O'Reilly producer shows up at GE stockholders meeting to complain about MSNBC

Drama at GE shareholders meeting
'Open hostility' toward execs over MSNBC's 'leftward tilt'
By Paul Bond

April 22, 2009, 06:38 PM ET

Updated: April 22, 2009, 07:28 PM ET


Things got testy Wednesday at the GE shareholders meeting courtesy of several complaints about political bias at its media division, NBC Universal.

Just don't expect to see the fireworks at the company's webcast of the event, which contains prepared remarks from CEO Jeff Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin but leaves out their interaction with shareholders.

A GE spokesman clarified that the corporation doesn't typically broadcast the shareholders meeting in its entirety.

Just before GE board members were re-elected, shareholders asked about 10 questions of a mostly political nature concerning the viewpoints of MSNBC and CNBC, according to attendees.

First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.

Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not say about politics.

During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone was cut off. Later, during the umpteenth question about MSNBC, another shareholder's microphone was cut, according to multiple attendees.

"The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt," one attendee said. "Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it."

One specific complaint about MSNBC concerned Keith Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger."

"They were upset that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," one GE shareholder said.

Immelt said he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company's news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni effectively.

"My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC," another shareholder said. "It was noticeable and loud. I don't remember any of this going on last year."

One shareholder at the Orlando, Fla., meeting was Jesse Waters, a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor." Waters asked a question at the meeting, then turned on the Fox News Channel cameras outside the venue and interviewed other shareholders who attended the meeting.


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:rofl:

Fox outside waiting to ambush people?

And we're supposed to believe that those hostile questions weren't plants?
Ri-i-i-ght.

minimal amount of stock to go to a shareholders meeting.

Since one Corporation owns every radio station in this country (Clear Channel) Assholes like Bill O'Reilley can get away with this nonsense.

And America sleeps... Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-......

So are Rachel Maddow's. Higher ratings = higher ad revenue = more profits.

More people protesting against making more money for themselves? Maybe the GE shareholders got the Teabagging Bug from all the right wingers. :shrug:

Teabaggers all got a tax cut, and they protested it. Go figure. (They're all idiots.)

in GE just to come to the meetings. I don't think they care about revenue.

Billo the Clown isn't man enough to fight his own battles, so he gets Jesse the Ambusher to fight them for him.

I know Keith will have something to say about all this tomorrow night.