Interesting (and very long) article in The New Yorker about Keith Olbermann. Mostly it's about Olbermann's career, his take on the news, his battles against various politicians, his special comments, and what others at MSNBC think of him (they even interviewed Tim Russert for the story), but there's a very intriguing morsel halfway through the piece that got my attention.
Olbermann was interviewed twice to take over for Dan Rather on The CBS Evening News.
Yup, back when Rather was leaving the show and Olbermann's contract was going to be up at MSNBC, CBS President Les Moonves and CBS News President Andrew Heyward met with Olbermann in his apartment and asked him how he would change the show if hired. Heyward wasn't quite convinced he was right for the job (he was wary of such a strong personality in the anchor seat, with personal opinions and using music in stories), but after Heyward left and was replaced by Sean McManus, McManus also had a meeting with Olbermann. Of course, we all know what happened: Katie Couric was hired, the show has stayed in third place, and there are many rumors floating that Couric will leave after the election this November.
It would have been interesting to see what someone like Olbermann could do with a network newscast, but maybe it would be too radical a change. Then again, not many people seem to be watching the network news these days, and Moonves did say he wanted a big change when Rather left. Will they give Olbermann a third look if and when Couric leaves?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-16-2008 @ 2:28PM
Karen said...
Olbermann surely couldn't have been a worse choice than Couric, at least going by hindsight. Even more controversial than her, in his way, he definitely would have recreated the evening news in a new image, which is what they claimed to want. And he wouldn't have made it more gossip-y, so that's a plus.
I've been a fan of Olbermann since his ESPN days; yes, he's got a STRONG personality, but nowadays if you don't you kind of get lost in the crowd.
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6-16-2008 @ 4:40PM
0megapart!cle said...
That article was a joke. They rail against Olbermann's bias, at the same time as they have an incredible bias against Olbermann himself.
The key example being, of course, that they don't mention the fact that he is completely different when he is anchoring political coverage than on his show.
There are three facts to note here, 1. Olbermann is a raging liberal, but reality has a liberal bias, so that puts him far closer to reality than every other newsman on television. 2. Every other supposedly objective newsman has a bias that is plain to see after 2 seconds watching them, but it is more insidious, because they couch there questions and their coverage in a supposedly non-partisan way that is still obviously crafted to get across a certain viewpoint. 3. The comparison of O'Reilly and Olbermann is really far-fetched. O'Reilly isn't on during the network's regular news coverage, because he isn't a newsman, he is a hate-filled, idiotic bloviator. (As opposed to the more penned in, hate-filled, somewhat intelligent bloviators that anchor the news on Fox). Olbermann is on during that time, becuase he is a newsman, and you can see it on the air. He has an opinion that is easy to be seen, as opposed to the opinions that are hidden in plain sight on every other network.
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6-16-2008 @ 4:45PM
Carissa said...
Liberal bias is okay, because it's closer to your reality, but conservative bias is not because....I'm guessing because Bush is an idiot (which I happen to agree with). However, no bias is warranted in the news. Bias is for editorials. Just because the majority of the public has lost sight of that does not negate the fact. News = facts. Editorial = opinion (and thus bias).
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6-16-2008 @ 6:37PM
StillBash said...
I totally agree. Olberman should stay on his current show for he can go on his tirades against the current government there without being blamed for being biased. It's actually nice to see a "left wing nut" compared to all those right wing nuts out there.
His views would be too extreme for the news on one of the four major networks and would have to be toned down and I honestly would rather him staying where he is and have the "regular" CBS news stay boring than the CBS news getting slightly more interesting with Olberman tiptoeing around what he actually thinks.
Then again if they would let him do what he does now it would be great. But we all know that won't happen. There's a snowball's chance in hell possibility for that.
6-16-2008 @ 7:42PM
CeeRubin said...
I can't imagine anyone who watches Olbermann, a fan or otherwise could pretend he isn't as biased as they come. his brand of news is nasty hate spewing attacks. The tit for tat has to stop somewhere, and instead of taking the higher ground, olberman, like a little kid sticks out his tongue and acts like a 2 year old. What happened to professionalism?
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6-16-2008 @ 8:23PM
PittHockey said...
olbermann acts out on his own show to get ratings, as there was definitely a market for a liberally-biased show.
however in regular event coverage, he leaves his bias out of it.
I say give him a chance and see how he does.
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6-24-2008 @ 11:53PM
Owen Uridge said...
I've heard lefty Keith's political coverage outside of his show, and he still can't help himself. The NBC family has headed down the dumper for years. MS and CN BC's ratings are so low that a normal company would shelve them. Until they get off their soapbox, they will continue to piss off half of their viewers.
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