Out of the Newsroom

One might suspect that the mere thought will make some of my fellow journalistas throw up a little in the back of their mouths, but another viewing tonight of George Clooney’s movie “Good Night and Good Luck” made me draw some comparisons between Edward R. Murrow and the current purveyor of that famous sign-off, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.

I don’t know Olbermann. I’ve never met the man, and the only thing we share in common professionally is that we both spent time working for ESPN–though my tenure there was over long before he arrived in 1992 to co-anchor “The Big Show” with Dan Patrick, in what many (myself included) would say was the time when SportsCenter was most considered “must see TV”.

Before the hating begins on me for suggesting there should be a comparison between the mythic figure that is the father of broadcast journalism (so much so that the annual awards for excellence in radio and television journalism given out the Radio-Television News Directors Association are named for Edward R. Murrow, or known in the trade simply as “winning a Murrow.”) there are some things that the two men share that are worth at least a moment of study.

As sometimes put by those of us who like to be occasional wags about this business, when decrying the state of said business: “Murrow must be spinning in his grave.” Hell, he might be even doing so right now, with me suggesting that the one time sportscaster and lifelong baseball information wonk’s name should be mentioned in the same sentence with the chain-smoking guy who also brought us the original celebrity interview show–no, not Entertainment Tonight but “Person to Person”.

I guess my premise for comparing the two is mostly about the courage to do that thing that journalists are supposed to do – speak truth to power. Murrow did it more than once and was not resoundingly praised at the time. Olbermann has as well, and has been disparaged on a full-time basis by arch rival Fox News Channel and its various talking heads, but even by his network’s big brothers at NBC News.

But the host of MSNBC’s “Countdown” is unrepentant and now more fired up in the 2008 Presidential Election season than ever. Maybe it is the arrival of Rachel Maddow as the kinder, gentler commentator to MSNBC’s primetime lineup, but even to the casual observer it is clear that Olbermann is now (to use the baseball cliche) “Swinging for the Fences” and doing more aggressive stories every night.

And the ratings suggest that he is getting some solid hits in that effort–especially in the younger (one might dare suggest typically more liberal) viewer group known as the “younger demos”, as in demographic categories of those under 50.

But you cannot deny that Olbermann’s efforts definitely pay homage to the man who proceeded him before the cameras by some 54-plus years. It’s done by using the words and video quotes of those he chooses to call out on his nightly hour-long broadcast. Anytime someone says that they “never said” something that may have been uttered in front of a camera or microphone, should now assume that the team at “Countdown” will find it and use it like a Louisville Slugger on the offending speaker.

Then there is the matter of the “Special Comment.” This is label that Olbermann has given to his occasional rants (editorials) that he offers up as a coda to some editions of “Countdown”, when it appears that his sensibilities have been pushed to the limit. Special Comments have called out the current Republican US president and more recently, the Republican who is running to replace him.

It would be easy to fault Olbermann for wearing his personal viewpoint (or politics, as some might argue) on his sleeve, but this in a world where defining a national 24-hour cable news outlet has to include setting up shop at some clearly definable point on the political spectrum. But if those who tilt to the right have Bill O’Reilly and Fox News to speak to or for them–it’s clear that on the other end of that spectrum sits Keith Olbermann.

Of course, there is also the matter that both Murrow and Olbermann share the on-camera appearance characteristic of having just…well, HUGE heads. David Letterman made a joke the other night where they were actually measuring Keith Olbermann’s head circumference. It would all be too funny, if there weren’t a full-time blog called “OlbermannWatch.com” which reads more than a little bit like a modern day version of the 1950’s “Red Channels” report that touted how communism was being spread by the entertainment industry and named names of 151 people whose lives were ruined to a degree either small or large, by what would become known as “the blacklist”.

As Murrow himself said: “This instrument (television) can teach, it can illuminate; yes and it can even inspire, but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends.”

One would at least have to put Keith Olbermann in the category of “determined.”