Saturday, January 22, 2011

Olbermann Leaves MSNBC

Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s popular prime time show “Countdown” announced that last night’s show would be his last.  He gave no reason for his sudden departure.  It is reported that he has two years remaining on a four year contract that pays him an estimated thirty million dollars.
The bombastic Olbermann is well known for speaking his mind.  A staunch liberal, he enthusiastically defended the Democratic Party’s agenda taking on all comers.  His “Special Comments” against the Republicans were at times front page news.  He held Democrats accountable as well often criticizing party lawmakers as well as the President for failing to keep campaign promises.
But his most frequent target was FOXNEWS.  Olbermann’s on air battles with FOX were legendary particularly his back and forth with his time slot competitor Bill O’Reilly.
He battled his bosses as well.  Olbermann was recently suspended for two days for making contributions to political campaigns.  Typical of Olbermann, who was often seen making on air corrections for errors in his reporting, Olbermann apologized to his audience for “putting them through the drama”; pointed out that he had made three contributions not two as reported by the network; and noted that rules preventing his donations were not in his contract “for had they been there they would have been illegal.”
While Olbermann often came off a bit “haughty” in his approach he backed up his statements with facts and followed his words with action.  A strong supporter of health care reform Olbermann used his show to promote a number of free health clinics that were being held around the country.  He asked his audience to help and they responded by donating over two million dollars in support of that effort.  Olbermann himself made a substantial monetary contribution.
Keith Olbermann was unusual.  At a time when television journalism is long on sound bites and ratings and short on facts, Olbermann stood for honest reporting and a strong belief in one’s values.  When you tuned in to “Countdown” you knew what you were going to get.  You may criticize his politics. But his honesty, compassion and unwavering belief in those politics are above reproach.
He will be missed.  We hope that he returns to the airwaves someplace soon.
      
  

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