Why Keith Olbermann Is Failing

Posted on | February 23, 2010 | 33 Comments

Flipping through the channels this evening, I happened onto Keith Olbermann in media res. He was doing his “Worst Person in the World” list. Number 3 was just a dumbed-down rehash of a TPM item about Tea Party Express spokesman Mark Williams. Olbermann began by describing Williams as a “fired ex-Albany, New York, hate-radio host” and after excerpting the TPM item, added:

“And by the way, Tea Party Express? ‘Uh, I’ll have a large bigotry and, uh, some racism with secret sauce and, uh, a white power shake.’ “

What he was doing — using a “dumb guy” voice — was riffing on the idea (which he apparently thought funny) that “Tea Party Express” sounds like the name of a fast-food drive-through restaurant.

No. 2 on Olbermann’s list was a Greek TV news reporter suspected of murdering the boss who fired her, and No. 1 was Monica Crowley who, Olbermann said, “went insane this afternoon on Fixed News,” as he habitually refers to his network’s more popular competitor, Fox News Channel. The cause of Crowley’s alleged insanity? This story from the New York Post:

The Justice Department’s disclosure that nine of President Obama’s appointees had either represented or advocated for Guantanamo detainees has touched off a firestorm of criticism.
The surprising admission came three months after Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa asked Attorney General Eric Holder for a list of names of Obama DOJ appointees who had been involved in legal work for Gitmo prisoners.
Holder, in a letter to Grassley, admitted that nine of the agency’s appointees had done some kind of work on behalf of terror suspects.

Well, this is certainly a disturbing disclosure, but Olbermann mocked the concerns of both Crowley and Sen. Grassley:

Monica Crowley . . . went insane this afternoon on Fixed News because it was revealed five lawyers, now working for the justice department, once defended GITMO detainees. And four others who participated in arguments that were favorable to the GITMO detainees now work at D.O.J..
She [Monica Crowley] said, “…it seems that we have a D.O.J. that is relatively stocked with what could be assumed to be terrorist sympathizers, because if you think enough of those Guantanamo Bay detainees to represent them, what does that tell you about where these people are coming from?”
Well, it tells me they believe in, oh, the rule of law. Also, that’s nine attorneys out of at least 10,000 at the Department of Justice. So, ‘relatively stocked’ is like saying Monica Crowley is relatively intelligent.

Olbermann’s reference to “at least 10,000” attorneys at the Justice Department is, of course, an apples-and-oranges distraction. Grassley’s inquiry was specifically about Obama administration political appointees at DOJ, who certainly don’t number 10,000. So Olbermann was engaged in smokescreen tactics in defense of Obama while disparaging the intelligence of Crowley.

Regardless of how you feel about Crowley or Gitmo detainees (or the Tea Party Express or murderous Greek TV reporters), the larger point is that Olbermann’s show is bad television. His jokes aren’t funny and his selection of topics reflects a very narrow range of personal obsessions. You’ve got to watch the video to understand just how spectacularly bad Olbermann is:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Olbermann does himself no favors with his annoying habit of recycling slur-labels like “Fixed News” and “teabaggers.” It’s a verbal tic, and is neither enlightening nor entertaining.

Olbermann followed that “Worst Person” bit with a segment accusing Rush Limbaugh of racism — a rehash of a day-old Media Matters item. You see that what Olbermann is doing, really, is a televised version of the left-wing blogosphere, and it is failing because (a) these stories only appeal to a narrow band of hard-core partisans, and (b) Olbermann is personally obnoxious.

Olbermann’s show may have had wider appeal during the Bush presidency simply because the people he was attacking daily — the bogeymen who then haunted the Left’s dreams — were the president, the vice president and other powerful administration figures. But now that Democrats control the commanding heights in D.C., that formula is no longer effective as a means of attracting an audience of respectable size even by the modest standards of cable TV.

