Is Olberman the Canary in the Progressive Talk Mine?
Like many who are talking about Keith Olberman’s show ending tonight, I have been watching him less lately than when he began “Countown” eight years ago during the height, or perhaps depth would be the more accurate term, of the W Bush administration.
Though he was the breakthrough up-front liberal to be given a prime time show on a major network, he has since been joined by others, most notably Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz. I have more options if I want to watch a like-minded commentator. And like any show that has been running for some years, Olberman’s patter could wear on me at times.
Still I felt a foreboding shiver run down my spine when I heard the news of Olberman’s departure from MSNBC.
Olberman was the first flicker of light indicating that the progressive movement was alive and gaining traction. I hope his demise isn’t the canary in the mine predicting the end of a brief era of strong, smart, and–especially, thank goodness–passionate progressive voices on mainstream media.
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Actually Air America talk radio was the canary in the cold mine. Progressives simply did not support Air America in the same way that the right supported Limbaugh, Beck etc. Now Keith Olbermann is parting ways with MSNBC. I’m sure that Ed Schultz will be next. Fortunately, I have access to LinkTV.
Pam, Air America was ground breaking in that it was an attempt to create a progressive media outlet, but it never was able to scale up to match the mainstream media’s radio networks. I was referring to Olberman’s being the first progressive to get a prime time program on a mainstream network, particularly significant because it was TV. So he really opened the door for Rachel, Ed, and others by proving that a progressive talk show could be profitable.
MSNBC moved Ed Schultz to the 10pm slot, which doesn’t augur well for him. I personally think he does an even better job than Rachel on a day-to-day basis of calling out the right-wing hypocrisy, lack of compassion and even out-and-out lies when called for.
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