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Should Daily Kos Be Concerned About Keith Olbermann’s FOKing New Venture?

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by Alex Alvarez | 3:53 pm, January 26th, 2011

» 36 comments

Whether you approached news of Keith Olbermann‘s sudden departure from MSNBC with deep disappointment, unbridled glee, or total apathy, the fact remains that many – ourselves included – are keeping a very close eye on what is next move will be. (Sorry, Greta.)

Given that Olbermann is contractually prohibited from hosting a television show for some length of time, taking to the internet would seem a good, natural fit as his next platform. In fact, he’s already unleashed a second Twitter account onto an unsuspecting world, which he’s dubbed “FOKNewsChannel.” Which prompts us to wonder: If Olbermann does indeed continue to take his liberal views online, should Daily Kos be worried?

Daily Kos, for those who don’t know, is a blog founded by Markos Moulitsas that serves as a platform for liberal thought and causes. It invites commentary from a number of Democratic contributors, and focuses much of its attention on presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races.

Olbermann has already proved that he has a special knack for recognizing, and providing a platform for, emerging talent – like former Countdown contributors Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell. Given that blogs provide an ideal means for individuals for hash out and refine their thoughts and opinions, with instant feedback from a particular community, claiming a spot on the web would allow Olbermann to continue introducing his fans (and critics) to up and coming liberal voices.

Additionally, it’s clear that Olbermann – despite what you may feel about his opinions – has quite a way with words (“This is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection – or at least amelioration – against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological. It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water,” for example. Or how about: “I guess the painkillers wipe out your memory along with your ethics.”), so taking on a medium which would allow him to write and rant and rave in a way that’s intrinsically quotable seems natural.

Plus, Olbermann has a large – and loyal – fanbase. His viewers and over 200,000 Twitter followers would certainly follow him wherever he goes. Add the opportunity to interact with Olbermann via comment threads and tips and, well, let’s just say that Olbermann has already built one of the most elements of a successful blog: a community.

So why do we feel Olbermann would prove to be competition for something like the Daily Kos and not, say, the Huffington Post? Despite having its roots in promoting liberal opinions, HuffPo does something entirely different and more accessible than does Daily Kos; it provides a different service entirely, which is to entertain more than serve as a call to action or an impetus for creating change and debate. Plus, we’re fairly certain that, if he did eventually adapt his FOKing new idea into blog form, Olbermann would somehow manage to avoid the siren call of slideshows and Digg-fodder like lists of, say, “The 100 Most Worrisome Celebrity Moles.”

Of course, the argument could me made that an “Olberblog” would work to help lefty sites like ThinkProgress , Firedoglake and Daily Kos by providing them with link traffic and content fodder, but, even so, it would make the (left side of the) field that much more crowded.

A blog helmed by Olbermann would also provide an alternative to sites overseen by conservative pundits, like Tucker Carlson‘s “The Daily Caller” and Glenn Beck‘s “The Blaze”. And, we can only hope for the sake of our coverage, lots and lots of back-and-forth among these sites.

Our own Tommy Christopher – and resident expert on all things Olbermann – weighed in with an astute prediction: “He was the T-Rex of libs on TV. Online, he’ll be a velociraptor among velociraptors.” The meme potential in those couple of sentences alone is reason enough for Olbermann to launch a blog.

So while the Daily Kos might prefer that Olbermann stick to engaging in heated Twitter arguments, we”ll admit we’re holding out hope that he takes his special brand of confrontational, no-holds-barred analysis to the web in the form of blog. Maybe call it “The Olberlord”? Has a nice ring to it, we think.

#fok news, blogging, DailyKos, keith olbermann

Seeing 2012 From My Window

Poor Keith knows his ONLY schtick is going after FOX. He’s got nothing if he doesn’t have that and people know it. It’s sad really. But as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
tatboy

Can we start calling them his FOKing followers.
Hawk11

Seeing 2012 From My Window said:
Poor Keith knows his ONLY schtick is going after FOX. He’s got nothing if he doesn’t have that and people know it. It’s sad really. But as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

You really need to get out a little. Seriously lady. You post on just about every news feed on here from early morning to late at night. If this site is your life, I truly feel sorry for you.

tatboy said:
Can we start calling them his FOKing followers.

Sure you can, we all call FOX fans FOKing morons
PoliticalPAW

Actually, the “concern” should be about these “teabagger” videos during next?? job interview!

CLASSIC EULOGIES:
@keitholbermann http://tinyurl.com/4qhvctp
@davidshuster http://tinyurl.com/4r5fzrg

You’re Done, foos’…BaBYE, Now!
Zakk

Looks like someone touched on a nerve with Hawk11. Look out, he/she may start calling you names.

Also, if his fan base is so large and loyal, why did he always get his ass handed to him by FOX? Maybe not so large or all that loyal.
beamangrow

PoliticalPAW says:
January 26, 2011 at 4:16 pm PoliticalPAW(Quote)
0 0
Actually, the “concern” should be about these “teabagger” videos during next?? job interview!

