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MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann: "Yoga for the itsybitsyyoga.com | About Dr. Keith T. Sellers | Charlotte, NC Orthodontics | Orthodontist... sellersorthodontics.com | Countdown to in vitro fertilization (IVF) - Reproductive Science Center... rscbayarea.com | Pregnancy Countdown webmd.com |
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program[2] on MSNBC which airs live at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and reruns at 10 p.m., 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on weekdays, other than Fridays, when there are typically no re-runs. The show, hosted by Keith Olbermann, debuted on March 31, 2003, and counts down five selected news stories of the day with news reports and interviews with guests, along with commentary by Olbermann. On February 15, 2007 Olbermann received a four-year contract extension, which includes two Countdown primetime specials on NBC. At the start of Countdown, Olbermann told television columnist Lisa de Moraes that "our charge for the immediate future is to stay out of the way of the news.... News is the news. We will not be screwing around with it.... As times improve and the war ends we will begin to introduce more and more elements familiar to my style." On rival commentator Bill O'Reilly, with whom Olbermann would later cultivate a feud, he stated, "I'm not looking to take down Bill. It will be a totally different program. It will not be a show in which opinion and facts are juxtaposed so as to appear to be the same thing."[3] The show is known for Olbermann's fast-paced rhetorical style, historical and pop culture references, and liberal commentary. Olbermann melds news stories, both serious and light, with commentary, much of it critical of Republicans and conservative politics. The show has been the source of some controversy due to these criticisms, as well as its host's ongoing criticism of Fox News Channel, to which he refers using a variety of satirical names ("Fox Noise" and "Fixed News"), and his feud with Bill O'Reilly of Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, whose show runs directly opposite. Since October 22, 2007, the show airs live from NBC Studios 1A's Second Floor at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City, and is currently published shortly thereafter each weeknight in its commercial-free entirety on the iTunes Store podcast directory and Zune Marketplace, and in segment form, with shorter interstitial ads, on the show's web site.
[edit] About the show[edit] Substitute hostsFormer The Most host Alison Stewart was the primary guest host for Countdown until the end of 2007. Other occasional substitute guest hosts have included Alex Witt, David Shuster (a regular contributor to the show), Amy Robach, and Brian Unger. From April 2008 until September 2008 Rachel Maddow hosted Countdown in Olbermann's absence. This ended when she was given her own show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.[4] On December 23 2008, MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall substituted for Olbermann, as did Richard Wolffe on July 24, 2009, for each marking their first appearance hosting the show. On the July 27, 2009 edition of Countdown Lawrence O'Donnell filled in for Olbermann. On July 28 and 29 2009, former Vermont governor and DNC chairman Howard Dean guest-hosted Countdown. Wolffe hosted again on July 30 and 31. [edit] Special commentsMain article: List of Keith Olbermann's special comments In late August 2006, Olbermann started delivering occasional "Special Comments" in which he has expressed sharp criticisms of members of the Bush administration, including then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush. As of November 10, 2008, Olbermann has delivered forty of these commentaries, as well as a series of about ten "Campaign Comments" during the final weeks of the 2008 presidential election. While the majority of these comments have been directed at members of the Republican Party, Olbermann also directed two Special Comments in the first half of 2008 at Senator Hillary Clinton, criticizing aspects of her campaign for the Democratic nomination. One of Olbermann's Special Comments also spoke out against the passage of Proposition 8 in California on November 4, 2008,[5][6] for which he was awarded the 2009 GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV Journalism Segment".[7] Olbermann's "Special Comments" have been both compared to and contrasted with Edward R. Murrow's signature essays.[8][9][10] At the end of the years 2006 and 2007, four of Olbermann's comments from the year were gathered as a special program during the Christmas and New Years holidays. [edit] 'Worst Person in the World' segmentThe "Worst Person" segment is a nightly feature (typically the "Second Story in the Countdown") in which Olbermann recounts a recent news story involving people saying or doing something that Olbermann finds objectionable. In response to some critics, Olbermann has stated that the title of "Worst Person" is satirical and not meant to be a literal description.