Keith Olbermann profile..
The AP’s David Bauder writes about Keith Olbermann and his increased criticisms of the Bush Administration…
Early in his second tenure at MSNBC, Olbermann said he wanted to do a segment on whether some of the more heroic elements of former POW Jessica Lynch’s rescue were exaggerated. He was told by NBC News executives that he had to balance it with a commentary by conservative radio host Michael Savage, and he refused. He was prepared to walk, he said, but it never came to that.
Olbermann said he hasn’t spoken to NBC Chairman Bob Wright or anyone at corporate owner General Electric Co. about his commentaries. No one’s asked him to tone things down; in fact, “I’ve had to calm them down a little bit,” he said.
Such is the almighty power of the Nielsen meter.
“As dangerous as it can sometimes be for news, it is also our great protector,” Olbermann said. “Because as long as you make them money, they don’t care. This is not Rupert Murdoch. And even Rupert Murdoch puts `Family Guy’ on the air and `The Simpsons,’ that regularly criticize Fox News. There is some safety in the corporate structure that we probably could never have anticipated.”
Can Olbermann ever get out a sentence without mentioning O’Reilly, Rupert Murdoch or Fox News? Here he’s finally found something he can do to increase ratings (trashing our President, Sec. of Defense and others during time of war), but he reverts back to his old game plan.
And what’s with this Bauder? Does he write about Olbermann every week or something?
Comment by Missy — October 8, 2006 @ 7:11 pm
“As a critic of the administration, I will be damned if you can get away with calling me the equivalent of a Nazi appeaser,” Olbermann told The Associated Press.
Interesting, Keith. Didn’t you do a Nazi salute in public less than two months ago?
I’m not sure who is more of a suck-up, David Bauder or Brian Stelter. The sad thing is that the former actually has some credibility.
Comment by Phil — October 8, 2006 @ 7:16 pm
If/when there’s a democratic president installed in 2009, it’ll be interesting to see Olbermann’s strategy. Without Bush in office, will it just be Newshounds: The TV Program?
Comment by Charles — October 8, 2006 @ 8:49 pm
“…At a time of war”…??? Just when would we know when this “war” you speak of is over, and the Constitution is reinstated? So “Mission Accomplished” didn’t mean the First Amendment was reinstated? Even Lincoln was criticized during a REAL war, but he actually listened, made decisions, admitted mistakes AND even changed his mind.
And if you bothered to read his comments, he was actually saying something positive about Murdoch and FOX, that they allow the “Simpsons” and “Family Guy” to air, even with sarcasm directed at FOX. Bob Wright has gone way, way up in my estimation, and I have been watching “Nightly News” more often because of it.
And the “Nazi salute” was a shot at O’Reilly’s continual justification of the massacre of American soldiers by the German Nazis (even if I’d have preferred he’d not done it, since the reference was obviously lost on most of the posters here).
Comment by museglet — October 9, 2006 @ 12:17 am
I am well aware of what Keith Olbermann and his defenders on here and TVNewser tried to spin the Nazi salute into. The Anti-Defamation League disagreed. A Nazi salute is a despicable act that cannot be justified in any way.
Comment by Phil — October 9, 2006 @ 12:49 am
The ADL was contacted by a certain site which does nothing but bash Olbermann, and without being given the entire story, sent their letter to MSNBC. I have heard that the ADL has since been informed of the ENTIRE sory: O’Reilly’s (repeated)lies about Malmedy, Nazis, and brave American soldiers. And anyone who walked into the middle of “The Producers” without knowing the premise would likely be offended by “Springtime For Hitler” and the “Nazi salutes” therein.
Comment by museglet — October 9, 2006 @ 2:54 am
museglet,
Nice try.
We (Olbermann Watch) sent the ADL the photo of Keith giving the Nazi salute and asked them for comment. Regardless of WHY Keith gave the Nazi salute, he gave it and that prompted a statement from the ADL condemning the use of Nazi imagery.
http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2006/08/olbywatch_getti.html
I might add that Keith had previously apologized for using Nazi references (comapring Ken Starr to Henreich Himmler) and noted that, given his German heritage, he ought to have been more careful.
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/1998/cyb19980821.asp#6
Further, since you are so interested in ENTIRE stories then perhaps you will read my post on the O’Reilly-Malmedy matter. In my piece you will learn that Olbermann lied both on his own air and while a guest on The Tonight Show.
http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2006/07/olbermann_defen.html
In that post I wrote: “In neither case was O’Reilly asserting what Olbermann has claimed - that the SS Troops at Malmedy were murdered by American troops. Instead, it is clear that O’Reilly misspoke in referencing the “Chenogne Massacre” as the “Malmedy Massacre”. It was appropriate for O’Reilly to provide an on-air clarification to his viewers but there is nothing in any of this which even remotely supports the ludicrous claim advanced by Olbermann that O’Reilly fabricated a story of an atrocity by U.S. troops, “defended Nazis” or called the U.S. troops murdered at Malmedy “war criminals”.”
I am sure you do not want to let facts get in the way of a good rant but for those who care to deal in facts, I comment these links to your attention.
