From National Review Online, “MSOBAMA” by Pete Wehner Like many of us, Wehner has taken a fascination in the falling out between Dana Milbank and Keith Olbermann. In case you haven’t heard, Olbermann happily greeted the news that his longtime partner in purported news analysis would no longer be appearing on his show. What accounted for Olbermann’s joy over his sometime sidekick’s departure? Milbank had written a piece in the Washington Post that failed to be sufficiently reverential of Barack Obama. Lest you run off and think we can now claim Milbank as part of our vast right wing conspiracy, he’s the objective journalist who appeared on Olbermann’s show in orange hunting regalia in the wake of Dick Cheney’s hunting accident. Beyond documenting the Olbermann/Milbank divorce, a spectacle that invokes the same morbid fascination that a fight to the death between two rabid Chihuahuas would, Wehner offers some pointed observations regarding Olbermann’s “news” program:
Pete better be careful there. Ranting cartoon characters could sue him for defamation. That aside, the Olbermann phenomenon is worth exploring at some length, however painful the exercise might be. I often watch Olbermann’s show, just as I read the Daily Kos. It’s important, instructive and occasionally enlightening to know what the other guys are thinking, although truthfully the Olbermann show is hardly ever enlightening. What’s often struck me about “Countdown” is the same thing that struck Wehner – Olbermann hardly ever airs dissenting views. Each installment is an hour-long wallow in the echo chamber. What strikes me even more is the show’s stridency and how self-defeating it is. Olbermann is a funny guy, and his humor does somewhat leaven the festivities. But each night is still an angry tour through the depredations committed by conservatives. The one-sidedness of the show along with the anger virtually ensure that only those of like mind are tuning in. The show and Olbermann therefore only preach to the choir, and their influence is nil. Bill O’Reilly can push a story. Keith Olbermann can’t because he’s basically rehashing a particularly furious Daily Kos diary to a band of already committed true believers. That doesn’t mean he lacks an audience. Olbermann’s ratings have been a source of strength for MSNBC. So there is money in them thar ranting hills. Indeed, Olbermamn may give us a view of the TV news of the future. Olbermann proves you can make money by targeting a sliver of the news gathering population, and the best way to do that is by targeting eager partisans who are almost by definition high end news gatherers. Think about it this way – if Hannity & Colmes ditched the Colmes half of the duo, would the ratings be more likely to go up or down? The Olbermann phenomenon hints at the dead end TV news will probably turn down – pure partisanship, with no allowance whatsoever made for dissenting views. Now there’s a happy thought, no?