CLASSIC EULOGIES:
@keitholbermann http://tinyurl.com/4qhvctp
@davidshuster http://tinyurl.com/4r5fzrg

You’re Done, foos’…BaBYE, Now!

that is what you right wing nut jobs does not get
he will be hired because of that.
beamangrow

Seeing 20l2 From My Window says:
January 26, 2011 at 4:17 pm Seeing 20l2 From My Window(Quote)
0 1
Flattery, flattery, flattery, thats why EVERYONE tries to be like my little FOKKER GLENNIE!!!!! And it goes without saying everyone wants to be just like me and not move from the computer more than 10 minutes a day , but sadly its a skill and not everyone can do it. Its worth it though cause EVERYBODY HERE are MY VERY BEST FRIENDS AND YOU’RE ALL INVITED TO MY WEDDING WHEN GLENNIE MARRIES ME!!!!! YAAAAYYY!!!!

i thought you were 99 years.sorry my bad.
TfT

What a fok up he is; honestly – he doesn’t have much without fox, actually, he is nothing without fox, well, even more actually – he is just a big fat nothing fok-up.
Gasket

Hawk11 said:
You really need to get out a little. Seriously lady. You post on just about every news feed on here from early morning to late at night. If this site is your life, I truly feel sorry for you.

Sure you can, we all call FOX fans FOKing morons

Haha…nice one!

I love it when CONsevtives brush off KO’s significance but always talk about something he said. They also really hated the guy since he’s one guy (other than the CC satirists) who actually went straight at them (on TV) and called them out on their BS. Nota big fan of DKOS myself. I prefer Jon Marshall’s TPM.
NORBIT

Olbermann and the Daily Kos speak to the audience of the feeble-minded; FOX speaks to the audience of the nimble-minded!

In fact, if it wasn’t for calculated misrepresentation, the voices on the Left would have nothing to speak of at all!
Ninja

I’m sure Keith will be writing again for the Daily KKKos soon enough.
Just_MC

Alex Alvarez said: “Our own Tommy Christopher – and resident expert on all things Olbermann – weighed in with an astute prediction: ‘He was the T-Rex of libs on TV. Online, he’ll be a velociraptor among velociraptors.’”

Two thoughts for your little Mediaite mutual admiration society:

1. In the brilliant words of Winston Wolf, “let’s not all suck each other’s d1cks just yet.”

2. “Velociratptor among velociraptors?!” You guys are dorks. I’m going to rub my balls all over your drumset.
BatBoy

You probably won’t see this reported, so here goes…

State of The Union Ratings: Fox News Channel Dominates
2011 SOTU Address Ratings:
• FNC: 4,960,000 in Total Viewers / 1,634,000 in A25-54
• CNN: 2,984,000 in Total Viewers /1,200,000 in A25-54
• MSNBC: 2,504,000 in Total Viewers / 836,000 in A25-54
2011 Post-Speech Analysis Ratings:
• FNC: 5,444,000in Total Viewers / 1,756,000 in A25-54
• CNN: 3,010,000 in Total Viewers / 1,230,000 in A25-54
• MSNBC: 2,357,000in Total Viewers / 739,000 in A25-54
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/
Harry Flashman

This should make the Daily Kos and the Howard Stern audience happy. Now they’ll have another place to play.
Alex Alvarez

Just_MC said:
Alex Alvarez said: “Our own Tommy Christopher – and resident expert on all things Olbermann – weighed in with an astute prediction: ‘He was the T-Rex of libs on TV. Online, he’ll be a velociraptor among velociraptors.’”

Two thoughts for your little Mediaite mutual admiration society:

1. In the brilliant words of Winston Wolf, “let’s not all suck each other’s d1cks just yet.”

2. “Velociratptor among velociraptors?!” You guys are dorks. I’m going to rub my balls all over your drumset.

We generally try to keep orgies among Mediaite editors to a minimum. But thank you for your concern and valuable input.
CampaignOutsider

Boston Globe to Keith Olbermann: Good Riddance!

Paper wants left to fight fire with facts.

http://bit.ly/hraAg8

Time for #EOK (Enemies of Keith)?
OxyCon

“Daily Kos, for those who don’t know, is a blog founded by Markos Moulitsas that serves as a platform for liberal bile and hate speech.”

There, fixed it for you. As for Olbermann blogging, I’ve always maintained that Markos Moulitsas was Olbermann’s de facto program director because it seemed like Olbermann cribbed most of his material and crazy thoughts from DailyKos.

With Olbermann on TV, it created smooth running media system where crazy thoughts, hate speech and dishonest arguments would be hatched on blogs like Kos and HuffPo, then filter their way up to MessNBC for national cable distribution. So Olbermann becoming a blogger would be a big blow for the left-wing noise machine.

