Article Singing the Praises of Keith Olbermann . . .

[Lex]

Keith Olbermann: The Future Of News

"The future of broadcast network news has been hiding out, as it were, for two and half years on -- of all places -- cable," the San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman says.

He's "part Jon Stewart (the funny), Dennis Miller (the erudite and biting sub-references), H.L. Mencken (the skewering of power and stupidity in equal doses) as well as crusading journalist." So who is he? Keith Olbermann of MSNBC's Countdown.

"The thing with Olbermann is that he has always been a bit of a misunderstood visionary on television," Goodman writes. "Part journalist, part comic, equal parts dry, silly, skeptical and angry, there has been no traditional role for him and thus he has either been an outcast or a noble failure or a square talent in a business full of round openings. Until, that is, he started 'Countdown' on MSNBC in April 2003..."

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/default.asp

which references this article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/09/DDGPVFKGI01.DTL

[susanna]

1. Yay Keith!

Love him. :-)

[Lex]

2. I like seeing him get some respect

and props.

I can't stand any of the cable news shows except his.

[johnfunk]

3. It only took SFChron two years to catch up with American Politics Journal

They published what I think was the first review -- an outright rave -- of Countdown back in April '03:

...Olbermann relies on news reports from NBC journalists and news footage from various news agencies (even foreign, thankfully!) to illustrate the stories of the day. And he appears to find some stories that the producers of other shows are afraid might offend the perpetually offended war monkeys.

Unlike his counterparts on the right, who have to revert to ham-handed and juvenile snide remarks about the group, gender, nationality, or sexual preference we should all hate this week, Olbermann simply reports the facts, and lets the facts show what witless morons we have at the top our of government.

...

He introduced the piece by saying, "And now, going to the marketplace of ideas and getting your credit card cut in half." He continued, "Which offense is worse, a reporter from an American network appearing on an Iraqi state run TV during a war, or another American TV personality giving away American troop positions during a war? We report, you decide!" -- in an obvious slap at Geraldo, Roger Ailes, and FOX Broadcasting.

This is why I like Olbermann. You have to read between the lines. Notice that Arnett is "a reporter" and Rivera a "TV personality."

I've had that review bookmarked for a damn long time, needing it handy to cajole, convince, and otherwise pummel friends, colleagues and enemies into watching Olbermann. he's America's Anchorman IMNSHO.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. Nominated For Keith! nt

[DearAbby]

5. Great News for Keith!

:toast:

[longship]

7. Seconded!

nt

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. That and Ratzenberg's Made In America are the only programs

on TV worth watching. KO is the best!

[Laughlandia]

8. Countdown rocks!

Olbermann, along with Stewart, is one of the few reasons to watch the boob tube these days. When Keith started throwing papers and dancing and singing at the possibility the O'Reilly might retire, I almost choked! That was so over the top! I loved it!

[Lex]

9. Welcome to DU, Laughlandia!

And yes, Keith seems to have a fun doing what he does, instead of becoming a screaming, hateful thug like O'Reilly or Hannity.

[Berry Cool]

10. Of course, the freepers are INCENSED by this praise for Keith

You should see their comments on the Inside Cable News blog, like "His show is just bad, that's all...that's why the ratings are so bad."

Then what does the guy on TV Newser do but quote some idiot saying "Olbermann and Anderson Cooper are not the 'future.' The 'future' has been on Fox News for years, where people have been reporting the news with personality all along..." Uh, yeah, they've been reporting RIGHT-WING propaganda with their stupid, unfunny personalities all along. What's new or futuristic about that?

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Freepers don't like him cause he calls out their morans

[NYCGirl]

14. TVNewser pretty much publishes all points of view. The guy who wrote

the article about Fox is entitled to his opinion, and TVNewser takes no position, right or left.

[Berry Cool]

47. Disagree. I think TVNewser shows a definite pro-Fox bias. n/t

[johnfunk]

11. KICK! He's America's Anchorman

... I'm just wondering when ABC or CBS will get wise and snatch him away from MSNBC...

