You WILL respect those who can harm us

(Via Glenn and the NYT)

Here's Glenn:

The New York Times this morning has a remarkable story, and incredibly, the article's author, Brian Stelter, doesn't even acknowledge, let alone examine, what makes the story so significant.  In essence, the chairman of General Electric (which owns MSNBC), Jeffrey Immelt, and the chairman of News Corporation (which owns Fox News), Rupert Murdoch, were brought into a room at a "summit meeting" for CEOs in May, where Charlie Rose tried to engineer an end to the "feud" between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Fox's Bill O'Reilly.  According to the NYT, both CEOs agreed that the dispute was bad for the interests of the corporate parents, and thus agreed to order their news employees to cease attacking each other's news organizations and employees.

and here's the NYT:

The reconciliation -- not acknowledged by the parties until now -- showcased how a personal and commercial battle between two men could create real consequences for their parent corporations.

So these two bastions of journalistic excellence, having locked horns and revealed each other's shortcomings - have decided it would be better for all involved if they agreed to stop covering each other and instead focus on beating up CNN. (Not that CNN doesn't deserve a good beating)

The NYT goes on to quote Olbermann as saying by email "I am party to no deal" which is a wonderfully inadequate response to such an allegation.

We're not suggesting you are in the room and signed a document, you fool. We're asking if you've been ordered to alter your show's content based on the deal that your bosses now acknowledge took place.

I've never believed Olbermann was much of a journalist, more like a counterpuncher with a knack for a good turn of a phrase - but I remember him lauding his employers for sticking with him after his first Special Comment. How they didn't threaten him or rebuke him. How they instead asked him to do more special comments. You wonder how he'll respond to the pressure about this little deal.

I want to see that special comment.

I expect I never will.

Glenn's follow up post on this is golden.

GE's journalists will stop reporting critically on Fox and its top assets because Fox can expose actions of GE that we want to keep concealed.

...

[GE's] Immelt was essentially being blackmailed by News Corp.: we will continue to report on GE's corporate activities unless you bar Keith Olbermann from criticizing Fox and O'Reilly. And now, Immelt has succumbed to those threats and ordered Olbermann to cease reporting on Fox. There is simply no doubt -- none -- that this happened.

Late edit: Shows what I know. Olbermann threw down at the NYT tonight. He claims there is no interference in his program and even took pains to beat on O'Reilly for good measure.

NYT? Ball's in your court.

OooOOooh, media throwdown...!

Later edit: Glenn went back to Olbermann with the new bit that he reported -

And now, [GE's CEO Jeffrey] Immelt has succumbed to those threats and ordered Olbermann to cease reporting on Fox. There is simply no doubt -- none -- that this happened.

and...Olbermann replied by saying he had "found nothing materially factually inaccurate" in Greenwald's  reporting.

That reads as Olbermann was ordered to clam up.

Fail.