MSNBC has decided to take a step from the Fox News playbook. While Fox News tends to have a conservative spin on its coverage of news and politics, MSNBC has decided to capture the other end of the viewership by taking a decidedly liberal/progressive turn.
One point of disagreement between liberals and conservatives is affirmative action. Conservatives would state that affirmative action is government-imposed racism – forcing companies and educational institutions to make decisions based on skin color. Liberals would argue that prejudice is so ingrained in our society that race-base quotas and goals are needed to overcome institutionalized bias.
So what does this have to do with MSNBC/Fox News?
Tim Russert’s son Luke recently graduated from college and he was immediately hired by NBC to be a reporter covering the young voter angle on politics. Now, I saw a few of Luke’s reports, and let’s just say that he’s not ready to be a field reporter for the local news in my tiny market local station. And herein lies the question: how exactly does a kid right out of college get a high profile, highly coveted job right out of college with NO EXPERIENCE? It’s obvious of course. It’s his connection through his deceased father. Realistically, it’s not all that different than how a significant portion of decent jobs are obtained in the U.S. It’s the reason why the CEO’s nephew with the thin resume gets the promotion over the applicants with stellar track records. The guy with the union job in the factory makes sure that his son gets the job on the production line with the over the top benefits. This happens. All. The. Time.
So to me, affirmative action is less about skin color, and more about connections (or lack thereof). Affirmative action would not be needed if companies committed to hiring people based on qualifications and talent, and not on their family tree. So I find it more than ironic that the liberal-leaning NBC/MSNBC news people executed this high profile nepotism. They could choose to do the right thing … instead they choose to encourage the government to force them to do the right thing.
Where’s Keith Olbermann’s special commentary on this?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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