Countdown with Keith Olbermann

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Genre Newscast
Running time 60 minutes
Starring Keith Olbermann
Country of origin United States
Original channel MSNBC
Original run March 31, 2003–present
No. of episodes Unknown

Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long nightly newscast on MSNBC which airs live at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time and reruns at midnight on weekdays. The show, hosted by Keith Olbermann, debuted on March 31, 2003 and counts down the top news stories of the day with news reports and interviews with guests, along with commentary by Olbermann.

The show is notable for Olbermann's elaborate writing style, fast-paced delivery, historical and pop culture references, and signature witty interjections, which make Countdown more colorful than most newscasts. Olbermann combines serious news stories with humorous segments and, of late, with commentaries critical of the Bush administration.

The show has come under some controversy due to Olbermann's back-and-forth feud with rival newsman Bill O'Reilly of FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, which airs opposite Countdown. For more information, see the O'Reilly vs. Olbermann section.

Contents

[edit] History

Countdown originally was titled Countdown: Iraq and was a show focused on a single pressing topic, which at its inception on October 7, 2002 was the military and diplomatic actions which would become the Iraq War. Countdown: Iraq aired at 7 p.m. and replaced a flailing eponymous show hosted by Jerry Nachman, which was moved up to 5 p.m. before its eventual termination. The original Countdown: Iraq was hosted by Lester Holt. In addition, a daytime version of Countdown entitled Countdown: 2002 Election aired from October 25, 2002 to November 2002.

After the new incarnation of Donahue was terminated on February 28, 2003, and because of the build-up to the start of the war, Countdown: Iraq expanded to a two hour program, from 7-9 p.m. Eastern. On March 28, 2003, MSNBC announced it was hiring Keith Olbermann to host the 8 p.m. hour of Countdown. The show dropped the Iraq subtitle and was retitled Countdown with Keith Olbermann. The 7 p.m. hour of Countdown was turned over for Hardball with Chris Matthews. Holt was moved to anchor rolling news coverage during the day.

At the start of Countdown, Olbermann told television columnist Lisa de Moraes that "Our charge for the immediate future is to stay out of the way of the news.... News is the news. We will not be screwing around with it.... As times improve and the war ends we will begin to introduce more and more elements familiar to my style." On O'Reilly, which Olbermann would later have a grudge with, "I'm not looking to take down Bill. It will be a totally different program. It will not be a show in which opinion and facts are juxtaposed so as to appear to be the same thing."

[edit] About the show

While other MSNBC shows such as Scarborough Country, The Abrams Report and Hardball with Chris Matthews consist mainly of opinion and analysis, Countdown is a nightly newscast, covering major national and international stories, albeit with commentary from the host. Clips from NBC network news broadcasts are featured on a regular basis. Olbermann typically treats guests on the show courteously, eschewing the aggressive style of interrogation employed by some of his competitors and colleagues. Some critics[citation needed] say, however, it's because Olbermann rarely invites guests on whose views he disagrees with. The program is advertised as News Not Snooze, because of the quick pace of the show.

According to The Cornell Daily Sun, Olbermann has a staff of roughly 10 to 12 people who work on the show. They spend the morning looking for noteworthy or interesting stories. The group meets via conference call at 11:00 a.m. for a half-hour discussion to toss around possible subjects for the evening's show (many times pulling information from online sites like Fark.com and MediaMatters.org). By 12:15, Olbermann receives a final list of story prospects, picks what he likes, and puts them in order. He emails the list back to the staff, and the writing process begins. He arrives at MSNBC's studios in Secaucus, New Jersey by 2 p.m. and works on writing the show's material in his office until 7:30, when he goes to makeup, before going on air at 8 p.m.

The punctuating theme music to the show's countdown is the opening eight measures of the second movement, a scherzo, of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, the "Choral". Knowing Olbermann's frequent appeal to levity when commenting on hard news, this musical selection is most appropriate since a scherzo, from the Italian word for "joke", is a lively, fast passage in 3/4 time used as a response to a more serious first movement. The theme is also a historical reference to NBC's pioneering newscast with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, which featured Beethoven's 9th over the credits.

