GE gets complaints about political NBC
Find a Conversation
| Thu, 04-23-2009 - 12:01am |
It looks like General Electric got complaints from shareholders. This won't stop GE, as it is very deep into politics these days. While NBC (a GE subsidiary) won't be covering shareholder dissent, Fox News will. A Fox producer of the O'Reilly factor was there to ask a question and interview shareholders.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i888016761f9ec824f862a5c265de605c
Drama at GE shareholders meeting
'Open hostility' toward execs over MSNBC's 'leftward tilt'
Things got testy Wednesday at the GE shareholders meeting courtesy of several complaints about political bias at its media division, NBC Universal.
Just don't expect to see the fireworks at the company's webcast of the event, which contains prepared remarks from CEO Jeff Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin but leaves out their interaction with shareholders.
A GE spokesman clarified that the corporation doesn't typically broadcast the shareholders meeting in its entirety.
Just before GE board members were re-elected, shareholders asked about 10 questions of a mostly political nature concerning the viewpoints of MSNBC and CNBC, according to attendees.
First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.
Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not say about politics.
During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone was cut off. Later, during the umpteenth question about MSNBC, another shareholder's microphone was cut, according to multiple attendees.
"The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt," one attendee said. "Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it."
One specific complaint about MSNBC concerned Keith Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger."
"They were upset that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," one GE shareholder said.
Immelt said he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company's news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni effectively.
"My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC," another shareholder said. "It was noticeable and loud. I don't remember any of this going on last year."
One shareholder at the Orlando, Fla., meeting was Jesse Waters, a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor." Waters asked a question at the meeting, then turned on the Fox News Channel cameras outside the venue and interviewed other shareholders who attended the meeting.
Edited 4/23/2009 9:14 pm ET by postreply

Of course Water didn't have an ax to grind nor did he instigate this "drama".
>"Fox News producer infiltrates event; 'hostility' over MSNBC"<
>"one of those questions came from Jesse Waters, a producer on "The O'Reilly Factor" whose criticisms were cut short when his microphone was cut off, according to several attendees. Waters apparently did not publicly identify himself as a Fox employee."<
>"Waters has built a reputation as an ambush interviewer, specializing in on-the-street confrontations. But this is arguably the boldest move by a Fox newsie to utilize the tactic inside their chief rival's tent, as it were."<
Quotes from....
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i888016761f9ec824f862a5c265de605c
Are GE Shareholders really upset that MSNBC is a rating success?
http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904230008
That's what The Hollywood Reporter claims, although its report seems a bit fishy. Here's THR's take:
Things got testy Wednesday at the GE shareholders meeting courtesy of several complaints about political bias at its media division, NBC Universal.
That just seems odd. And I'm not referring to the fact that MSNBC's entire morning block is hosted by a former GOP Congressman. (Great way to advance that liberal agenda, eh?) But rather, why would GE shareholders, who invest in the global conglomerate to earn back dividends, be upset that the GE-owned cable outlet has practically doubled its ratings in recent years? Why would GE shareholders, who have suffered through dismal earning reports from the business icon recently, be upset that its cable news unit was bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in ad revenue?
Meaning, is that really a deep concern among GE investors about MSNBC, or did some activists try to hijack the annual GE proceedings? Here's the clue, which came in the article's final paragraph:
One shareholder at the Orlando, Fla., meeting was Jesse Waters, a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor." Waters asked a question at the meeting, then turned on the Fox News Channel cameras outside the venue and interviewed other shareholders who attended the meeting.
This is a classic stunt: buy minimal shares in a company in order to be granted access to the annual shareholder meeting where you might be allowed to ask the chairman a question. Are GE shareholders worldwide upset that MSNBC's become a ratings hit in recent years? Outside of O'Reilly's paid players, there's no indication that's the case.
Also, note that THR hyped the MSNBC "drama" at the shareholder meeting, but neither Bloomberg nor AP nor WSJ even mentioned the topic in their dispatches from GE's annual confab.
I watched the story reported on the O'Reilly factor. The GE shareholder audience applauded complaints about bias on NBC and in particular MSNBC, and gave a loud Boo when management tried to offer explanations to justify it.
It's tough for me to consider a large crowd as meaningless, or somehow not indicative of the mood of shareholders.