MSNBC didn't cancel Donahue because of anti-war view, says Olbermann

I remember the liberal ruckus resulting from the cancellation of Phil Donahue's show on MSNBC during the run-up to war, even though it was the network's highest-rated show at the time.

The consensus at the time, at least amongst media-watching liberal-leaners such as myself, was that General Electric had the show banished from the airwaves due to the host's anti-war viewpoints. And Republican-friendly corporate behemoth General Electric (father company of NBC), makers of engines for war planes and other such killing tools, couldn't have dissent during a time of war, a time of "patriotic" fervor and pro-Bush zealotry.

Hell, I've included the Donahue example in various media rantings and articles as an example of the outright mediawide pro-war goosestepping during O.I.L. 2003 (Operation Iraqi Liberation), which was predicted to be a success and unfortunately judged to be legal and necessary by an distressingly uncritical media majority. At the time, Donahue, his liberalism, and liberalism in general, just weren't right for the General Electric bottom line and the NBC network's America-loving reputation. Right?

Turns out it's not all so simple. From a post by Keith Olbermann, MSNBC anchor and a man who would know, during an online Q&A:

I did want to defend (slightly) MSNBC on the Donahue front. I had just returned to the place at the time and got the lay of the land, and I know I’ll be deflating one of the most popular urban legends.

But Donahue was not cancelled because he was anti-war. I have no doubt that was A reason, but probably one of about ten. The show’s ratings fell and soared depending on how much it was advertised; the studio audience was a costly issue; his staff was twice the size of anybody else’s (or mine), and he was, at best, reluctant to adjust. I knew everybody involved in the process, and the Donahue-Was-Cancelled-Because-He-Was-A-L iberal story sounds great, but doesn’t reflect the complexities. Hell, we also killed off Michael Weiner Savage about five months later.

Note that Olbermann states he's only "slightly" defending MSNBC, and writes that Donahue's anti-war view was at least one reason for his show's untimely death. Still, it's worth noting that not all in the world of media is a case of cut-and-dried Bush-loving fascism. So another piece of conventional wisdom in the liberal blogosphere intelligensia bites the dust. (And remember kids, Wolf Blitzer's name isn't really "Leslie"--that was an Al Franken joke, jeez.)