Keith Olbermann will continue to be a thorn in Bill O'Reilly's side for at least four more years.
NBC News announced Thursday it had agreed to a "second term" with the MSNBC "Countdown" host, whose contract was due to expire next month. The extension will take him into 2011.
Besides feuding with Fox News Channel's O'Reilly, Olbermann has become a liberal hero. He has seen his ratings increase since launching a series of anti-President Bush commentaries late last summer.
His prime-time program averaged 715,000 viewers in January, according to Nielsen Media Research. While his audience is often less than a third of O'Reilly's in the same time slot, Olbermann's viewership is up 85 percent over January 2006.
While Keith isn't exactly a model of objectivity in journalism today (see his World's Worst feature), he's certainly a refreshing breath of cool air in the face of windbags like Sean Hannity & Brit Hume, folks who disseminate conservative propaganda under the thinly-veiled guise of "news anchor". Keith, who knows a thing or two about putting on an engaging show, has sprinkled in the occasional Edward R. Murrow-inspired Special Comment, passionately lambasting the same news figures that the rest of the media coddles.
While it's ultimately the duty of a news anchor to concentrate only on the news rather than making news themselves, Keith is to be commended for stepping outside the bounds of that role to return fire at hacks like Bill O'Reilly, criticize the rest of the news media, and serve as the megaphone for the marginalized American public. His skyrocketing ratings are proving to the major outlets that people want true balance and integrity in their news.
Link via [Crooks & Liars]
No comments:
Post a Comment