Comment by Robert Cox — October 9, 2006 @ 10:08 am
Spud - how come now mention that Olbermann Watch got a prominent mention in the AP story and that I was quoted?
Comment by Robert Cox — October 9, 2006 @ 10:13 am
What Roberty Cox, and Olbermann, and O’Reilly prove to all of us every day is that all news is slanted; and the center is different for everyone. We all see things differently. Show me two people who agree on everything, and I’ll show you two people who have the exact same fingerprints.
Neither O’Reilly nor Olbermann like to admit they messed up or got a story wrong, true, but show me one time where Olbermann admitted making a mistake. Anyone out there notice how Olbermann admits how others (for instance the person in charge of the teleprompter) made a mistake. He basically “admits” how it’s really someone else’s mistake. How good of him.
O’Reilly is hesitant partly, in my opinion, because his detractors will twist the apology AND his original misstatement. That is the case here. Reverse the roles and anyone can see the hypocricy. Olbermann has never gotten the O’Reilly misstatement right. Has he apologized? No, he just keeps repeating his accusation differently each time. Notice as well all his supporters here telling it differently, mixing it up, every time as well. A lie is a lot harder to tell the same each time than the truth.
Robert Cox lays it all out above, but anyone can see how convoluted this has become. Show me some family members of soldiers at Malmady who approve of Olbermann twisting the facts and dragging their names through the mud for a few ratings points. Seems kind of Michael Moorelian to me.
Comment by erljr — October 9, 2006 @ 11:37 am
Exactly. You sent the PICTURE without any context, in order to inject yourself into the “controversy”. Whether or not what he did was appropriate–and I have enormous respect for the ADL–anyone who creates a website which is devoted to bashing the ONLY progressive hour in all of cable news is not someone the ADL should be listening to.
As for O’Reilly, changing the issue is typical: whether or not he named the wrong “site” of the massacre, his despicable statements still stand. O’Reilly compared the so-called “massacre” by Marines in Iraq with what the NAZIS DID TO BRAVE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN WWII, when he stated that in a war, sometimes things like this happen, and it was understandable. THE NAZIS MASSACRED AMERICANS, and any comparison, excuse, parallel to what OUR troops did or did not do is SICK. PERIOD.
Now you can go back to the 33% of Americans who agree with everything you say and start bashing Olbermann for his sex life.
Comment by museglet — October 9, 2006 @ 3:43 pm
He said mistakes are made in every war, and just like the general population, the military (and any country’s military) always has a few bad apples. Then he used an example he remembered wrong. He wanted to drive the point home, but he neglected to fact check. He never did a Nazi salute. Olbermann neglects to fact check something almost every show; or maybe it’s on purpose, because he knows anyone who points out a mistake will just give him more publicity. As I’ve said before, all publicity is good publicity.
museglet, I am not one of the 33% you mention; as you can see for yourself if you look back at what I’ve said about O’Reilly/Olbermann in the past. And I’m pretty sure you’re not quite one of the other 33%. And I’m not a regular viewer of either show. I watch both about equally.
What I was trying to say about military families is this: O’Reilly screwed up badly when he got his massacres mixed up. And his apology wasn’t really an apology. But it’s over and done with. He will never apologize now because Olbermann has made the story so convoluted that it’s pointless; the pot would be stirred up again and more urban myths would be created and pour fuel onto the fire.
As for the sex thing, it’s just more publicity for him, so I will say no more.
Comment by erljr — October 9, 2006 @ 4:15 pm
erljr, my last post was NOT directed at you (nor the 33% comment). Again, my point (and Olbermann’s, as I understood it at the time), was that O’Reilly tried to justify ANY NAZI ACTIONS, by comparing THEIR massacre of American soldiers to what our Marines may or may not have done in the heat of battle in Iraq. FOLLOWING that, the Nazi salute–in poor taste or not–was in response to a question regarding O’Reilly’s absence from the convention. Cox sent the letter and thereby USED the ADL for his personal agenda.
Comment by museglet — October 9, 2006 @ 5:09 pm
Olbermann has admitted making mistakes numerous times (such as showing the wrong picture of someone, getting a title wrong, etc.). Fox? Not one. (Their big thing right now seems to be pretending Republicans with low poll ratings are actually Democrats and Democrats with high poll ratings are actually Republicans.) O’Reilly? Not one. Not a single solitary one. And yes, I have seen Olbermann on camera apologizing for his OWN mistakes.
O’Reilly is hesitant to apologize because his enemies will “twist” it? Oh, THERE’s a nice handy excuse for never apologizing. Meanwhile Olbermann apologizes and the apology gets FORGOTTEN, as you can see here.
Bob Cox is the biggest and most absurd Olbermann-hating, twisting partisan of them all, erljr is a fool to believe his every word, and museglet is completely right on this one. Cox has been trying to blow up the Nazi salute into a scandal in which Olbermann is forced to apologize for his alleged “anti-Semitism” ever since it happened. That has failed, so what did he try next? A sex scandal that he and some other sicko have been flogging for months to get into the mainstream media even though it lacks all credibility. You see the evidence of their despicable behavior now.
Comment by tanne — October 10, 2006 @ 7:01 am