Open any newspaper, turn on any political commentary show, and I guarantee you’ll come across a pundit bemoaning the general erosion of political discourse in this country. Dig a little deeper, and I bet you’ll also find some journalist or analyst wondering aloud whether ESPN’s obvious leftward tilt is to blame for its steadily declining ratings.
The sports broadcasting giant doesn’t appear to be concerned about any of these things.
ESPN is giving the infamously angry and foul-mouthed political provocateur Keith Olbermann a bigger role at its network, according to the New York Post, which reported Friday:
This news comes not too long after the network spent a significant amount of time backtracking and apologizing for now-former host Jemele Hill, who kicked the hornet’s nest in 2017 when she said on social media that, “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”
“Olbermann’s new role with ESPN will include many one-off assignments, beginning with this Memorial Day’s Yankee-Astros game, which he will call on radio with analyst Jim Bowden,” the Post reports. “Olbermann will be involved in ESPN’s on-site coverage of the All-Star Game and World Series.”
He is also expected to make guest appearances on several ESPN shows, including “PTI” and “Outside The Lines.”
The most amazing thing here is not that this is the sixth time that Olbermann has worked for ESPN. It’s that network chiefs reportedly factored “in that Olbermann is partly known for hosting left-leaning political shows at a time when ESPN has battled media reports about a perception of a liberal bias,” and decided anyway to move forward with his expanded role, according to the Post’s sources.
Because nothing says you’re serious about battling allegations of bias quite like giving a bigger broadcasting duties to this guy:
GO FUCK YOURSELF @REALDONALDTRUMP pic.twitter.com/BDOzSRgw3j
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 12, 2017
In all seriousness, it’d be great to have the old Olbermann back. I don’t think that’ll happen, but it’d still be great. He started out this career in media as a terrifically gifted sports commentator. His earlier work is some of the best around.
Unfortunately, I think he’s permanently broken. There’s no chance that the man who now tweets things like this, and this, and this, will take to his increased role at ESPN with the same sort of subtlety and grace that we saw in the earlier periods of his career. If his umpteenth comeback does include the sort of sports commentary that got him noticed in the first place, then we all win. But I’m not going to hold my breath.
A real shame, too. Because there’s nothing worse than wasted talent.
And speaking of wasted talent, I think this New York Post article means Olbermann’s ability to stay afloat in the television business is rivaled now only by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, who has hosted or co-hosted at least as many shows as cats have lives.
