithyboy]

66. Kicking again. Will America please wake up to the neocons running

our country?

[Shopaholic]

67. Transcript is now up

The link for last night's Countdown transcript is now up:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4907409/

Enjoy--and if you haven't already, please send positive feedback to
MSNBC & Countdown for exposing the strong-arm tactics of the Bush White House.

countdown.msnbc.com
[email protected]

[maggrwaggr]

69. cool. Here's what I wrote

Thank you for Keith Olberman, exposing the fact that the White House tells you guys what to say and what questions to ask.

Why has it taken so long for this to come to the public's attention?

What, are you guys SCARED of your own viewers?

WHY have you let the White House do this for so long?

Why haven't you reported this previously?

This is outrageous, and I want to thank Keith for exposing it.

Thank god SOMEBODY is a real journalist these days.

The rest of the media is just a bunch of disgusting syncophants for the government.

It's NOT what "The Fourth Estate" is supposed to do.

If our Democracy fails, we will have the media to blame for it for NOT DOING THEIR JOB.

[maggrwaggr]

68. we need to contact ALL media and say "why haven't you told us of this?"

This is bullshit. I think most Americans would be shocked to know that the White House does this.

Telling the press what to SAY? What questions to ASK?

That's absolute bullshit and it needs to be exposed.

Here's a list to start with:

http://whatreallyhappened.com/qotw/

[maggrwaggr]

71. excerpts from transcript

OLBERMANN: Later on COUNTDOWN, my full interview with Ambassador Wilson about his book, about his wife, about his experience. We think it will be interesting to you, given that it was interesting enough to the White House that it sent us three e-mails with questions we should ask him.
(snip)

OLBERMANN: You do know that they are still going after you, right? We promoted the fact that you would be on this show tonight. Today we received three separate copies of the same e-mail with talking points from the White House, one asking a contact here “Can you please get this to the Olbermann people. Wilson is on the Olbermann show.” Misspelled my name, by the way, but that‘s neither here nor there. Another one asks one of our producers “I understand you have Mr. Wilson on. Can you please call me on this?”

Are you surprised by that?

WILSON: No, I‘m not surprised at all. I tell you this administration has tried to manage and direct the news from the very beginning. As I point out in the book, they have made the lives of journalists very unpleasant. One journalist said he was afraid to go to print because he might end up in Guantanamo, which I take to be a metaphor for being cut out. Another journalist said I‘ve got kids in a private school and a mortgage to pay. So I‘m not surprised at all.

OLBERMANN: The White House has other venues to write questions than this program and we‘ll let them do that, but there are six points on this list. Five are pretty nuanced and they basically say “no this isn‘t true” but one of them I think is actually pretty important, on page 444, you pointed out that the White House spokesman Scott McClellan denied Karl Rove was involved in the leaking of your wife‘s identity, but he would not be as direct in denying the possibility that your other two candidates, Scooter Libby and Eliot Abrams might have done this. The White House talking points, number 4 on this list quotes Mr. McClellan last October, asked about Rove, Libby and Abrams as saying, “at a time like this there are a lot of rumors and innuendo. There are unsubstantiated accusations that are made and that‘s exactly what happened in the case of these three individuals.”

Does that not count as a denial, not just on Rove but also on Libby and Abrams?

[Ficus]

72. Olbermann rocks

I've always liked him. He was great on SportsCenter back in the day, but even besides this story, he is a straight up journalist, with integrity, which is sorely lacking from most outlets.

And I also like how every time FAUX fucks up, he's always there to point it out.