Over and over again, Olbermann pounds away at his pet villains — Sarah Palin, the Tea Party movement, Fox News — and who cares? None of these people are in any position of real authority, as were Bush and Cheney back in the day.

Olbermann’s Bush-era glory days, such as they were, are behind him. And it is only a matter of time until the executives at MSNBC figure that out.

Category: MSNBC

Comments

33 Responses to “Why Keith Olbermann Is Failing”

MSNBC Flinches! « The Rhetorican
February 23rd, 2010 @ 11:38 pm

[…] Related: TOM: Why Olbermann is failing. […]
Joseph
February 24th, 2010 @ 4:45 am

I cannot wait until Keith is fired, but he’ll probably accidentally kill himself while practicing autoerotic asphyxiation long before MSNBC gets rid of him.
Joseph
February 23rd, 2010 @ 11:45 pm

I cannot wait until Keith is fired, but he’ll probably accidentally kill himself while practicing autoerotic asphyxiation long before MSNBC gets rid of him.
Joe
February 24th, 2010 @ 5:27 am

MSNBC is like the ~~midget~~ little people clown car of cable television. Olbermann fits right in with the rest of the ~~midgets~~ little people. He does not need big ratings. It is what they do.
Joe
February 24th, 2010 @ 12:27 am

MSNBC is like the ~~midget~~ little people clown car of cable television. Olbermann fits right in with the rest of the ~~midgets~~ little people. He does not need big ratings. It is what they do.
proof
February 24th, 2010 @ 5:59 am

Sometimes I think D’oh-lbermann gets a bigger audience from bloggers exposing his idiocy and hypocrisy than ever hear him live.
proof
February 24th, 2010 @ 12:59 am

Sometimes I think D’oh-lbermann gets a bigger audience from bloggers exposing his idiocy and hypocrisy than ever hear him live.
Basil
February 24th, 2010 @ 11:31 am

I bet Olbermann couldn’t get … or at least, keep … a job at ESPN.
Basil
February 24th, 2010 @ 6:31 am

I bet Olbermann couldn’t get … or at least, keep … a job at ESPN.
toadold
February 24th, 2010 @ 2:45 pm

If NBC or MSNBC were legitimate businesses the management would have been fired long ago given the ratings. I’d really like to see the break down on the money flow for them. It operates like a small town vanity newspaper that doesn’t need ad revenue because the owner operates it from other funds.
I pity the stock holders.
toadold
February 24th, 2010 @ 9:45 am

If NBC or MSNBC were legitimate businesses the management would have been fired long ago given the ratings. I’d really like to see the break down on the money flow for them. It operates like a small town vanity newspaper that doesn’t need ad revenue because the owner operates it from other funds.
I pity the stock holders.
Blake
February 24th, 2010 @ 5:03 pm

The more noteworthy event is when Olberman is not flailing.
Blake
February 24th, 2010 @ 12:03 pm

The more noteworthy event is when Olberman is not flailing.
Pat Hickey
February 24th, 2010 @ 5:29 pm

Keith Olbermann – America’s # 1. Juice Bag!
Pat Hickey
February 24th, 2010 @ 12:29 pm

Keith Olbermann – America’s # 1. Juice Bag!
sam Moore
February 24th, 2010 @ 11:02 pm

I keep getting the feeling the only thing Keith O hates worse than Conservatives is himself .
He would made the perfect 50 year old female Bitch .
I head his parents send him hate mail on his birthday along with his sister and brother .
sam Moore
February 24th, 2010 @ 6:02 pm

I keep getting the feeling the only thing Keith O hates worse than Conservatives is himself .
He would made the perfect 50 year old female Bitch .
I head his parents send him hate mail on his birthday along with his sister and brother .
Victor Erimita
February 25th, 2010 @ 12:47 am

I think the reason Olberman is failing is because his audience consists entirely of conservative pundits who tune in daily for their outrage fix, and there just aren’t enough of them to make a big audience.

