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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Left-Leaning Cable Network Ousts Keith Olbermann--Replaces Him With Elliot
Spitzer
By FRAZIER MOORE, Associated Press
March 31, 2012
NEW YORK (AP) — Keith Olbermann is looking for a new job after less than a
year as a talk show host at Current TV.
The left-leaning cable network announced just hours before airtime on Friday
that Olbermann's show "Countdown" would be replaced with a new program
called "Viewpoint" hosted by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, beginning
that night.
The sometimes volatile Olbermann came to Current in June as the centerpiece
of its new prime-time initiative after a stormy eight-year stint at MSNBC —
his second at that network— followed by his abrupt departure in January
2011.
Shortly after, Current announced his hiring — reportedly with a five-year,
$50-million contract — as the start of an effort to transform the network's
prime-time slate into progressive talk. His official title was chief news
officer, charged with providing editorial guidance for all of the network's
political news, commentary and current events programming.
In a statement, Current TV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said the network
was "founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty
to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our
relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it."
They offered no details, but it is known that the temperamental Olbermann
repeatedly clashed with his employers. During the primary season he declined
to host certain hours of election coverage and has missed a number of
regular broadcasts, as well as complaining about technical problems he said
undermined his show.
Current considered some of those missed shows to be in "serial, material
breach of his contract," terming them "unauthorized absences," according to
a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity
because that person wasn't authorized to discuss details of Olbermann's
dismissal.
"We are confident that our viewers will be able to count on Gov. Spitzer to
deliver critical information on a daily basis," Gore and Hyatt said in their
"open letter" to viewers.
In a statement posted online, Olbermann countered that "the claims against
me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the
legal actions I will be filing against them presently."
He said he had been attempting "for more than a year" to resolve his
differences with Gore and Hyatt internally, "while I've not been publicizing
my complaints." Instead of "investing in a quality news program," he said,
his bosses "thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract."
He called his decision to join Current "a sincere and well-intentioned
gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one."
The rupture between Olbermann and his bosses echoed Olbermann's past
employment history. At NBC there was ongoing friction between the brash host
and his bosses, just as there had been at earlier jobs as far back as
Olbermann's star-making, often tumultuous turn as a "SportsCenter" anchor at
ESPN in the 1990s.
Just weeks before his exit from MSNBC, Olbermann was nearly fired but
instead was suspended for two days without pay for violating an NBC News
policy by donating to three political campaigns.
At the heart of his grievance with MSNBC, as he later explained it, was the
media consolidation that he felt threatened his independence on the air.
In January 2011, Comcast Corp., the giant cable operator, acquired a
controlling stake in Olbermann's already huge employer, NBCUniversal.
The night of Jan. 21, Olbermann told his viewers he was leaving. He said, a
bit cryptically, that "there were many occasions, particularly in the last
two and a half years, where all that surrounded the show — but never the
show itself — was just too much for me."
After that, Current, the privately held network co-founded in 2005 by former
Vice President Gore and Joel Hyatt, seemed the perfect fit: It is an
independent media outlet.
"Nothing is more vital to my concept of a free media than news that is
produced independent of corporate interference," Olbermann said at the
announcement of his coming to Current.
Current was then beginning its effort to redefine itself after ditching its
original concept as the go-to site for viewer-generated short videos.
Since "Countdown" premiered, Current has fleshed out its prime-time lineup
of liberals with "The Young Turks," hosted by Cenk Uygur, and "The War Room"
with former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
This week, it introduced a six-hour morning talk block, with live simulcasts
of the radio programs "The Bill Press Show" and "The Stephanie Miller Show.
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