[edit] Format

  • Open/Headlines - A preview of some of the stories to be featured throughout the hour
  • Number 5 Story - Generally the day's most important or "top" story. Elements usually include one or more interviews, as well as a series of soundbites, or a report from an NBC reporter. This is usually the show's longest segment.
  • Commercial Break One
  • Number 4 Story - Similar in format to number five, and sometimes a continuation of that story. This segment is somewhat shorter than five.
  • Commercial Break Two
  • Oddball - A fast-paced look at quirky stories and odd or humorous video. The segment usually begins with a historical reference, followed by the host saying "Let's Play Oddball!" A short "stinger" plays, which ends with a prerecorded clip of Chris Matthews laughing. Between three and five stories are shown.
  • Top 3 Newsmakers - A collection of dumb criminals, strange characters and folks winding up in unusual situations. Despite the name of the segment, this very rarely features well-known individuals.
  • Commercial Break Three
  • Number 3 Story - Another top story of the day. This segment is similar to stories four and five.
  • Top 3 Bites - Three clips from a variety of sources, including late night shows, NBC affiliate packages, or news video feeds. The soundbites are generally humorous.
  • Commercial Break Four
  • Number 2 Story - This story is almost always a lighter piece, often focusing on pop culture, science or general life. The story is usually a replay from NBC News programs (either Today or NBC Nightly News). This segment occasionally focuses on sports or Olbermann's feud with O'Reilly.
  • Keeping Tabs - A look at "tabloid and entertainment news". This segment starts with some attempt at a segue from the number two story. Two to five short items are featured.
  • Worst Person In The World - A list of three individuals or organizations deemed by Olbermann to fit the segment's title (see below).
  • Commercial Break Five
  • Number 1 Story - The final segment falls in to one of two categories. Most often it is a lighter piece, focused on pop culture or strange happenings. Otherwise, it is dedicated to Olbermann's "Special Comments" (see below). The host then signs off and tosses to the next MSNBC program.


Stories such as Tom Cruise's strange behavior or his relations with Katie Holmes, "Bradgelina" (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and their child, Shiloh), Britney Spears and her estranged husband Kevin Federline and American Idol results (or Simon Cowell) are always said to be, in Olbermann's own words, "stories my producers are forcing me to cover".

[edit] Substitute hosts

Brian Unger, who does commentary on VH1's I Love the... series and was a correspondent during the Craig Kilborn era of The Daily Show, occasionally substitutes for Olbermann.

Other guest hosts include Alex Witt and former MTV political news correspondent Alison Stewart.

[edit] Signature style

Each night, Olbermann begins with "Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?" and signs off since February 6, 2006 with "That's Countdown, for this, the 1324 th [for instance] day since the declaration of 'Mission Accomplished' in Iraq. I'm Keith Olbermann, keep your knees loose. Good night and good luck." Olbermann crumples up his notes and throws them at the camera, which "shatters" (a digital video effect) and the next show begins, unless the day's news is dominated by a somber story or a "Special Comment", in which case the shatter effect is skipped. Some of the more incredible items, especially Oddball, are capped with Olbermann grabbing and tossing his notes into the air.

Until he began the "Mission Accomplished" count, the sign-off was "That's Countdown, thank you for being part of it." The two quotes following are from two admired broadcast forebears, Jean Shepherd ("Keep your knees loose") and Edward R. Murrow ("Good night and good luck").

Several times a week, Countdown's only correspondent Monica Novotny files a story and has a friendly banter with Olbermann.

[edit] Special comments

In late August of 2006, Olbermann started delivering occasional "Special Comment[s]" in the style of Murrow's monologues, in which he has expressed sharp criticisms of members of the current administration, including Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush. As of November 30, 2006, Olbermann has delivered a total of twelve commentaries designated as "Special Comments".

# Date Title Topic
1 August 30, 2006 Feeling morally, intellectually confused? Remarks by Donald Rumsfeld
2 September 5, 2006 'Have you no sense of decency, sir?' Reaction to a Presidential press conference
3 September 11, 2006 This hole in the ground Anniversary of 9/11 and the "laziness" to mark or rebuild Ground Zero.
4 September 18, 2006 Bush owes us an apology Reaction to a Presidential Rose Garden address
5 September 25, 2006 A textbook definition of cowardice Bill Clinton's Fox News interview
6 October 5, 2006 A special comment about lying The difference between terrorists and critics
7 October 18, 2006 'Beginning of the end of America' The Military Commissions Act
8 October 23, 2006 Advertising terrorism Alleged fearmongering by the GOP
9 November 1, 2006 Bush owes troops apology Kerry's comment and subsequent apology and the apology owed the troops from Bush
10 November 6, 2006 Where are the checks, balances? Accusation that President Bush has been 'making it up' for too long, and the people have let him
11 November 20, 2006 Lessons from Vietnam Response to President Bush's comparison between Vietnam and Iraq
12 November 30, 2006 Free speech, failed speakers, and the delusion of grandeur Regarding former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's comments regarding free speech protections

