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Roberts
Although perhaps understandable that MSNBC (owned by Comcast) would report on the death Ralph Roberts, the founder of America’s largest cable operator, some thought Joe Scarborough went too far in a nearly seven minute puff piece about Roberts on Morning Joe, recounting the history of Comcast and its founder.
“Tupelo, Mississippi. That was our introduction to the cable business,” Roberts said. “I didn’t pay too much attention to Tupelo because I didn’t know anything about cable — I didn’t even know what it was. And Tupelo, nobody ever heard of that except I later found out it was the birthplace of Elvis Presley.”
Scarborough was very friendly about Comcast, calling it “a family” he was proud to work for.
Roberts went on to say he raised his kids to go forth and do whatever gives them the greatest happiness and don’t worry about what anyone says about it.
“I wanted to throw up,” said Stop the Cap! reader Joe Weigel. “Comcast is a family, but so are the Gambinos, the Bonannos and the Luccheses. Maybe that goes a little far and I feel bad when anyone passes away and hold nothing against the patriarch of the Roberts family on this sad occasion. But what the hell is NBC News thinking running a seven minute puff piece about the founder of the most-hated corporation in America without bothering to mention that fact? I’m more angry about that than anything.”
“They have all that airtime and tell a very one-sided tale about a family whose ethics in the cable business is frankly to do whatever gives them the greatest happiness and not worry about what anyone says about it,” Weigel adds. “That isn’t news and it’s shameful for a news channel to discard any standards in journalism and produce a story that doesn’t even try to tell the whole story. Viewers deserved better.”
Roberts died June 18th. He was 95.
[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/MSNBC Comcast Lovefest 6-25-15.mp4[/flv]
Morning Joe aired a very gracious piece about the founder of the most-hated corporation in America. Ralph Roberts founded Comcast in 1963. He died last week at the age of 95. MSNBC is wholly owned by Comcast. (6:49)
I think the complainer needs to get out and get some fresh air
I agree with “Loons in June”. The guy died, so the network that he owned gave him a tribute and talked good about him. Did you want them to bring up controversy and issues that plague Comcast? When people die the news ALWAYS talks about the bad things in their lives, right? I agree with the majority of your anti-corporate america articles, you do a good job being a consumer activist and bringing some of these stories to the masses, but some times you go way too far. Way too often you blame big business in no-win situations, I remember… Read more »
Because MSNBC is wholly-owned by Comcast, it has a very special responsibility with viewers in how it covers its owner. In some earlier cases of media baron deaths, a newspaper or media outlet will commission a story from someone outside the company because it would be unseemly to do it in-house. Some won’t cover the story at all because of concerns about perceived bias. In my journalism classes, what Joe Scarborough produced would have been fine if it stuck to Comcast’s founder, his history, and perhaps briefly mentioning what the company has achieved today. A good example of avoiding this… Read more »