Open Letter to Keith Olbermann

I've been, until recently, a regular watcher of Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Recently I've begun skipping the show as often as not. This is partly due to my general despair and disgust with our political system- one party shamelessly evil striving to destroy the government from within; the other party so corrupt, spineless and divided as to be practically useless.

The main reason, though, has been your childish and unprofessional conduct, both on your show and through other media, especially your Twitter account.

You take great offense at the many and varied comments that have cropped up, especially in the past year, between yourself and right-wing radio hosts and Fox News commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and their ilk. You have pointed out- with justification- the fact that these people routinely lie, and lie egregiously, in order to drum up fear and hatred in their viewership. The problem here is this: to the average person, who cannot spare the time and attention to fact-check every statement made on a news or commentary program, a lie and a truth sound exactly the same.

Let's leave aside the core viewership of both your program and that of your rivals. Such people have already made up their minds that the person/people they choose to watch is/are telling the truth, and that the opposition is lying. No amount of proof one way or the other will sway those people. Let's focus instead on the people who aren't watching or listening to ANY of these shows- not you, not Limbaugh, not Beck, nobody- but who might be interested in either news or analysis of current news events.

Again, these people do not have the time to do independent fact-checking of what they watch. They have lives outside the viewscreen. As such, they want someplace which they can rely on to give them the truth, either unbiased or biased in agreement with their own prejudices. Unfortunately, since a lie sounds the same as a truth to those who won't or can't dig deeper, such people can't tell just by watching whether a show is giving them the straight dope or selling them a bill of goods (or gold certificates).

So instead of relying on what they can't hear, they rely on what they CAN hear- the tone and maturity of what is being said.

With Rush Limbaugh, they hear a spoiled, hateful man-child who revels in his own filth.

With Glenn Beck, they hear a histrionic, paranoid drama queen.

And with you... they hear, and see, a man who revels in unfunny preschool-level mocking of his opponents. They see someone who, in response to criticism, mocks typos in Twitter messages sent by ideological opponents. They see someone who treats his direct time-slot competition as a punching bag, often for things as petty as demographic ratings.

They hear and see childishness on the right, and then they see childishness on the left- that is, you.

And they say, "They sound and look the same, so they must be the same," and they use that judgment to dismiss you just as they dismiss Limbaugh, Beck, etc. These people don't know that you are telling the truth, with evidence to back you up, while they are lying and libeling and slandering their way through their broadcasts. They don't have time, patience, or inclination to find out. All they hear is the same annoying, childish, unedifying tone on both sides... and it turns them off, and away, from both sides, regardless of the truth.

Your tone- your treatment of dissent and of opposition, your kindergarten mockery of the voices of the right- your tone is undermining your message, and with it your goals as a broadcaster.

Please consider putting away childish things and taking a more mature tone with your viewers and respondents. Maturity brings with it credibility. Consider: your hero Edward R. Murrow never mocked or belittled those, especially McCarthy, who he called out for lies and misconduct in his broadcasts. Neither did Walter Cronkite act like a six-year-old in the face of media criticism or accusations of bias. Both men gave the American people their best effort at the unvarnished truth, and they did it solemnly and maturely- and both men were, and are, regarded as rare paragons of integrity in broadcast journalism.

If you want your message to get out, if you want the American people to hear the proven truth and to see the lies and madness of the far right revealed for what they are, you must follow their example. Cease the mockery. Put an end to your part of the petty bickering and one-upsmanship. Keep your broadcasts to the facts, and when you feel the need for a Special Comment, keep those comments rare and to the point. Only then will you build up the level of trust among the audience outside your regular viewership necessary to carry your message out to the rest of the world.

Kris Overstreet
Livingston, Texas

Open Letter to Keith Olbermann

I've been, until recently, a regular watcher of Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Recently I've begun skipping the show as often as not. This is partly due to my general despair and disgust with our political system- one party shamelessly evil striving to destroy the government from within; the other party so corrupt, spineless and divided as to be practically useless.

The main reason, though, has been your childish and unprofessional conduct, both on your show and through other media, especially your Twitter account.

You take great offense at the many and varied comments that have cropped up, especially in the past year, between yourself and right-wing radio hosts and Fox News commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and their ilk. You have pointed out- with justification- the fact that these people routinely lie, and lie egregiously, in order to drum up fear and hatred in their viewership. The problem here is this: to the average person, who cannot spare the time and attention to fact-check every statement made on a news or commentary program, a lie and a truth sound exactly the same.

Let's leave aside the core viewership of both your program and that of your rivals. Such people have already made up their minds that the person/people they choose to watch is/are telling the truth, and that the opposition is lying. No amount of proof one way or the other will sway those people. Let's focus instead on the people who aren't watching or listening to ANY of these shows- not you, not Limbaugh, not Beck, nobody- but who might be interested in either news or analysis of current news events.

Again, these people do not have the time to do independent fact-checking of what they watch. They have lives outside the viewscreen. As such, they want someplace which they can rely on to give them the truth, either unbiased or biased in agreement with their own prejudices. Unfortunately, since a lie sounds the same as a truth to those who won't or can't dig deeper, such people can't tell just by watching whether a show is giving them the straight dope or selling them a bill of goods (or gold certificates).

So instead of relying on what they can't hear, they rely on what they CAN hear- the tone and maturity of what is being said.

With Rush Limbaugh, they hear a spoiled, hateful man-child who revels in his own filth.

With Glenn Beck, they hear a histrionic, paranoid drama queen.

And with you... they hear, and see, a man who revels in unfunny preschool-level mocking of his opponents. They see someone who, in response to criticism, mocks typos in Twitter messages sent by ideological opponents. They see someone who treats his direct time-slot competition as a punching bag, often for things as petty as demographic ratings.

They hear and see childishness on the right, and then they see childishness on the left- that is, you.

And they say, "They sound and look the same, so they must be the same," and they use that judgment to dismiss you just as they dismiss Limbaugh, Beck, etc. These people don't know that you are telling the truth, with evidence to back you up, while they are lying and libeling and slandering their way through their broadcasts. They don't have time, patience, or inclination to find out. All they hear is the same annoying, childish, unedifying tone on both sides... and it turns them off, and away, from both sides, regardless of the truth.

Your tone- your treatment of dissent and of opposition, your kindergarten mockery of the voices of the right- your tone is undermining your message, and with it your goals as a broadcaster.

Please consider putting away childish things and taking a more mature tone with your viewers and respondents. Maturity brings with it credibility. Consider: your hero Edward R. Murrow never mocked or belittled those, especially McCarthy, who he called out for lies and misconduct in his broadcasts. Neither did Walter Cronkite act like a six-year-old in the face of media criticism or accusations of bias. Both men gave the American people their best effort at the unvarnished truth, and they did it solemnly and maturely- and both men were, and are, regarded as rare paragons of integrity in broadcast journalism.

If you want your message to get out, if you want the American people to hear the proven truth and to see the lies and madness of the far right revealed for what they are, you must follow their example. Cease the mockery. Put an end to your part of the petty bickering and one-upsmanship. Keep your broadcasts to the facts, and when you feel the need for a Special Comment, keep those comments rare and to the point. Only then will you build up the level of trust among the audience outside your regular viewership necessary to carry your message out to the rest of the world.

Kris Overstreet
Livingston, Texas