The Overlords of GE--under pressure, no doubt, from the Overlords in Washington DC--have put the wood to CNBC. No more Rick Santelli-like anti-bailout rabble-rousing. Preach, instead, subservience to established power. Arthur Jensen would be pleased.
You remember Arthur Jensen, don't you? He was the corporate big cheese character in the classic 1976 Paddy Chayevsky movie "Network, who told the equally fictional Howard Beale to knock off with the anti-corporate populism stuff--""I'm mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!" Jensen was played by Ned Beatty, who should've won an Oscar, while Beale was played by Peter Finch, who did win an Oscar.
But Jensen's speech to Beale is the standout of the movie. Here's the video clip.
That was fiction, but the GE to CNBC lecture was real. And here's the item, from the NYP's Page Six this morning:
THE top suits and some of the on-air talent at CNBC were recently ordered to a top-secret meeting with General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker to discuss whether they've turned into the President Obama-bashing network, Page Six has learned.
"It was an intensive, three-hour dinner at 30 Rock which Zucker himself was behind," a source familiar with the powwow told us. "There was a long discussion about whether CNBC has become too conservative and is beating up on Obama too much. There's great concern that CNBC is now the anti-Obama network. The whole meeting was really kind of creepy."
One topic under the microscope, our insider said, was on-air CNBC editor Rick Santelli's rant two months ago about staging a "Chicago Tea Party" to protest the president's bailout programs -- an idea that spawned tax protest tea parties in other big cities, infuriating the White House. Oddly, Santelli was not at the meeting, while Jim Cramer was, noted our source, who added that no edict was ultimately handed down by the network chieftains.
CNBC flack Brian Steel confirmed the get-together, but insisted: "The dinner was to thank CNBC for a job well done in our in-depth reporting throughout the financial crisis. As far as our coverage is concerned, we are built for balance and we are unabashedly pro-investor."
Our source retorted: "That is complete bull[bleep] . . . they didn't invite a lot of people to [the meeting]. There were many staffers who were working 24/7 during the crisis who weren't asked to attend, even Santelli, who was a big star for the network during those weeks. Why not?"
In addition, the insider said: "News of the meeting is starting to leak out and people are contacting a number of the on-air people to ask if they've been muzzled by GE."
CNBC has already been housebroken: Dylan Ratigan left, Jim Cramer has gotten with the pro-Obama program, and now doubt others, such as Larry Kudlow, will soon get the word--or get the door.
CNBC will thus go the way of MSNBC and, to a great extent, NBC. All pro-Obama media tools, sucking up that bailout money.
