The Daily Caller’s latest story on the unfolding scandal that is Journolist concerns an unlikely target for ire from what Fred Barnes dubbed “The Vast Left Wing Media Conspiracy.” It seems that the folks at Journolist really hated Keith Olbermann.
The main gripe against the MSNBC personality is that he is perceived to be the Bill O’Reilly or the Sean Hannity of the left:
“If you were one of the 400 members of the listserv Journolist, perhaps one of the most vicious insults you could hurl at a colleague is: You’re just like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.
“If the reader holds neutral – or even positive – views about the Fox News hosts, the insult may not sting. But in the cloistered world of liberal listserv enclaves, Hannityism is a cardinal sin. After all, Fox is a ‘dangerous,’ ‘deranged’ ‘cesspool’ that, possibly, the FCC should be investigating.
“The feelings against MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, then, must run deep.”
Keith Olbermann is known for his liberal rants and his singling out of conservative enemies on his MSNBC show. He has a regular feature called “Worse Person in the World,” in which he describes the person who has roused his anger for that day. Conservatives vie to see who has been named “Worse Person in the World” the most times.
In one sense, the complaint of Hannity-ism of the folks at Journolist is wide of the mark. Olbermann’s ratings are a tiny fraction of those enjoyed by O’Reilly, Hannity, or even Glenn Beck.
More ominously, the members of Journolist had a more serious pair of charges against Olbermann. Those are misogyny and sexism.
Mind, conservatives are used to being charged with all sorts of -isms. It is unusual for a liberal reporter to be charged with hating any group of people, though.
The Daily Caller relates a thread about a story Olbermann did about Carrie Prejean, the beauty queen who got into trouble for opposing same-sex marriage. This aroused the ire of Katha Pollet of The Nation:
“He and Michael Musto did this whole long riff about beauty contestant Carrie ‘opposite marriage’ Prejean’s breast implants, stupidity, breast implants, tacky clothes, earrings, breast implants. They went on and on about how she was ‘part plastic’ and pathetic. You’d think they were celibate vegans who spent their lives zen meditating. It was just a whole TV humiliation of her, and it made me feel sorry for her, which wasn’t easy.”
Olbermann was also accused of sexism and misogyny concerning his coverage of the Obama/Hillary Clinton primary race. Olbermann was later forced to apologize.
Mind, this writer is not a regular viewer of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” His doctor has admonished him about cutting down on sources of stress, a hard thing for a pundit in the Age of Obama, to be sure. But one suspects that there is some merit about what the folks at Journolist were complaining about. But, if Keith Olbermann is so over-the-top consistently that he is an embarrassment to the left, then he must be really out there beyond the beyond, as this writer’s Irish granny used to say.
Source:
Journolisters offended by Keith Olbermann’s ‘misogynistic,’ ‘predictable,’ and ‘pompous’ show, Jonathan Strong, The Daily Caller, July 23rd, 2010
