For years Keith Olbermann has ended his "Countdown" show on MSNBC with a reference to the Iraq War—the number of days since George W. Bush appeared in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner on a Navy aircraft carrier.
President-elect Barack Obama may be set to take over, but Keith Olbermann is hinting that the signature signoff may yet survive.
“I will probably continue it," Mr. Olbermann said in an interview. "It will be a game-time decision [but] we are still stuck [in Iraq] and will be stuck there quite a while. I would expect fewer diatribes about Iraq, but we have brothers and sisters and kids in danger and they deserve at least to be watched.”
Mr. Olbermann has been one of TV’s most severe critics of the Bush administration.
Aside from news stories citing Bush administration scandals, Mr. Olbermann has often done “special comments” segments sharply questioning President Bush or administration officials.
While his statements have helped boost "Countdown’s" ratings, they also has brought complaints that Mr. Olbermann was an inappropriate choice to also host MSNBC’s news specials. Mr. Olbermann now hosts his own show and sometimes comments on news specials, but no longer serves as anchor of the network’s news specials.
That means he won't take part in inauguration coverage.
Mr. Olbermann is suggesting "Countdown" won’t suddenly turn soft when the administration changes. The special comments will continue and some may aim at President Barack Obama.
“I don’t really anticipate yelling at the new President. Not to the extent I did at the previous one,” said Mr. Olbermann. “But I think every once in a while I may feel the need to say, ‘Hey pay attention to this too.’"
Mr. Olbermann’s relations with the Bush administration were pretty much non-existent, after "Countdown" aired an interview featuring Joe Wilson, the former U.S. ambassador and husband to Valerie Plame Wilson.
“We had Joe Wilson booked and the White House sent a series of talking points, not really knowing where I was coming from,” he said.
The talking points weren’t used.
“From that point on, there really has been no communication whatsoever,” he said.
While relations with the Obama administration will be better, Mr. Olbermann said that won’t much change the show’s look.
“There was no cooperation [from the Bush administration] so any amount of cooperation will be a change,” he said. “But I don’t know that the overall tone will change that much."
He anticipates having a guest from the Obama administration "once in a blue moon."
Mr. Olbermann also suggested that viewers won’t see much change in his own approach, because the same people he criticized will still be around whether in or out of the administration.
“There are still going to be people whose goals and aspirations in life run contrary to my aspirations of what our society should be," Mr. Olbermann said. "I don’t think they have any intention of retiring from the scene. So I don’t think it’s my job to retire from the scene.”
NBC News President Steve Capus also predicted "Dateline" wouldn’t change significantly and suggested it and some other MSNBC programs that have been critical of the Bush administration will also be critical of the Obama administration.
“I think if you look at those hosts and those programs, they like to hold people accountable," Mr. Capus said. "Democrats are in charge now. I would fully expect [the hosts] are going to keep an eye on everything [in the Democratic administration]."
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Posted
Tue, Jan 20 2009 8:36 AM
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