Before this segment of occasional "Special Comment[s]", Olbermann would give occasionally what he called "editorial commentary". The most notable, Commentary on Hurricane Katrina, was given on September 6, 2005 when Olbermann criticized the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

[edit] What Have We Learned?

For a while, the show ended Friday broadcasts with a light quiz segment in which Monica Novotny would grill Olbermann with trivia questions based on the week's news, submitted by Countdown viewers. If he got more questions right than wrong, he would receive a "prize", sometimes stolen from his own office (or, on one occasion, a talking Ann Coulter doll which Olbermann destroyed on camera). Olbermann pledged $50 to charity for each question he got wrong. According to an online chat with Olbermann at Firedoglake.com, former MSNBC president Rick Kaplan disliked the segment, and had it removed.[citation needed]

[edit] Puppet Theatre

Beginning with the Michael Jackson trial, Countdown presented comedic puppet "renactments" of news which, due to court protocol or for other reasons, could not be captured on film. Simplistic puppets created from printed photographs glued to popsicle sticks were manipulated in front of a bluescreen while Olbermann performed voiceovers.

Other puppet theatre skits followed Michael Jackson Puppet Theatre, including Karl Rove Puppet Theatre, Anna Nicole Smith Supreme Court Puppet Theatre, and Mel Gibson Puppet Theatre.

[edit] 'Oddball' segment

Done in the middle of the show, Oddball (a play on Hardball, the show that airs before Countdown each night) is a segment devoted to offbeat news items. Olbermann traditionally begins the segment with some interesting historical fact about that date (for example, the incident on August 24, 1980 when Olbermann hit his head on the subway.[1] which damaged his depth perception). Typical stories for this segment include weird Internet video and just about anything coming out of Japan, including a batsu game from the Japanese comedy variety show Gaki no tsukai.

At the end of the month, Olbermann features "Oddball Plays of the Month," a compilation of some of the Oddball segments from that month.

[edit] 'Worst Person in the World' segment

The "Worst Person" segment is a nightly feature in which Olbermann humorously recounts a recent news story involving "nominees" for Worst Person in the World at the bronze medal level ("Worse"), silver ("Worser") and gold ("Worst"). The nominees may have tresspassed by accidentally damaging a Picasso painting, or by seeming to use scare tactics to get the electorate to vote Republican. While many of his targets are not political, those that are tend to be conservative.[2] The most frequent recipient of the honor is Bill O'Reilly. Other frequent honorees include Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Roger Ailes, Fox News Channel, Pat Robertson, and various members of the Bush administration (Donald Rumsfeld) and members of Congress (Senators Rick Santorum, Orrin Hatch, and Conrad Burns). A few non-political honorees include baseball players Kenny Rogers, Livan Hernandez, and Barry Bonds; Major League Baseball teams including the Florida Marlins and the New York Mets; Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight; actor Tom Cruise; rapper Snoop Dogg; and numerous dumb criminals, including a kid named Ronald MacDonald who held up a Wendy's.

In September 2006, a book version of the "Worst Person in the World" was released, containing transcripts of the segment from July 1, 2005 to May 31, 2006. The book contains a few Honorary Worsts, including George W. Bush, pitcher Roger Clemens, the members of the Baseball Hall of Fame special Negro Leagues committee that failed to induct Buck O'Neil, and the Boston Red Sox. The book further named O'Reilly as "Worst in Show" for his comments regarding the Nazi Malmedy massacre, and contains a glossary of O'Reilly-related terms such as falafel and Fox Security.

