Political drama at GE shareholders meeting

By Paul Bond

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The hostility between Fox News Channel and MSNBC reached a fever pitch Wednesday when a Fox producer infiltrated the General Electric shareholders meeting.

Just before GE re-elected board members, company brass were hit with questions from shareholders critical of an alleged leftward political slant at the MSNBC cable network, part of the industrial giant's media division, NBC Universal.

But one of those questions came from Jesse Waters, a producer on "The O'Reilly Factor" whose criticisms were cut short when his microphone was cut off, according to several attendees. Waters apparently did not publicly identify himself as a Fox employee.

Waters has built a reputation as an ambush interviewer, specializing in on-the-street confrontations. But this is arguably the boldest move by a Fox newsperson to use the tactic inside their chief rival's tent, as it were.

Television host and commentator Bill O'Reilly, of News Corp.'s Fox News, and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann have been involved in a running feud for several years, but the animosity has of late started to envelop other parts of the News Corp. and GE empires.

GE pointed out that Waters had Fox News cameras waiting outside the Orlando, Florida, meeting.

POINTED QUESTIONS

Attendees who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter said shareholders asked about 10 politically charged questions concerning MSNBC as well as one about sister cable network

CNBC.

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

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

During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone apparently was cut off. A short time later, Waters asked a question and his mic was cut, too.

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

When he got the floor, Waters focused his question about MSNBC on Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger."

"He (Waters) was complaining that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," another GE shareholder said.