MSNBC offering conservative voter outreach, for a price

Well, isn't this interesting.

A top MSNBC producer, who worked on Hardball with Chris Matthews, and now works for MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, is off giving paid-only lectures about how to influence conservative voters. Gee, can you get more partisan than that? We're not just talking influencing conservatives, we're talking influencing VOTERS. That means elections. That means MSNBC staff is actively working to influence elections to help Republicans.

No right-wing bias there.

MSNBC senior producer Mike Tirone is speaking on a $279 per listener conference call on Feburary 16. The title of the call is "How to Reach Masses of Conservative Voters with Your Cause, Policy or Political Message." Kind of transparent on its face what that call's about.

But there's more on the Web site of the group hosting the call.

Millions of conservative voters — and the media that serve them — wield enormous influence in America’s public debate. Learn how you can reach this powerful political block with your agenda by listening and talking to editors at top moderate-to-conservative media. These influential decision-makers will explain which kinds of stories you need to tell to grab their attention and how you can develop long-term relationships with them.

And things get particularly interesting in the next paragraph on the site:

Conservatism — from the Christian right and traditional business interests to the ascendant “neo-con” political movement — has emerged as one of the most powerful forces in American life. Likewise, the media that serve this growing segment can deliver your perspective with awesome credibility and power to millions of passionate voters. To gain incomparable insight into the mindset of the conservative voter — as well as find out how to pitch their favorite media — plan to attend this exclusive panel discussion. These editors will tell you how to be more successful in breaking into their media, as well as how to more effectively communicate with their audience.

Really, MSNBC serves "the Christian right" and "traditional business interests"? I thought MSNBC was a network serving all Americans. I didn't realize it had shows, and producers, exclusively serving the religious right and Republican corporate interests.

Fascinating.

Finally, here's a little more on Mike Tirone, the MSNBC senior producer taking part in this conservative voter training session:

Michael Tirone is the Senior Producer for MSNBC’s “Scarborough Country,” broadcast on television as well as on NBC Radio. He is responsible for booking guests and pursuing new topics and story ideas. Mike also serves as MSNBC’s Senior Scout Team Manager, searching for new faces to add to the primetime lineup. In the past, Mike produced “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” CNBC’s “Equal Time” and other national programs.

Yes, what a surprise he worked on Hardball.

So now we have senior MSNBC employees training conservative activists in how to use MSNBC to reach conservative voters. Nice. Though, I'm curious how that squares with Federal Election law. Hmmm...

And as for those "corporate interests" that MSNBC claims it exclusively represents, I'm wondering if that includes Hardball's advertisers who seem unusually hell-bent on supporting this show and network even after it attacked gays, made light of the sexual abuse of women, slandered the majority of Americans by comparing them to Osama bin Laden, and more.

Maybe we've just found a window into why Verizon, Intuit/TurboTax, Pearle Vision, Office Depot, Bayer, and Toyota are all unusually unified, almost in a collusive fashion, in standing by a network that only becomes more embarrassing by the day.

It's time to contact your member of Congress and ask them to take a look at MSNBC and its corporate advertisers. Is MSNBC in compliance with federal election law when it puts itself out there as a vehicle for influencing conservative voters? And are MSNBC's advertisers - Verizon, Intuit/TurboTax, Pearle Vision, Office Depot, Bayer, and Toyota - colluding in how they spend their advertising dollars on MSNBC, and would there be any Sherman Antitrust Act issues involved with said collusion?

Find your US House member here.

Find your two US Senators here (listed by state).

MESSAGE: Please look into whether MSNBC is trying to influence elections in favor of conservatives, and whether its advertisers are colluding in their business marketing practices: Verizon, Intuit/TurboTax, Pearle Vision, Office Depot, Bayer, and Toyota.