[11] "Nominees" for Worst Person in the World are ranked at the bronze medal level ("Worse"), silver ("Worser") and gold ("Worst"). While many of his targets are not political, the overwhelming majority that are political are conservatives or former members of the Bush administration.[12] The most frequent recipient of this award is Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly. Olbermann has repeatedly named O'Reilly his "Worst Person in the World" winner (gold medalist), awarding him a clean sweep of all three positions ("Worse", "Worser", and "Worst") twice, the first time on November 30, 2005[13] and the second on November 10, 2008. Other frequent recipients include Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, Fox News founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch, and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Based on this segment of the show, a book titled The Worst Person in the World was published in September 2006. It included transcripts of segments that aired from this feature's inception on July 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006, as well as some original material.[14] [edit] The "Keith number"During the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary season, Olbermann began using the term "Keith number" in reference to the sum of a pre-election opinion poll's margin of error and the percentage of respondents who are undecided. Olbermann believes this value tends to be predictive of the extent to which a poll may vary from actual election results, and also of the volatility of the electorate's leanings.[15] To summarize:
On the January 11, 2008 episode of Countdown, Olbermann described the number as follows:
Olbermann's "Keith number" is unrelated (mathematically or otherwise) to the more traditional use of the term. [edit] GuestsGuests regularly featured on the show as of March 2009 include:[17]
Interviews with comedians are featured regularly during the final segment of the show; notable appearances have included George Carlin, Lewis Black, Richard Lewis, Mo Rocca, and John Cleese. [edit] Olbermann vs. O'ReillyCountdown often highlights Olbermann's long-standing criticism and rivalry towards Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly, whom he frequently calls "Bill O" or "Bill O the Clown". Countdown occupies the same time slot as Bill O'Reilly's show, The O'Reilly Factor. In addition to often naming O'Reilly "Worst Person in the World", Olbermann frequently lampoons him in other ways, including referring to him by several nicknames, including Ted Baxter, and when quoting O'Reilly will often do so by impersonating Ted Knight's Ted Baxter voice. O'Reilly has never directly addressed Olbermann's criticisms and has rarely mentioned Olbermann by name; instead, O'Reilly has critiqued NBC and MSNBC, accusing them of smearing him and of displaying a left-wing bias. Early in 2006 O'Reilly petitioned MSNBC for the cancellation of Olbermann's show and for the return of Phil Donahue to Olbermann's slot, stating that Donahue's ratings far exceeded those of Countdown. During the January 30, 2006 edition of the O'Reilly Factor's "Talking Points Memo" segment, O'Reilly criticized NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC for "taking cheap shots at Fox News on a regular basis...for some time." O'Reilly also claimed that FNC had " good relationships with ABC News, CBS News, and generally CNN."[18] Olbermann responded to those criticisms by saying that Fox News had had less than cordial relations with CNN, referring to Fox having set up a billboard across the street from CNN Center in Atlanta, taunting them about their lower TV ratings; to when Fox News, through an unsigned statement, compared CNN to the Titanic; to when Fox News, through a press release, had claimed CNN founder Ted Turner had "lost his mind" after he criticized Fox News; and finally to when Fox News executives had made disparaging references to CNN host Paula Zahn's abilities after she had left Fox News.[19] [edit] Save the tapesWhen O'Reilly was sued for sexual harassment in October 2004 by his former producer, Andrea Mackris, Olbermann urged Mackris to take a payout of $99,000 (US) in exchange for, allegedly, a tape of a phone call that O'Reilly made to Mackris, in which he incorrectly referred to a loofah as a falafel.[20] The lawsuit settled out of court and no tapes were ever made public. Subsequently, Olbermann used the word "falafel" often when referring to O'Reilly, [21][22] [edit] "Fire Olbermann" petitionOn February 22, 2006, O'Reilly initiated an online petition, that did not mention Olbermann by name, to have MSNBC remove Olbermann from the 8pm EST timeslot, purportedly to have former slot host Phil Donahue's show reinstated. The petition was in the form of a letter addressed to Wright saying: "We, the undersigned, are becoming increasingly concerned about the well-being of MSNBC and, in particular, note the continuing ratings failure of the program currently airing weeknights on that network at 8:00 p.m. EST".