And so, it began, for me at least.
This is when Keith Olbermann invented progressive television. The comment here is not really progressive though. It truly is a simply a correction of the historical record. It was done expertly by Mr Olbermann, and when I saw that clip on YouTube, I was drawn in to watch Countdown. And ever since I became a loyal viewer.
Let me make something plain: I've always been a Keith Olbermann fan. I, like most, was introduced to him by SportCenter on ESPN. I found him to be a remarkable talent. His quirky and comical delivery of the days sports news, along with Dan Patrick, changed the way I viewed sports. Before then I was just a rabid fan of my hometown New Orleans Saints. Before then, like many sports fans, the sports world seemed very serious much like the most important thing in the world! But the quirky and comical delivery of the sports news by Olbermann and Patrick made me see a sly side to these guys. By joking and poking fun of the sports world Olbermann, ironically, seemed to discredit the importance of sports. These things were games worthy of comedy. It changed my perspective of sports. They were no longer THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD! They were just a thing. Something I loved, and loved a lot, but just one thing -- they were games.
While Olbermann most certainly takes sports seriously, he has a deep love of the game of baseball, and he ably connects what happens on the field to important events in our social growth, but by letting us all know that we could laugh and poke fun of sports, he helped put them in the proper perspective. This is the most valuable asset Keith brings to the table for viewers: the ability to put events in the proper perspective. When we take something too seriously, he parodies it to let us know we can all chill. And when we don't take things seriously enough, he has the gravitas in his delivery to raise its importance. Look back at when the rest of the media (even the New York Times) was fairly openly ignoring or mocking the Occupy protests and at the way he covered it, the importance HE placed on it. It wasn't long after till everyone was paying attention to it, even Republican candidates were borrowing language from Occupy to go after Mitt Romney.
I've seen two recent diaries here trashing Keith and defending Current TV in the recent dispute between Mr Olbermann and that network. Some of the defenses of Current are desperate. For example, at least one person intimated that Olbermann was, at best, a mediocre talent. That claim is laughable at best. Olbermann is an extraordinary talent. Olbermann is an award winning writer who won the Edward R Murrow award for writing in 2010.
I've seen some here refer to Olbermann as a blowhard. I don't think these people pay close attention to Countdown. Most of the show is Olbermann simply reporting the news of the day (most certainly news that shines most favorably on the liberal perspective, but news nonetheless). With the exception of special comments Olbermann simply acts as, pretty much, a traditional anchor, the "liberal" perspective of his show comes largely from which stories he chooses to emphasize, and the commentary of his guests. Of all the opinion journalism on TV, Keith's show is the one formatted mostly like a traditional news broadcast. Other than the "worst persons" segment he doesn't really engage in too many hijinks. I've seen Rachel Maddow engage in more hijinks than Olbermann. That's not meant as a criticism of Rachel either.
I think people who call Olbermann a blowhard are paying more attention to what "fair and balanced" media critics say when they are drawing false equivalencies between the left and right, than what Olbermann actually does on his show.
What I think much of the complaint, at least unconsciously, against Olbermann is based upon, is that Current was meant to be the real deal: a progressive independent network free of corporate overlords. Heck! It's even run by a good progressive in Al Gore! But since when, other than on the environment, was Al Gore a progressive? Al Gore was a conservative southern Democrat who, until being added to the Clinton ticket in 1992, was anti-choice, anti-gay, and not a particular friend of the labor movement. When he ran for President in 2000 he picked an even more regressive Democrat in Joe Lieberman as his running mate. If you think Obama is a conservative Democrat, just imagine what an administration with those two running things would've been like. Okay, maybe better than Bush, but not much better.
But there's the problem right? Current was supposed to be OUR network. It's the liberal dream: no giant conglomerate to get in the way of the truth. Some people are mad because they think that Olbermann didn't earnestly support the vision, instead, he just caught attitude, without justification and destroyed the whole thing!
I think Joel Hyatt and Al Gore didn't earnestly support the vision. Just look at the laughable programming they put on there. The Young Turks set looks like a DIY cable access program. Same with the War Room. Do you think somebody with earnest intentions is programming this network and building studios for it? Please.
One of the diaries criticizing Keith, complained about how much Keith was making. Yes, surprise, Keith is a one-percenter. That doesn't make him any less sincere. And it's beside the point. One commenter in that diary defended Current and attacked Keith saying that Current is a start-up and Keith should've been willing to sacrifice some of his salary to help the network. Well, you know, that's exactly what he did. He offered to sacrifice some of his own salary if Current would hire a couple of journalists he liked. Current refused to do that.
There's a story that Current and its defenders are trying to tell wherein Olbermann is a villain who tried to sabotage Current, and he was jealous of Cenk Uigyr and Jennifer Granholm, and didn't want to share the spotlight with them. This story makes no sense. How could a guy due $50 million dollars be jealous of people making considerably less than he? And further, Keith was excited to fill the time slots around him, which he was supposed to be in charge of. He said in an early tweet that he would be "filling the 9PM slot soon." Keith wanted those slots filled -- he clearly wasn't concerned about losing the spotlight.
That allegation is crazy. Further, part of his complaint is that Current wanted him to be the sole host of election coverage when he wanted a co-host for election coverage. Why would someone who wanted a co-host of election coverage simultaneously be afraid of losing the spotlight to two programs that are significantly inferior in quality?
Current accuses Olbermann of not promoting the show. Simultaneously, they accuse Olbermann of doing unauthorized promotions. It can't be both.
Some people are upset that Olbermann "threw Granhom and Uigyr under the bus" in his complaint. It's true that he didn't think much of Uigyr's journalistic talents and didn't want him to join the network. Olbermann advised Current against hiring him. For one, he pointed out, that Uigyr's MSNBC show had lower ratings than the show it replaced. Now, here's the thing: Cenk always tells people that ratings weren't a problem at MSNBC. But that is demonstrably and objectively false.
I know this because I check out TVbyTheNumbers.com on a routine basis, and Uigyr's ratings were tanking at MSNBC. Al Sharpton's ratings are significantly higher. This goes to Olbermann's point that Uigyr rather report things he'd like to be fact as opposed to what is fact. Cenk Uigyr has repeatedly lied about his ratings on MSNBC. Not long ago he claimed that his ratings were as good as Al Sharpton's. That is false. A BOLD FACED LIE. This is why Olbermann didn't want anything to do with Uigyr's show, and didn't want Uigyr on the network. Cenk Uigyr has credibility problems.
One of the reasons I am a progressive is because I associate progressive positions with truthfulness. Most of the views that we think of as progressive are backed by the best science (hard and "soft" science). To me, a progressive is a truthseeker. A progressive show should always strive for truth and credibility. I highly suspect that Keith Olbermann feels the same way. I believe his journalistic integrity further encourages him towards these ends. I don't believe Cenk Uigyr feels the same way. I believe that Current was not programming for credibility when the added the Young Turks to their line-up. Olbermann had every right to disassociate himself with that decision and exercise the clause in his contract that allowed him to refuse to promote other programs on the network.
You can follow me on twitter at @rfrancisr2010