The Neverending Story: Olbermann v. O'Reilly (v. The Times?)

One week after Peace in Our Time seemed attainable, two perpetually warring parties are back in battle.

Last week, the New York Times' Brian Stelter reported on an agreement between General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch to bring "civility" to the endless, nagging conflict between MSNBC's Olbermann and Fox News' O'Reilly. According to some (notably Salon's Glenn Greenwald), this "play nice" directive was a violation of the most basic freedom of the press. To prove his independence, Olbermann immediately lashed out at O'Reilly, Murdoch, and Stelter. O'Reilly followed suit a few days later, though confined his buckshot to General Electric and its relationship to the Obama administration.

This weekend, Stelter followed up his original story with one headlined At Fox and MSNBC, Hosts Refire the Insult Machines, in which he defends his original reporting—after Olbermann tried to bat it aside on air—and adds this:

The deal extends beyond the prime-time hour that Mr. Olbermann and Mr. O’Reilly occupy. Employees of daytime programs on MSNBC were specifically told by executives not to mention Fox hosts in segments critical of conservative media figures, according to two staff members. The employees requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal matters.Stelter also made note of a literal handshake deal made between Immelt and Murdoch.

By way of rebuttal, a G.E. spokesperson told the reporter, "While both companies agreed that the tone should be more civil, no one at G.E. told anyone at NBC News or MSNBC how to report the news."

A Fox News spokesperson also told The Times, "We’ve never suppressed any stories about NBC or G.E."

Well, at least the two organizations agree on something.