Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann has returned to his role of anchoring "Countdown" on MSNBC. Olbermann was suspended by the network after contributing money to the campaigns of Democratic politicians.
Both sides of the political aisle have been weighing in on the issue. Liberals are running to the old standby known as the First Amendmen. Conservatives are lauding MSNBC's "integrity" while FOX continues to push the conservative agenda.

My take: A journalist should be able to do what they want in their personal life as long as it is off-air and not in print and does not slant the work they are doing.

Does Olbermann have a right to contribute to the campaingns? The biggest factor in deciding this is his contract. I have never seen it but I bet there is something in there that reinforces company policy and specifically prohibits emplpyees from contributing to political campaigns. I am confident Olbermann knew about this and knew he was violating policy by doing it.

An article on abcnews.go.com describes the events leading up to the suspension and how Olbermann handled his return. The article uses two contradictory terms: journalist and commentator. A journalist reports the facts and does not include an opinion in what they report. A commentator takes an issue and gives their opinion regarding the subject they are commenting on.

MSNBC is quoted in the aforementioned article as having a policy which "bans journalists from making political contributions."

If Keith Olbermann is a journalist, why is he allowed to give his opinion on-air when giving a story? Why would such a policy prohibit someone from contributing to a campaign but allow that same person to support an agenda on the airwaves.

MSNBC has opened a can of worms by making Olbermann an example of making someone agree to a policy that compromises First Amendment rights. Hiding behind the now-clich`e term of "integrity" makes viewers wonder what purpose a contradictory policy serves. MSNBC needs to decide if Olbermann is a commentator or a journalist. After that, everyone needs to decide if we want to hold both to the same standard.