In the intro to Olbermann's book Worst Person in the World [1], the segment was influenced by "an ominous character" created by radio comedians Bob and Ray, known as the Worst Person In The World (or W.P.I.T.W. for short), who spoke only in "a series of crunching and slurping sound effects," and routinely ate sandwiches through the wax paper. As Olbermann reveals, the W.P.I.T.W. turns out to be New York magazine reviewer John Simon, who panned the radio duo's Broadway show. When New York Times columnist Alessandra Stanley gave fellow MSNBC commentator Tucker Carlson's new show a bad review Olbermann felt to be premature, the segment came to mind, and Stanley thus was given the "bronze" in Olbermann's first "Worst Person in the World segment (the silver and gold going to Saddam Hussein and Robert Novak, respectively). The segment was also fueled in part by George Carlin's observation that by process of elimination, one can rank the worst doctor in the world, and that "somebody has an appointment to see him tomorrow!"

[edit] Guests

Guest commentators regularly featured on the show include:[2]

[edit] O'Reilly vs. Olbermann

Olbermann began the rivalry on May 5, 2003. After doing a piece on Sen. Joseph McCarthy's infamous 1950s anti-communist witch hunts, Olbermann said that "it was like shooting fish in a barrel, much like how Bill O'Reilly does his show."

[edit] Save the tapes

When O'Reilly was sued for sexual harassment by his former producer, Andrea Mackris, Olbermann urged Mackris to take a payout of $99,000 (US) in exchange for the tape of a phone call O'Reilly made to Mackris that included references to falafel and loofahs, which has become a running gag on the program when O'Reilly matters have been brought up.

[edit] Ratings

The show is the highest-rated program on MSNBC. In October, 2006, the show averaged 616,000 viewers per night, according to Nielsen Media Research. [3]

A screenshot for an Olbermann advertisement.
Enlarge
A screenshot for an Olbermann advertisement.

During the January 30, 2006 edition of the "Talking Points Memo" segment on The O'Reilly Factor,[3] O'Reilly lambasted NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC for "taking cheap shots at Fox News on a regular basis...for some time" and noting that NBC is "dead last in prime time, [and] its cable operations are ratings failures" adding "that is no excuse for unprofessional behavior." O'Reilly also claimed that FNC has "good relationships with ABC News, CBS News, and generally CNN." O'Reilly gave no specifics about his gripes with NBC but it was understood by most to refer to Olbermann's criticisms of "The Big Giant Head" (one of Olbermann's pet nicknames), who has been named the "Worst Person(s) In The World" 45 times through December 6, 2006, including a clean sweep of all three positions on November 30, 2005. [4], with the partials being shared awards with Laura Ingraham on July 12, 2006 on a story in The New York Times, which featured pictures of Vice President Dick Cheney's vacation home, on September 19 with former New York senator Al D'Amato, with Matt Drudge on October 2 about their comments on the Mark Foley scandal, and one that was shared with four other FNC on-air people about a Ted Turner interview at the National Press Club on October 12.

Olbermann responded the following night on Countdown by translating the "Memo" into "what he's actually saying" with the following highlights, doing O'Reilly in the voice of Mary Tyler Moore Show character Ted Baxter:[4]

  • Olbermann responded to O'Reilly's charge of cheap shots by noting that O'Reilly said the Catholic Church was against Christmas and his endorsement of a terrorist attack on San Francisco on his radio show. Olbermann said that when he quotes O'Reilly, "they must seem like cheap shots".
  • On O'Reilly's claim that NBC's cable networks are "ratings failures", Olbermann noted that NBC Universal sibling USA Network garnered higher ratings in 2005 than FNC, and further pointed out that Countdown 's ratings growth was higher than O'Reilly's in the adults 25-54 years old group, called by Fox as "the money demo", then Keith added that "Bill is obviously among our new viewers".
  • On O'Reilly's charge of "unprofessional behavior", Olbermann pointed out the Andrea Mackris sexual harassment lawsuit.
  • Olbermann also pointed out that the relationship between FNC and CNN has been less than cordial. Among other things, Olbermann described FNC setting up a billboard across the street from CNN's headquarters in Atlanta taunting them about ratings, that network spokespersons compared CNN to the Titanic, issued an anonymous statement saying that CNN founder Ted Turner had "lost his mind", and later pointed out that management compared former FNC on-air personality Paula Zahn who has gone on to work for CNN to an outhouse and a dead muskrat.
  • In addition, he said FNC's amazing success had spread "like [the] bird flu" and that CBS and ABC and other news organizations were credited for their work ethic and competitive zeal, to which Olbermann added: "Especially since [David] Letterman (of whom O'Reilly's appearance on his show became a verbal barbfest which included Letterman telling O'Reilly that he thought "sixty percent of [O'Reilly's] comments were full of crap") kicked the crap out of me on CBS earlier [in January]."
  • On O'Reilly's comments that there were problems within NBC, and he would later get into the specifics of them, Olbermann asked: "Is this that 'code among most in TV news of respect and professional courtesy' you mentioned, Bill, or do we get to that part later?"
  • Commenting on NBC chairman Bob Wright, of which O'Reilly said that he was president, Olbermann asked to "keep our bosses out of this, or I'm going to have to call yours, and you know how much Satan hates to be disturbed when American Idol is on. Oh, and I ain't calling Rupert Murdoch (the chairman of FNC parent company NewsCorp) the devil either, by the way." Later, when a comment was made by "Bill-O" (another Olbermann nickname) that "perhaps we were wrong about Wright…", Olbermann stated that "Bill made a funny" and did an imitation of Looney Tunes character Pete Puma's laugh. Subsequently, he did Baxter's signoff of Good night and good news, and since then has used the Baxter impersonation (of whom he has called O'Reilly as his evil twin) when reading comments by O'Reilly.

