The English version of an article I wrote for the French site http://usandus.eu that's monitoring the US presidential elections. Comments are welcome! My thanks to Matthieu Lerondeau for his help with the final edits!

Version française: http://www.usandus.eu/index.php/post/2008/01/05/Keith-Olbermann-un-prophete-liberal-sur-le-cable

In the American Media: Keith Olbermann, the Madman of the Airwaves

There's a new hero for American liberals, and his name is Keith Olbermann. Inspired by the celebrated journalist Edward R. Murrow, Olbermann is the host of "Countdown," a nightly news program on the cable network MSNBC. And he is increasingly compared to the "mad prophet of the airwaves," portrayed by Peter Finch in the 1976 film Network, whose outrage on media deception is cynically exploited by network television.

Yet Olbermann is anything but insane: he is lucid, eloquent, and insightful. His name entered mainstream consciousness in August 2006, when he began a series of "Special Comments," beginning with his indignation over Donald Rumsfeld's comparison of war critics to Nazi appeasers. The inaugural segment began with these trenchant words: "The man who sees absolutes where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning is either a prophet or a quack. Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet." Since then Countdown has become the fastest growing cable news program, and Olbermann, MSNBC's prime asset.

He has also become the sworn enemy of his conservative counterpart Bill O'Reilly, who remains by far the most popular news commentator on cable (his program "The O'Reilly Factor," reaches 2 million viewers each evening on Fox News). O'Reilly even circulated an online petition demanding Olbermann's replacement, which he gleefully signed. He regularly receives death threats from hostile viewers and replied to one emailer: "you couldn't be stupider, wronger or dumber" (and later released a statement of apology).

Many are surprised to find Olbermann as candid on MSNBC, a subsidiary of General Electric (military contracts in 2005: $2.2 billion). His managers at MSNBC are, albeit tacitly, happy to allow Olbermann to criticize the former secretary of defense, as long as it makes money. "America is a nation of corporations...There was a blowback at first but at a certain point the genius -- the unintentional genius -- of the American broadcasting system kicks in, which is, if you make them money, they don't care what you say," Olbermann told Rolling Stone magazine, which called him "the most honest man in news".

Asked about his "mad as hell" persona by Bill Moyer, Olbermann replied that it was necessary. He continues to insist to his producers that his comments must be "organic", and cannot be packaged as a manufactured product for regular consumption.

Online, Olbermann equally incites a love-him or hate-him reaction. He has several sites dedicated to him, such as the forum Keitholbermann.org, and the blog Thank You Olbermann, as well as the hostile blog Olbermann Watch, which has just published "Keith Olbermann's Top Ten Lies of 2007." On Facebook, there are about 90 discussion groups on Olbermann, of which a minority conspires against the anchor.

With his growing popularity, Olbermann will be one of the most interesting media personalities to follow this new year.

Here's Olbermann's latest special comment on Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign: he tells Giuliani to drop the argument, "vote democrat, and die."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiedCgh_CH8