The Los Angeles Times is recognizing what many of us have already realized-- that Keith Olbermann is not a voice crying in the wilderness.
The subhead of the
Times piece says it all--
"Anti-Bush views have driven up the ratings of the former sportscaster's MSNBC show."
More below.
The Times' piece went on:
The 47-year-old broadcaster's "special comments" are not a regular feature on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann," the dramatically intoned, fast-paced mélange of politics and pop culture that he has anchored since 2003 and that recently emerged as MSNBC's top-rated show. (The newscast airs at 5 p.m. on the West Coast, with a repeat at 9 p.m.)
But Olbermann's occasional soliloquies — typically a no-holds-barred excoriation of the Bush administration — have dramatically elevated his profile in the last several months, especially in the liberal blogosphere, and helped drive up the ratings for the third-place cable news network.
I agree. Olbermann's show has proved to be a more than effective alternative to the blatent Republican propaganda dished out by the Fox "news" Channel and the weak journalism dished out by the rest of the mainstream media.
The Times piece continued:
"People just think, 'He speaks for me,' " said Jane Hamsher, a Mill Valley, Calif., author who runs a liberal blog at firedoglake.com. "There was no resonance within the media for their perspective, and suddenly Keith came on the scene and gave voice to these long-simmering feelings of disgust with the war."
He speaks for me, too...and for millions like me.