MsNBC has caved to pressure from the McCain camp and the RNC over its coverage of the Republican convention and removed Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from their anchor slots in the upcoming Presidential debates. Instead, David Gregory (perceived to be more "neutral") will anchor the debate coverage for MsNBC, in an effort to blunt criticism that the network is too liberal.

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

The change — which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle — is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left. [...]

In January, Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews, the host of “Hardball,” began co-anchoring primary night coverage, drawing an audience that enjoyed the pair’s “SportsCenter”-style show. While some critics argued that the assignment was akin to having the Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly anchor on election night — something that has never happened — MSNBC insisted that Mr. Olbermann knew the difference between news and commentary.

But in the past two weeks, that line has been blurred. On the final night of the Republican convention, after MSNBC televised the party’s video “tribute to the victims of 9/11,” including graphic footage of the World Trade Center attacks, Mr. Olbermann abruptly took off his journalistic hat.

“I’m sorry, it’s necessary to say this,” he began. After saying that the video had exploited the memories of the dead, he directly apologized to viewers who were offended. Then, sounding like a network executive, he said it was “probably not appropriate to be shown.” [...]

The McCain campaign has filed letters of complaint to the news division about its coverage and openly tied MSNBC to it. Tension between the network and the campaign hit an apex the day Mr. McCain announced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. MSNBC had reported Friday morning that Ms. Palin’s plane was enroute to the announcement and she was likely the pick. But McCain campaign officials warned the network off, with one official going so far as to say that all of the candidates on the short list were on their way — which MSNBC then reported.

“The fact that it was reported in real time was very embarrassing,” said a senior MSNBC official. “We were told, ‘No, it’s not Sarah Palin and you don’t know who it is.’ ”

Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of “NBC Nightly News,” have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, even while they anchored daytime hours of convention coverage on MSNBC and contributed commentary each evening. [...]

According to three staff members, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal, and Steve Capus, president of NBC News, considered flying to the Republican convention in Minnesota last week to address the lingering tensions.

Can you imagine what Fox News and Rupert Murdoch's response to Democrats would be if they were accused of being too conservative in their approach to news reporting? Oh wait, you don't have to. We already knwo what it is -- a big fat Cheney every time a Democrats complains of a conservative bias at Fox News. I guess only accusations of liberal bias from Republicans matter. At least to media executives, anyway.

And don't you feel sorry for poor Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams? Their Republican friends probably have stopped returning their calls and won't talk to them on the cocktail and weenie circuit. The horror! No wonder they won't defend anyone at MsNBC with a liberal view. It really hurts their ability to enjoy themselves as the perambulate their egos around the Beltway social circuit.

And can you even imagine in your wildest dreams Roger Ailes flying to Denver to apologize to Democrats at their convention because the appearance of outright bias against liberals on Fox News might have offended them? Yes, I share your disbelief and laughter at the absurdity of the idea. But then Roger Ailes doesn't worry about what Democrats say about him whether or not they are in power. He knows Rupert Murdoch has his back. Anyone with a perceived liberal bias (Uh, is Phil Donahue in the house?) knows that isn't the case at any other network.

I guess we can now start our own "countdown" on how long Countdown and Keith Olbermann will last at MsNBC. I place it at no more than 12 months, myself. Ratings be damned, he's a mean old nasty liberal who actually says stuff like blatant political appeals using the imagery of the 9/11 attacks is inappropriate! And sometimes he does real journalism! There's simply no place for offensive commentary and practices like that on Television News, my friends!