The New York Observer’s Zachary Roth tries to catch Phil Griffin in a contradiction. And fails. Here’s Roth’s evidence…

Mr. Griffin told the paper: “Keith was doing this show before it was popular to beat up on this president or to beat up on this war … Because of his point of view and the ‘Special Comments,’ people think this is our strategy. This isn’t a strategy. This is Keith.”

But two months ago, The Times reported:

Riding a ratings wave from “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” a program that takes strong issue with the Bush administration, MSNBC is increasingly seeking to showcase its nighttime lineup as a welcome haven for viewers of a similar mind.

What Roth fails to note is that in the Times piece Griffin is on record saying exactly the same thing he told the Houston Chronicle today…

Having a prime-time lineup that tilts ever more demonstrably to the left could be risky for General Electric, MSNBC’s parent company, which is subject to legislation and regulation far afield of the cable landscape. Officials at MSNBC emphasize that they never set out to create a liberal version of Fox News.

“It happened naturally,” Phil Griffin, a senior vice president of NBC News who is the executive in charge of MSNBC, said Friday, referring specifically to the channel’s passion and point of view from 7 to 10 p.m. “There isn’t a dogma we’re putting through. There is a ‘Go for it.’”

Fox News consistently denies any political bias in its programming. But whether by design or not, MSNBC is managing to add viewers at a moment when its hosts echo the country’s disaffection with President Bush.

Here’s the central issue. Only a fool would argue that MSNBC’s primetime lineup doesn’t regularly pound the Bush Administration on a range of issues. But, and this is the key point, is it a strategy or not? MSNBC says no. And they’ve consistently said no. Whether you believe them or not is another issue. Lacking empirical evidence or a smoking gun that points conclusively to a strategy, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Your mileage may vary…