Keith Olbermann has been fired by Current Tv and I am for one and very sad about this fact. However, it now appears after some consideration, Olbermann, as brilliant as he is, is as much a symptom of the disease main stream media, MSM, has inflicted on society as he is a victim of the disease.
I have linked to his comments several times on this blog and think he was a passionate and capable voice for American progressives. His firing comes very quickly after being dismissed from MSNBC and I’m wondering is there any place left for Olbermann on American airwaves. Olbermann is a by product of MSM and feeds on it as much as excoriating it.
MSM in an effort to blunt the real impact of critical journalism makes its journalist like Olbermann, media stars for whom adulation is indispensable. Stars in MSM are like movie stars and professional athletes where marketing is just as important as the product they give to the people. In the case of journalists, the product, news, views, opinions based on facts often gets compromised as news “stars” find themselves slanting the news they give in order to insure their continued marketability. I believe this is a cold, calculated intent of MSM management who thrust upon journalists immense salaries, high profile public exposure and all the perks of being stars in exchange for giving the public the type or slant of news management says is needed to make news companies profitable. The other side of that equation is those in the limelight, the stars, take on sinister personalities, inflating their importance in sometimes very destructive ways. That was the turn I believe Olbermann took. His career in MSM is no doubt over. There will be no major news outlet that will hire him and the passion he brought to the issues of the day is gone.
Instead of being despondent about that however, I’m optimistic. For too long, people have pinned the hopes that their viewpoint will find a voice in this or that person, without giving any thought to empowering their voice themselves. Perhaps people will take action individually as well as collectively to pick up the mantle of progressiveness that Olbermann so foolishly brandished and dropped. I wish him well and hope he can resuscitate his career but I’m not counting on it and whether he will or not won’t deter what is written here, and hopefully elsewhere.
Related articles
- Olbermann Out (Again) (talkingpointsmemo.com)
- Q-and-A with Keith Olbermann! (twitchy.com)
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