On May 9, one night after O'Reilly claimed ratings were up, Olbermann responded by pointing out that O'Reilly's ratings were actually down three percent from the same month last year, and the average age of his viewers was over 70 years old, while Olbermann's average audience age went below 60.

[edit] "Fire Keith" petition

On February 22, 2006, O'Reilly initiated an online petition to have MSNBC remove Keith Olbermann from the 8 p.m. EST timeslot, supposedly for the purpose of having old time-slot host Phil Donahue's show reinstated. The petition is in the form of a letter addressed to Wright saying: "We, the undersigned, are becoming increasingly concerned about the well-being of MSNBC and, in particular, note the continuing ratings failure of the program currently airing weeknights on that network at 8:00 p.m. EST".[5] Olbermann responded two days later on Countdown by playing a collection of O'Reilly's "greatest hits"[6] and mocked the whole affair by joining several MSNBC staffers, including Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams, in signing the petition to have himself fired.

[edit] "Fox News Security" incident

Two weeks later, on March 3, Olbermann reported a story about O'Reilly banning a caller from the latter's radio show allegedly for using Olbermann's name one day earlier, which "Bill Orally" (yet another pet mocking nickname of Mr. Olbermann's) equated with an obscene word. Olbermann promptly told everyone watching that "Bill thinks he has his own police," then pointing out that Fox's security department had the caller's name and phone number and would be contacting local law enforcement agencies. Keith made a mockery of the whole affair, stating that Fox News security was Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes coming to his house with billy clubs, had a picture of the poster of the movie Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment renamed as "FOX Security" and using his Baxter impersonation, did a paranoid version of O'Reilly. Six days later, Olbermann played the phone call from the FNC security director which was left on the caller's answering machine and also interviewed the man in question, who was identified only as "Mike of Orlando, Florida," a member of the weblog callingallwingnuts.com.

More ammo was fired during a guest appearance on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report on March 14, 2006, when host Stephen Colbert asked about O'Reilly, whom Colbert called "my hero," and Olbermann commented that "Well, Stephen, we both agree on one thing: he's an idiot." The next day (March 15, 2006) on Al Franken's Air America Radio show, the barbs continued.

[edit] Malmedy massacre

However, things turned from comical to serious when on June 1, 2006, Olbermann showed tape of O'Reilly twice getting facts wrong about the Malmedy massacre during World War II. O'Reilly was trying to use Malmedy to defend the actions of Americans in Haditha, when arguing with General Wesley Clark on his show May 31. O'Reilly said American forces captured S.S. forces and executed them while they had their hands in the air, but in reality, it was the reverse that happened in Malmedy. As Keith Olbermann pointed out, this was the second time O'Reilly got his facts wrong about Malmedy-- he used that as an excuse previously for American actions in Abu Ghraib, again while in a debate with the retired general.