[roguevalley]

42. Keith is an urbane intellectual, the second cousin twice removed

from the god-like but seriously demented Stephen Colbert. :evilgrin:

[Al-CIAda]

12. Keif is the shiznit. eom.

[i miss america]

41. fo shizzle!

Keep up the great work Keith!!!

:headbang:

[Clark2008]

15. Olbermann rocks!!

:loveya: him!!

My fiance thinks he's awesome and has become like me - someone who NEVER misses the show, if possible. My whole family watches him, now. :)

[FreedomAngel82]

16. He's the only real one I'd watch

I love his show. He's great (and nice eye candy too).

[ElectroPrincess]

17. Keith Oberman is NOT anything like that a**hole extra-ordinaire ...

Dennis Miller! :puke:

Besides Dennis Miller has NO Elvis. ;)

[SharonRB]

18. Way to go, KO!

He deserves more respect than he gets. Around here, of course, he gets plenty.

[Stevendsmith]

19. Keith rocks I watch him every night. (n/t)

[dennis4868]

20. The article says Keith leans left.....

Why does the article say that. He just reports the news no matter how bad it looks to Bush and he would do the same if a dem was in the WH and running the government and screwing up like Bush!

[gkhouston]

24. Haven't you heard? Anything doesn't lean to the right now counts

as leaning to the left. Apparently the author hasn't noticed that Olbermann is an equal opportunity hey-buddy-your-fly-is-unzipped reporter. ;-)

[WolverineDG]

28. because he doesn't kow-tow

to shrubbie & his cohorts. he actually dared to show on air the talking points they sent him when he first interviewed joseph wilson. he poses actual questions & (gasp) lets people answer them without shouting them out or killing their mikes. yup, a real left-wing moonbat he is.

dg

[AntiFascist]

39. I think he's fair and quite balancing nt

[Nimrod2005]

21. Way to go Keith...He is my # 1 man on TV, my # 1 on radio is

Rachel Madow on AAR at 5:00 AM everyday.


KO is awesome!!! I watch every night.

[jillan]

22. Which one of these stories will you be talking about? Bam bam bam

You rock Keith!!!!

His is the fastest 1 hr of news.
He keeps it so lively, cuts out the bs, and gets right to the meat of the story. And he is so funny.

Glad he's getting some respect.

[Buns_of_Fire]

23. He brings back fond memories of "Weekend"

with Lloyd Dobyns and Linda Ellerbee ("And so it goes").

Except I doubt the producers of "Weekend" would have allowed a Keith Olbermann, after being awarded an Ann Coulter action figure, to proceed to pound it on the desk until there were little Coulter Crumbs all over the set.

Why couldn't Moonves and CBS (or NBC or ABC for that matter) just hire Al Franken or Bill O'Reilly if they wanted to really put on a different kind of newscast? Well, contractual obligations and good taste and baggage aside, neither man has the chops for both journalism and hilarity. The mix is absolutely essential. Information and humor, seriousness and snarkiness. Through a lens Stewartly, if you will. And no, even Stewart himself doesn't have the real-news end of it for the job.

It's a hard-to-find mix these days, but just you wait. The future is coming to a broadcast network newscast near you -- where it's been hiding on MSNBC in the form of Keith Olbermann for years now, under the guise of a show called "Countdown."

The man's good. :thumbsup:

(On edit: The above quote is from the sfgate article.)

[Missy Vixen]

30. I loved that show

>Lloyd Dobyns and Linda Ellerbee ("And so it goes").<

Linda Ellerbee makes those of us who aspired to be journalists realize that we're not worthy to carry her scripts to the newsdesk, let alone attempt to do the job.

Keith Olbermann gives me hope. He's amazing.

Julie
still president for life of the PFEB, but proud member of the KOEB

[Mabus]

25. Keith is the reason I've been asking the local cable company for MSNBC

we finally got it Nov. 1st. Before then I only got to see clips on the net and hear about his show second hand here on DU and from friends and relatives. His show is refreshing, honest and humorous.

