Olbermann's End?

Last Friday, Keith Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown was suspended for an indefinite amount of time as he gave donations to three Democrat candidates this fall; a move that was not allowed in his contract.

When one has a contract, it must be followed as written, or else there will be ramifications for violations. Olbermann violated his contract, therefore the MSNBC brass suspended him. Although that's not the end of the story.

I think the NBC Brass and Olbermann's agent should not have allowed that stipulation, as Olbermann is an analyst. The differenes were explained here a couple of months ago, so let's do a recap: an analyst gives opinions and commentary (think Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck) whereas a journalist delivers hard news in an unbiased fashion (think Brett Baier or Martha MacCallum). When watching his show, Olbermann gives his opinion, mostly in a bombastic fashion, and asks very leading questions, and as a result, there is not a lack of bias during that 8-9 timeslot. Knowing the background of his show, they also put him on the Election Night newsdesk, where he freely gives his opinions, especially playing and laughing along with Chris Matthews (who is also an analyst, but is called a journalist) when he mocked Michele Bachmann. MSNBC doesn't seem to understand journalism, mistaking these liberal pundits as journalists. Maybe that's a partial explanation of why their rating are so low.

If this is the last we have seen of Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, I'm disappointed that I'll never be named his "Worst Person in the World." I will also miss any future attempts by SNL to spoof his bombast, as they did with Ben Affleck. If Olbermann does come back to the MSNBC Airwaves (not sure if he will, considering that Alan Grayson is going to be looking for a job soon), his agent needs to meet with the NBC Brass to fully define his role and remind them that his client is by far not a journalist, but an analyst.

UPDATE, 11/7: It was leaned that Keith Olbermann will be returning to the airwaves on Tuesday evening. I guess their ratings were really affected...oh wait, they're still #3 in the ratings. Hope is still alive that one day, Olbermann could refer to me as the "Worst Person in the World."