"High Level" Source Frets Keith Olbermann Is Tainting MSNBC as an Amateurish, Partisan Hackatorium

He calls it "taint." I call it "brand identity."

Own it, baby.

A “high level source inside MSNBC” tells the TVNewser blog that network stars like Tim Russert and Chris Matthews are “upset” and “pissed” that the far-left Keith Olbermann is tainting the network’s credibility with his “activism,” such as blogging for the hard-left Daily Kos site.

“What’s it going to be like in the general election now that everyone knows we’re the in-house network of Barack Obama,” TVNewser’s Steve Krakauer quoted the MSNBC insider as fretting. The source suggested Olbermann was allowed to get away with his activism because the network fears the Countdown host would quit:

“They are convinced that he will walk. He behaves like a man who has nothing left to lose. He is not central to MSNBC, he is the center of the MSNBC ratings strategy. We hang the entire schedule on him."

The insider continues:

"Every Tuesday night Keith is up there as the face of NBC News. That's a problem," says our source. "[Tim] Russert is upset about it. Russert has spent 20 years building credibility. All of a sudden he's taking questions from Keith Olbermann, the Daily Kos blogger?"

The insider says Olbermann's election night partner has reservations as well: "Chris Matthews is quite pissed about it. He knows a lot about politics and he takes it seriously. He's so close to it that he's not that political. He's not an activist — Keith's an activist. That's the difference."

Ahem. That's a pretty thin distinction, but I do admit there is something to it.

Keith Olbermann just emailed to say, "This is the finger I destroy MSNBC's dwindling credibility with."

Below, Keith Olbermann is caught on video reacting to the TV Newser piece:

Not really, of course.

Thanks to dri for the vid.

posted by Ace at 08:17 PM

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