Spatwatch

Olbermann: Mediaite 'Gullible' and Bitter

Jared Keller Feb 25, 2010

Keith Olbermann's swirling maelstrom of wrath has engulfed another victim: Mediaite. The MSNBC pundit went after the site for covering the Dallas Tea Party's invitation to Olbermann to see a rally firsthand in Austin. (The Atlantic Wire covered this invitation as well.) An incensed Olbermann called the blog "gullible," inviting a sharp retort from Mediaite writer Colby Hall. Days later, the Countdown host awarded Mediaite the bronze medal on his newly-named "Hall of Shame" segment, claiming that ex-MSNBC staffer and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams had a personal grudge against the network that was driving the imbroglio:

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Colby Hall looks to have the last word:

Olbermann was calling out the lack of diversity within the Tea Party movement – because he hadn’t noticed many (or any?) people of color in his research. Not an unfair critique – however, if you are willing to go out of your way to judge the demographic make-up of an organization based on over-simplified assessments, then you should be willing to receive the same exact sort of criticism ...

As for the alleged axe-to-grind mission of the “fired MSNBC employee” I plead guilty to being ignorant of the history between MSNBC and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams. But I’m surprised that MSNBC bookers and Today Show producers haven’t got the memo that he’s been fired. More importantly, the opinions and sentiments in all of Mediaite’s pieces have been those of the editors and writers of Mediaite.

Roughly three weeks ago we asked “Is Keith Olbermann Losing It?” Now we know the answer. Yes, sadly, Keith Olbermann has lost it.

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