Olbermann went on to point out that even FOX News viewers tried to correct O'Reilly on his show. O'Reilly answered the correction email from his viewer by claiming that he was referring to an event that happened after Malmedy, to which Olbermann replied that it was the incorrect answer, then insisted that when "you are that wrong, when you are defending Nazi war criminals and pinning their crimes on Americans and you get caught doing so twice, you're supposed to say 'I'm sorry, I was wrong,' and then you're supposed to shut up for a long time". Olbermann went on to claim O'Reilly as a "false patriot who would rather be loud than right". Olbermann finished his editorial by saying: "The victims in Malmedy in December 1944 were Americans, Americans with their hands in the air, Americans who were unarmed. That's on the record and documented, and their memory deserves better than Bill O'Reilly. We all do." [5]

[edit] Accusation of bias

The Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative Internet think tank coordinating with the blog Newsbusters.org, whose mission is to pinpoint what they view as "liberal media bias", has been very critical of Keith Olbermann ever since he became the Countdown host. The think tank has accused of him of having a "liberal bias" in the form of criticizing President George W. Bush, attacking FOX and O'Reilly, starting off his newscast with what they claim to be unimportant stories with a left wing motive, avoiding the Bush administration's side of the story, supposedly supporting the president's impeachment, and so forth.[7]

In response, Olbermann has sometimes named MRC founder Brent Bozell, whom he calls "humorist Brett Bozell", "the worst person in the world" for what Olbermann claims is hypocrisy. The anchor has also said that the MRC desires "an institutionalized, pro-Republican slant" in the media.[8]

To support its allegation of bias, the MRC researched Countdown's Worst Person in the World segment and found that of the approximately 600 nominees, 174 had conservative political views and 23 had liberal political views, with the remainder having no apparent political affiliation.[2] Olbermann interpreted the results differently when on June 28 he named Media Research Center as number three on The Top 3 Newsmakers and thanked them for confirming that the segment was apolitical because 71% of the nominees were not conservative.[9]

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post quotes Olbermann as saying that his ongoing criticism of the Bush administration places him "in the same part of the ballpark as a lot of liberals".[10] However, Olbermann has addressed accusations of liberal bias by claiming that he would be equally critical of a Democratic president who had invited criticism by his actions: "I mean, no one in 1998, no one accused me of being a liberal in 1998 because I was covering the Lewinsky scandal. And whatever I had to do about it, I tried to be fair and honest and as accurate and as informed as possible, and allow my viewer to be the same way. And nowadays it’s the same thing. And now all of a sudden I’m a screaming liberal." However, he has stated he departed MSNBC the first time as a result of the relentless Clinton-Lewinsky coverage which personally sickened him.[6] The MRC responded by noting that they gave him their "Corporal Cueball Carville Cadet Award" for comparing Ken Starr to Heinrich Himmler in 1998.[11]

On November 25, 2006, Fox News Watch's Cal Thomas named Olbermann as the 2006 winner of the program's "Media Turkey Award" for what Thomas alleged were Olbermann's "innaccuracies" and "hot air".[12]

[edit] International broadcasts

MSNBC and NBC News programming is shown for several hours a day on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 'Countdown With Keith Olbermann' for August 24. ]NBC (2006-24-08). Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
  2. ^ a b The “Worst” of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. ]Media Research Center (2006-06-26). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
  3. ^ "Network Rivalry" transcript, FoxNews.com, January 31, 2006
  4. ^ Olbermann responds to O'Reilly. Media Matters. January 31, 2006
  5. ^ BillOReilly.com: Petition, February 22, 2006
  6. ^ "Late Night: Olbermann signs O'Reilly's Petition". Crooks and Liars. February 24, 2006
  7. ^ "Keith Itching for Impeachment". MRC.org February 13, 2006 and "NewsBusters.org - Keith Olbermann"
  8. ^ Olbermann: MRC Wants "Institutionalized, Pro-Republican Slant". MRC.org. March 16, 2005
  9. ^ 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for June 28. MSNBC (2006-06-29). Retrieved on 2006-09-05.
  10. ^ Howard Kurtz. "The Anti-Bush Anchor", The Washington Post, 2006-04-03. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
  11. ^ Tim Graham (2006-03-13). Waxing Hypothetical, Olbermann Hails Demise of Fox News as 'Best Hope of Mankind'. Newsbusters.org. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
  12. ^ Brad Wilmouth (2006-11-27). FNC's Cal Thomas Names Keith Olbermann Turkey of the Year. Newsbusters.org. Retrieved on 2006-12-04.

[edit] External links

[edit] Fan sites

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