Howard Kurts in his 20 November piece in the Washington Post quoted Dan Abrams the new General Manager of MSNBC:
"We've found a voice as of late, and a large part of that voice is politics," says MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams. And although he doesn't plan to put on "all politics all the time until 2008," Abrams says he wants to continue "branding" MSNBC as a haven for political junkies.
The mainstays of journalists that at least try to make sense: Andrea Mitchel, Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter and Howard Fineman, The Washington Post's Dana Milbank, and Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford have become part of the MSNBC mainstay.
see more on the flip side.
Kutrts goes on at some length on this strategy to build an alternative to Faux but you can tell he has a distinct slant against Keith Olberman. While Abrams states: "His program could become a model for the newscast of the future," Abrams says. "It's a mix of straight news reporting with lighter fare and occasionally with some opinion."
Kruts adds:
Some opinion? Not only does Olbermann steer clear of conservative guests, he has added an occasional "special comment" segment in which he recently urged President Bush to apologize to American troops for starting and mishandling the war, going on to suggest that "you are not honest" and "you are far more stupid than the worst of your critics has suggested."
Olbermann said last spring that he is not ideological but that his growing conviction about the administration's failings puts him "in the same part of the ballpark as a lot of liberals."
As far as working "Keith news" an article in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled Olbermann taps a well of discontent as the anti-O'Reilly had a nice piece for us Olberman Fans:
Suddenly, everyone wants Olbermann. Last week, he and political veteran Chris Matthews teamed up to anchor MSNBC's midterm election coverage.
The result? Abrams called it "a major turning point for this network.'' Ratings were up across the board and the coveted 25-to-54 age demographic increased 111 percent from the 2002 midterm election.
What's next? Expect to see Olbermann in even more mainstream settings. The one thing he is resisting, however, is pressure to produce more "Special Comments.'' He has to feel them, he says. "Otherwise I will turn into a cartoon of myself.''
Certainly it is the passion that carries the day. As Abrams says, "Keith isn't faking this, and the viewers can see that.''
But now that he has every one's attention, everyone is asking Olbermann the same question: With the result of the election and the resignation of Rumsfeld, where will he find targets?
"I'm giving the Democrats six months,'' he says. "And then they may be in for some 'Special Comments' of their own.''
Don't think he's kidding. He has found a point of view and he isn't afraid to use it.
Still there are the jerks that have cement in the brain, wax in the ears like News Busters/Exposign Liberal Media Bias that suggest of Keith:
Except that Olbermann doesn't seem to be honest enough to really declare where he is coming from -- the howling-at-the-moon Daily Kosmonaut left.
Well, I did enjoy the new name for our group ... Daily Kosmonauts!
You may wish that some of the above mentioned commentators and journalist would go for the next follow up or bite a little harder but I think that MSNBC is trying to give us political junkies a little more of what we're craving.
Update: Thank you all! I finally made the Rec List!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been on for nearly two years, really active for the last year and finally made it.
I really have written better diaries but I'll take it any way I can.
What a Thanksgiving. Thank you!!!