Why I want to boycott MSNBC
Here is the letter I sent to MSNBC this past Monday:
Dear Mr. Olbermann and MSNBC,
Last week, news outlets reported that a computer
hacker hacked into Bloomsbury Publisher’s computer and
was posting spoilers from Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows online
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6225910.stm).
Most Harry Potter related websites (including the
website that I run called Harry Potter Prognostications - http://www.hpprogs.com) reported
this story but purposely did not include any information
that the hacker revealed. Most of us true Potter fans
have been surfing the web with our hands half covering
our eyes because we didn’t want to see any of the
spoilers.It has been almost a week, and I hadn’t seen the hacker’s spoilers. I sat down tonight to watch Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” and thought I would enjoy the
segment on “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.
Until Mr. Olbermann so cavalierly and nonchalantly
mentioned what the hacker had revealed in his
spoilers.Mr. Olbermann said that the spoilers seemed
unbelievable. I agree. However; be that as it may, I
was grossly appalled at the ease in which Mr.
Olbermann revealed a major spoiler that most credible
news outlets have been avoiding for the past week.I can only assume I will only be one of the many Harry
Potter fans to complain about this and I certainly
hope Mr. Olbermann will take fans into account when he
delivers news segments in the future. I am extremely disappointed
in the integrity of both Keith Olbermann and MSNBC.Penny
Baltimore, MD
Feel free to send similar letters. I am still angry. Grrr.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Penny, good for you!
My local news had a teaser for that hacker story last week. I changed the channel, just in case.
I suppose I should have written them to tell them I did so. But I couldn’t criticize their coverage of it, not knowing if they told what the spoilers were or not. I guess it’s not just the web we have to beware of, as the time closes in on the release date. I’m starting to worry someone will drive by the Barnes & Noble where we’re buying it and yell out the window, like that YouTube video of someone doing it last time. Nasty. We’re not safe anywhere!
June 27th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Good for you Penny, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts and right before the end a lady named Patrice said “Oh and _____SPOILER HERE___” so yea… I’m just hoping that it’s false. And on another topic I still like MSNBC just because of the reporter who was handed the story about Paris Hilton and ripped it in half.
June 28th, 2007 at 8:16 am
That’s a great letter.
It’s like a formal kick to the mouth. =)
June 28th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Way to go, Penny!! I’ve distanced myself from MSNBC … they’ve been too derogatory towards things close to my heart in a way that proves that they don’t research things as fully as any credible agency should, so I was saved the trouble. Ah, well … you did good, girl!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:03 am
I saw it too, but from the beginning, so I caught his fairly long pause giving time to those who want to change the channel. This obviously doesn’t help though, when you catch him in the middle of his spiel.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Ok This is getting strange. There are clones appearing. Angie’s Elizabeth’s and even Aaron M? The M doesn’t help as I also am Aaron M. Ha Where did you get such a cool name. Oh yeah MSNBC needs to air the O’Rielly Factor and give Dennis Miller a show.
June 28th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Hmmm…I was watching that too. The nerve of some people. I am still shocked that someone could so nonchalantly throw that in with out warning. I am inclined to think that they are making it up just to make a stir so I basically ignored it, but you never can tell. I am about to send my angry letter. Although they to have the freedom of speech and whatever and can say what they want, but they could have at least said “spoiler warning”. Oh well. I won’t let that piece of trash ruin my HP experience. It’s not true. Not true.
Bye,
~Frances
June 29th, 2007 at 11:29 am
To be honest, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Mr. Olbermann didn’t provide any “spoilers.” He completely blew off the supposed stolen manuscript and then offered HIS OWN theory…after pausing long enough for viewers who didn’t want to hear it to change the channel.
Your letter to MSNBC is shameful coming from someone who maintains both a website and podcast dedicated to prognostications. Are you really saying that it’s OK for you to specualte on how the books will end but not for anyone else?
I’m going to assume for now that you didn’t actually watch the entire segment or were yelling at Greg to come in and watch (or some such momentary distraction) while Mr. Olbermann clearly stated that he was providing his own theory. You really should watch it again, you really blew it on this one.
Oh, and lest I forget, it was probably the most plausible theory I’ve heard since Greg’s offering in HPProgs Episode #13
June 29th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Actually Doug, I had no problem with his theory on how Harry Potter would end. It was somewhat plausible and I liked how he put it together. I am all for people “prognosticating” and I definitely don’t feel like we are the only ones who can speculate.
However, I had issues with his nonchalant mention of “The Spoiler”. I started watching the show a few minutes in and I had no idea that he would mention “the spoiler”. He gave no warning about the spoiler and he said something like “last week a hacker put out spoilers that….” and it came without any warning to me. So that was my issue, not his theory. I tried extremely hard not to find out about the spoiler (even though it doesn’t seem realistic to me, I had no idea what it was about so you can understand that I don’t want the book ruined for me) over the week before this happened, and then to me it came out of nowhere and that was very dissapointing- especially coming from someone who claims to be both a journalist and a Potter fan.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for the clarification, but after watching the spot again on MSNBC’s website, I still don’t know what could have upset you. He mentions the supposed theft and then goes on to mock supposed spoilers as incoherent and not very knowledgable, but at no time did he say anything about what “the spoiler” contained.
Oh well, no biggie…just being difficult, I guess (I’m a HUGE Olberman fan, and unlike one of your previous posters, wish him a long career on the air cambatting the factually challenged BillO and the disastrously unfunny Dennis Miller).
Keep up the great work! You and Greg have definitely made the wait for HP&tDH much more bearable!
doug
June 29th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Doug- I am beginning to think that MSNBC must have edited the spot on the website (I haven’t seen it) because on Monday night, he clearly said what information the spoiler contained. You are right that he mocked it but he distinctly said it. In fact, I turned to Greg (who was sitting there with me the whole time, by the way) and said, is that what the spoiler was?!? and Greg nodded.
I am not much of an MSNBC, CNN. FOXnews or any news channel fan. the news depresses me so I try not to pay attention. I have had no feelings about Keith Olbermann either way until now. What is crazy is if he hadn’t announced the spoiler, I probably would have ended up being a huge fan of his. The rest of the spot (minues 1 or 2 glaring errors) was really well done. Oh well.
June 29th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Sorry…here I’m with Doug. I just watched the segment on YouTube - and he clearly pauses for those folks who want to change the channel.
and quite candidly - I purposefully went to the hacker’s web-site and I’m not sure that it’s a spoiler. If I posted a web-site that said that it was Hagrid and McGonagill that got it - would I be spoiling anything?
By the way - Rosebud is the sled.
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:31 am
I’m not really upset by Olberman revealing the “spoiler” because I don’t consider it a spoiler. To spoil something you have to know something and this person obviously does not. What upsets me is that every news outlet reported there was a leaked spoiler in the first place. There have been fake spoilers on the net for weeks now and suddenly this a**hole makes the news? And his “spoiler” isn’t even remotely believable to anyone who has read the books? Putting this on the news and giving this idiot the slightest bit of credibility does nothing but upset Potter fans by making us think there is a real spoiler to be scared of in the first place. Personally, I don’t think anything will get out before the 21st, they totally learned their lesson when the death in book six got out early. Spoilers are terrible but people putting out fake spoilers are just pathetic.