Seriously, Olberman’s audience is tiny, yet on any given day dozens, scores, maybe hundreds, of conservatives blog weigh in on what he said last night. Two words. Who. Cares? This guy has zero influence. Ignore him. Please.
Victor Erimita
February 24th, 2010 @ 7:47 pm

I think the reason Olberman is failing is because his audience consists entirely of conservative pundits who tune in daily for their outrage fix, and there just aren’t enough of them to make a big audience.

Seriously, Olberman’s audience is tiny, yet on any given day dozens, scores, maybe hundreds, of conservatives blog weigh in on what he said last night. Two words. Who. Cares? This guy has zero influence. Ignore him. Please.
Alan Davidson
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:01 am

Two things:

1) MSNBC will not fire him since it would be a serious blow to their standing on the left and because they are so heavily invested in his schtick, that doing so would be an admission that the Country is center-right.

2)We on the Right who know better do NOT want him fired or off-the-air. In fact, we hope and pray he not only sticks around, but brings it up a couple of notches. You see, he, in fact, is being held back if you can believe it. Please Olby….Please. Let your true freak out! Let it breath, man!
Alan Davidson
February 24th, 2010 @ 8:01 pm

Two things:

1) MSNBC will not fire him since it would be a serious blow to their standing on the left and because they are so heavily invested in his schtick, that doing so would be an admission that the Country is center-right.

2)We on the Right who know better do NOT want him fired or off-the-air. In fact, we hope and pray he not only sticks around, but brings it up a couple of notches. You see, he, in fact, is being held back if you can believe it. Please Olby….Please. Let your true freak out! Let it breath, man!
Jason O'Connell
February 25th, 2010 @ 2:40 am

Monica Crowley? Gorgeous.
Jason O'Connell
February 24th, 2010 @ 9:40 pm

Monica Crowley? Gorgeous.
BumaShare
February 25th, 2010 @ 3:47 am

Every time I think of buying a GE product I think of MSNBC and suddenly I find competitive products made by other manufacturers intrinsically superior.

Has anyone else experienced the same phenomenon?
BumaShare
February 24th, 2010 @ 10:47 pm

Every time I think of buying a GE product I think of MSNBC and suddenly I find competitive products made by other manufacturers intrinsically superior.

Has anyone else experienced the same phenomenon?
john kistenmacher
February 25th, 2010 @ 4:37 am

Keith who?
john kistenmacher
February 24th, 2010 @ 11:37 pm

Keith who?
Mike Troup
February 25th, 2010 @ 6:31 am

The only way Olbermann and Maddow could double their ratings is if they each took turns watching the other’s show from the green room! Ignore this little pustule on the media buttock and he will eventually go away, weeping into his pocket square…
Mike Troup
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:31 am

The only way Olbermann and Maddow could double their ratings is if they each took turns watching the other’s show from the green room! Ignore this little pustule on the media buttock and he will eventually go away, weeping into his pocket square…
Pete King
February 25th, 2010 @ 9:57 pm

“where there are many words, sin is not absent.”
Pete King
February 25th, 2010 @ 4:57 pm

“where there are many words, sin is not absent.”
David Norris
May 11th, 2010 @ 6:49 pm

I find Olbermann to be a bore and depressing. I mean, can you think of the mindset that makes the “worst” person in the world a daily highlight of your show? He has only narrow leftwing people who agree with him on his show and his personal nastyness is quite unpleasant. I mean he just yells obscenities to those that disagree with him. I feel I need a shower after watching his show. So, I just don’t watch it anymore.
David Norris
May 11th, 2010 @ 1:49 pm

I find Olbermann to be a bore and depressing. I mean, can you think of the mindset that makes the “worst” person in the world a daily highlight of your show? He has only narrow leftwing people who agree with him on his show and his personal nastyness is quite unpleasant. I mean he just yells obscenities to those that disagree with him. I feel I need a shower after watching his show. So, I just don’t watch it anymore.