I'm smitten. :loveya:

[mzmolly]

26. Very interesting analysis. KO does appeal to people of varied age groups.

I'd never looked at the show in the manner the author of this piece does however. I knew I loved the show, but I never considered why KO worked exactly. I also never thought about KO being "the future" of Network News, as there is only one KO. ;) Perhaps he'll inspire others to follow in his footsteps as best they can.

:toast: One more recommendation for Keith!

[gauguin57]

27. Keith told a great story about his mom, recently, on "Wait, Wait ..."

... Don't Tell Me" (on NPR).

When Keith was still doing sports on ESPN, he was on air, in the studio, watching and commenting on the evening's baseball games. He was watching a Yankee game highlight in which an errant ball (can't remember if it was a foul or a wild pitch) flew up into the stands -- right where his and his mom's season seats are/were.

He said, jokingly, "I think Mom just got hit in the head." When the camera zoomed in and showed the ball hitting an elderly woman, he realized his mom DID get hit in the head -- he watched her being taken away by stadium personnel for medical treatment, and said to the audience, "No, you don't understand. Mom really DID get hit in the head!" (she was ok -- and he said she was probably due, since she'd been going to Yankee games since the '30s and never experienced worse than a beer being spilled on her!).

He and his mom went to Yankee games together. Too cute for color TV!

[Berry Cool]

48. It was a great story

although to tell the full story, he wasn't working for ESPN anymore by then, but for Fox Sports (yes, even he had a temporary stint with the evil empire...but that's how he knows it's evil).

And it was a bad throw, by Chuck Knoblauch.

[philly_bob]

29. Sports-style take-a-stand journalism

Sports is covered differently than traditional news.

It is entirely acceptable for a sportswriter to call a bad coaching move or a clumsy player performance what it is.

In traditional 'objective' journalism, a journalist has to report the latest "Clear Skies" or "Security for our Seniors" or "War on Terror" press conference on its own terms. Only the most transparent maneuvers -- Bush's trip to New Orleans after Katrina, for instance, which Jack Cafferty accurately called a "photo op" -- are labeled as such, although the journalists know they're baloney.

KO comes from sports style: colorful language, clarity, controversy.

[walldude]

45. Not a sports fan but the irony that the 2 journalists

that seem to have stood on their principles have both come from sports. KO and Bob Costas. "Take-a-stand journalism. I like it. It's one thing to report the news, but when the news becomes all lies and fluff then you have to draw the line somewhere. A point well laid out in the movie Good Night And Good Luck..

[crispini]

31. Kicked and recommended!

Because Keith's always worth a recommend! :D

[Catchawave]

32. Go Keith Go !!!!

And remember:



With thanks to: http://www.scoop.co.nz

[DemReadingDU]

33. Go Keith! Recommended!!

[north houston dem]

34. woo hoo! go Keith!

been a fan since november 2004
still watching.......
nice to see hime get the notice he deserves.

[ProSense]

35. Keith is great!

His show his extremely engaging with serious news and some hilariously funny moments.

[Lex]

36. Kicking for any new Keith watchers.

:kick:

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

37. Keith is the best!!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

38. That's Awesome! I hope there are more articles like this

I love Keith. He's easily the most refreshing personality out there.

This is the first real article I've seen paying homage to him, and I hope more catch on. I want everyone getting their truth from KO!

[A Brand New World]

40. I'm watching the great KO now and he is absolutely the best news

anchor ever! I've missed very few of his shows since his debut. I'm thrilled to see that he is finally getting some well-deserved attention. He is always so polite when he has guests on. He's hilarious but serious when need-be. His coverage of Katrina was outstanding and also his month-long rant regarding cigarette smoking when he discovered he had an oral tumor.

[ClayZ]

43. We are Keith Olbermann Fans...

I wish he would have Mike Malloy for a guest!

[Kurovski]

44. Dang! Too late to vote for greatest.

Still in all, Olbermann is the greatest.

[Daphne08]

46. I LOVE Keith Olbermann

:D

[Greylyn58]

49. It is so about time

that Keith was given the respect he so richly deserves. I have been a fan of his since his days on ESPN. He drew me in then and continues to do so now.

Thank God we have one man who will speak the truth about the crap that is going on in this country...and do it with a smile on his face.

He is the best!!! :loveya: