KO "let the freak flag fly"? "A revolt coming?"

What MSNBC "insider" said THAT to TV Newser?

TV Newser: Wednesday May 28, 2008
Olbermann "Edging Ever-Closer to Self-Parody"



Add the Washington Post and Time Magazine to the list of organizations recently questioning the leftward shift by MSNBC. That list also includes the New York Times, the Associated Press...oh, and the White House.

Time magazine's James Poniewozik takes on Keith Olbermann following the anchor's Special Comment on Friday. "Olbermann is edging ever-closer to self-parody, or, worse, predictability," he writes. "He sounds like just another of the cable gasbags he used to be a corrective to." Poniewozik, who voted for Obama, concludes, "Maybe the experience of being annoyed by someone you used to constantly agree with could teach political audiences something about how they have appeared all along to their adversaries."

An MSNBC insider gave TVNewser another take. "MSNBC has doubled down on Keith Olbermann, but they give up a lot in doing that," our insider said. "They didn't set out to be left wing, they didn't want to be left wing. But Keith Olbermann let the freak flag fly and did huge numbers as a result. I believe there's a revolt coming."

Howard Kurtz writes about what "top NBC journalists," are saying about the network.

"NBC and its cable outlet have become more integrated since MSNBC moved to the 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York last fall, a trend accelerated by the sharing of journalistic talent during the campaign," writes Kurtz. "Some top NBC journalists say privately they are troubled by the overlapping identities."...

***

• Related: Radar asks if the Sen. Hillary Clinton Special Comment on Friday was, "the moment Keith jumped the shark?"

(NOTE: Link to Radar, Is That Keith Olbermann on Water Skis? Are Those Sharks?
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/05/keith_olbermann_hillary_clinton_assassination_jump_shark-print.php)

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/olbermann_edging_evercloser_to_selfparody_85734.asp

yippie!!!

they must be doing something right. The ratings are still going up Howard so shut the fuck up.

It sounds like MSNBC administrators are trying to squelch Keith? And some people think he's over the top??

How is that good?

He is largely responsible for their incredible growth as a network, and has made them lots of money. TV Newser is reporting on several recent articles about MSNBC's leftward slant, which is also one of the keys to its success. Media critics are discussing MSNBC as a left-leaning network, while its "mothership" NBC News remains more neutral politically, as CBS and ABC News also ostensibly are. (I've posted before in this forum that Fox doesn't seem to get much scrutiny as a rightwing news network.)

Anyway -- what's new in this article is someone inside MSNBC saying privately that there's dissatisfaction inside the network regarding Olbermann. It sounds to me as if it's not someone in management but someone among the news team. Maybe a jealous someone?

And it's some media pundits who think KO may be getting a bit "over the top" lately. Even if he does, the ratings seem to keep going up.

ON EDIT -- I've read all these articles, and thinking back, in every one of them NBC/MSNBC management strongly defends KO from any criticism.

His success has gone to his head, Barack Obama has gone to his heart, and MSNBC has forgotten that it's in the business of journalism.

Only the Obama followers will be happy -- for a few weeks, until the affair starts to sour. (Heck, I remember when the Conventional Wisdom at DU was that "Tweety" was a stealth conservative and more hated than O'Reilly.)

Be listening for Olbermann's first Special Rant against Obama on or about September 20th.

--p!

Keith covers the news that we discuss here but is not covered anywhere else in the media. Abrams is the only one really covering Gov Siegelman. So good news is being covered there. I'll look past an occasional over the top rant.

Keith is still pretty good, overall. It's the matter of Obama-v-Clinton that sends him over the edge.

No one is beyond criticism, but the criticisms being leveled at Hillary Clinton have been getting progressively wackier and more high-strung, and Keith has developed a case of "Worst Clinton Outrage Ever" mentality, once particular to Fox.

I'm surprised that the Siegelman case is getting as little coverage as it has. But I remember that MSNBC even went easy with the Plame fiasco(s).

--p!

MSNBC has never been in the business of journalism. Endless political predictions and political horserace touting, yes. Journalism, no.

That's not sarcastic on my part.

You are, unfortunately, right about that.

--p!

He has to be neutralized by those who envy/fear him, and his latest Special Comment gave them that out. They're all jumping on him now, saying it was "too much." As if someone gave them a secret signal that it's OK to pile on KO.