[23] Olbermann responded two days later on Countdown by playing a selection of disparaging television clips featuring O'Reilly [24] and mocked the whole affair by joining several MSNBC staffers, including Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams, in signing the petition to have himself fired. [edit] "Fox News Security" incidentTwo weeks later, on March 3, 2006, Olbermann reported on an incident in which O'Reilly dropped a caller, identified as "Mike" from Orlando, Florida (ultimately identified as liberal blogger Mike Stark) from his live radio show, seemingly for mentioning Olbermann's name. O'Reilly accused the caller of being part of a larger group of individuals that had been calling O'Reilly with the sole purpose of mentioning Olbermann. The caller said, “I like to listen to you during the day. I think Keith Olbermann's show…” when O'Reilly cut in, responding to “Mike” as follows:
[edit] Criticism and responseThe Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative media content analysis organization, has been very critical of Keith Olbermann since he became the Countdown host. The organization has asserted that he has a liberal bias in the form of being overly critical of President George W. Bush, attacking Fox and O'Reilly, starting off his newscast with what it claims to be unimportant stories with a left wing motive, and ignoring the Bush administration's side of the story. MRC has also accused Olbermann of allegedly supporting Bush's impeachment, among other practices.[26] Bloggers from Newsbusters.org, a conservative blogsite owned by the Media Research Center, have also asserted that Olbermann exclusively chooses guests who reinforce his point of view.[27] MRC issued a press release describing Olbermann's November 1, 2006 Special Comment as "preaching hate speech", and describing Olbermann as "a brown-shirted left-winger spew[ing] hate from an NBC-owned podium."[28] ("Brown-shirt" is a term that was used to describe the Sturmabteilung paramilitary organization of the German Nazi party). In response, Olbermann has on a number of occasions named MRC founder Brent Bozell, whom he has described variously as "Redbeard the pirate",[29] and "humorist",[30] the "worst person in the world" for various comments he has made about Countdown and other topics, such as Bozell's criticism of the New York Times for sponsoring the 2006 Gay Games.[31] The anchor has also said that the MRC desires "an institutionalized, pro-Republican slant" in the media.[32] To support its assertions of bias, the MRC researched Countdown's Worst Person in the World segment and claimed to find that of the approximately 600 nominees between June 30, 2005 and June 23, 2006, 174 had conservative political views and 23 had liberal political views, with the remaining 403 having no apparent political affiliation.[12] Olbermann interpreted the results differently by claiming that 71% were not conservative.[33] Olbermann has addressed the assertions of liberal bias by stating that he would be equally critical of a Democratic president who had invited criticism by his actions: "I mean, no one in 1998, no one accused me of being a liberal in 1998 because I was covering the Lewinsky scandal. And whatever I had to do about it, I tried to be fair and honest and as accurate and as informed as possible, and allow my viewer to be the same way. And nowadays it's the same thing. And now all of a sudden I’m a screaming liberal."[34] However, Howard Kurtz has written that Olbermann departed MSNBC the first time as a result of the Clinton-Lewinsky coverage, which he did not personally agree with.[35] The MRC responded by noting that they criticized him in 1998 for comparing Ken Starr to Heinrich Himmler.[36] On November 25, 2006, Fox News Watch's panelist Cal Thomas named Olbermann as his choice for 2006's "Media Turkey Award" for what Thomas alleged were Olbermann's "inaccuracies" and "hot air".[37] Olbermann in turn gave the show the Bronze for "Worst Person in the World", not for naming him "Turkey of the Year", but for spelling his name "Olberman" on the onscreen graphic.[38] Conservative radio talk show host Michael Medved has criticized Keith Olbermann's picks for Worst Person In The World, saying that it's "no terrorists, all conservatives". He went on to say, "If you have a segment called 'The Worst Person In The World', isn't it striking when you've chosen Ann Coulter twenty times, and never chosen an Islamic terrorist?"[citation needed] Olbermann gave Medved "Worst Persons" honors on October 1, 2007 in response to his Townhall.com column titled "Six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery,"[39] and chided him to "go back to reviewing movies." The show's absence of guests who challenge Olbermann's views was noted by Howard Rosenberg in a commentary published in the Los Angeles Times. "At least O'Reilly invites dissenters to his lair (if only to disembowel them)," wrote Rosenberg, "Whereas "Countdown" is more or less an echo chamber in which Olbermann and like-minded bobbleheads nod at each other."[40] [edit] Notes
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