So I say knock your socks off Olbermann…there isn’t a bigger FOKer in the whole world!
Gasket

BatBoy said:
You probably won’t see this reported, so here goes…

State of The Union Ratings: Fox News Channel Dominates
2011 SOTU Address Ratings:
•FNC: 4,960,000 in Total Viewers / 1,634,000 in A25-54
•CNN: 2,984,000 in Total Viewers /1,200,000 in A25-54
•MSNBC: 2,504,000 in Total Viewers / 836,000 in A25-54
2011 Post-Speech Analysis Ratings:
•FNC: 5,444,000in Total Viewers / 1,756,000 in A25-54
•CNN: 3,010,000 in Total Viewers / 1,230,000 in A25-54
•MSNBC: 2,357,000in Total Viewers / 739,000 in A25-54
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

This is significant why? Conservatives/Republicans by a big margin prefer FNC. You know….that is the ONLY major news outlet that has a right slant. The left prefers non-FOX news…and they have several options. Moderates will split evenly across. I always wonder what the big surprise is when FNC is touted for higher viewership on cable news. Note that FNC is only dominant on cable. The network alphabet soup channels get way more viewers. .
Just_MC

Alex Alvarez said:
We generally try to keep orgies among Mediaite editors to a minimum. But thank you for your concern and valuable input.

Alex,

Thanks for your answer. Perhaps I was too harsh on criticising your courtesy toward Tommy’s dorky comment. While you’re reading, can I ask you something?

Are you willing to request removal of blocking the thumbs up/down feature on staff comments? I think it would be a significant improvement. It seems a bit childish, would you not agree, that staff comments are “protected” from public voting?

Regards,

MC
Alex Alvarez

Just_MC said:
Alex,

Thanks for your answer. Perhaps I was too harsh on criticising your courtesy toward Tommy’s dorky comment. While you’re reading, can I ask you something?

Are you willing to request removal of blocking the thumbs up/down feature on staff comments? I think it would be a significant improvement. It seems a bit childish, would you not agree, that staff comments are “protected” from public voting?

Regards,

MC

I can look into it, definitely!
Just_MC

Alex Alvarez said:
I can look into it, definitely!

Thanks much, appreciate it.
jerzygurl

Don’t go away mad Keith, just go away. Be a big boy like Grayson & just disappear into the crowd of those rejected.
Gasket

Actually, I would prefer the opposite. Get rid of the thumbs up/ thumbs down feature altogether and have a FLAG button instead for spammers. Also get us an edit feature that at least is active for a finite period after making a post.
Just_MC

Gasket said:
Actually, I would prefer the opposite. Get rid of the thumbs up/ thumbs down feature altogether and have a FLAG button instead for spammers. Also get us an edit feature that at least is active for a finite period after making a post.

Hey world, if you like voting, you GOTTA vote down Gasket’s post above. :)
Alex Alvarez

Gasket said:
Actually, I would prefer the opposite. Get rid of the thumbs up/ thumbs down feature altogether and have a FLAG button instead for spammers. Also get us an edit feature that at least is active for a finite period after making a post.

All good suggestions. I’ll talk to our tech people about it.
Alz

Alex Alvarez said:
All good suggestions. I’ll talk to our tech people about it.

Naw, keep the thumbs up and down. Spam isn’t a huge issue. The edit feature would be handy.

Th option to choose how many items per page to show would be handy too (e.g. 25, 50, 100, all)
Alex Alvarez

Seeing 20l2 From My Window said:
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! Controlling the THUMBS IS MY LIFE, NO, YOU CAN;T DO THAT TO ME, THIS IS MY SITE!!!!! I STAY HERE NIGHT AND DAY, ITS MINE I TELL YOU…..MINE!!!!!!!!!

…Keith?
Seeing 2012 From My Window

Alex, that is what we call a liberal poser. I live rent free in their heads. What can I say, they are obsessed with me!
DaTruth

How about we just get rid of the chatter about Olbermann altogether? Seriously, we’re not spending much time talking about Rick Sanchez any more, right?
Puter Boi

Alex Alvarez said:
I can look into it, definitely!

Could you also please look into this growing scandal: Who chooses the ties for Colby’s TV appearances?
There have been numerous complaints…..all posted by me….but I digress….

Mediaite needs standards….Dan Abrams is a God like figure who always dresses appropriately for the occasion…Colby and his ties need work.
Thanks, Alex, and …..”Good night and good news”
Alex Alvarez

Puter Boi said:
Could you also please look into this growing scandal: Who chooses the ties for Colby’s TV appearances?
There have been numerous complaints…..all posted by me….but I digress….

Mediaite needs standards….Dan Abrams is a God like figure who always dresses appropriately for the occasion…Colby and his ties need work.
Thanks, Alex, and …..”Good night and good news”

I’ll let you in on a scoop: Colby has given a lot of thought to wearing ascots for his TV appearances. You read it here first.
da-wdc

Actually, I don’t know that Daily Kos typically invites well known politicians and political leaders to post. The nature of the medium is that all they have to do is sign up and then they can post. The community recommends their work, which is why you’ll usually see it on the Recommended list.

I suppose they likely tip off the site moderators so that they know the diarist is who s/he says, but otherwise it’s pretty free for anyone to post a diary whenever they want, though I think it’s limited to one per day.

I can’t imagine they’d be anything but thrilled if Olbermann started his own online venture. Daily Kos has been around longer than nearly all of the liberal blogs, longer than Huffington Post, and through a lot of upheaval during primary seasons, and it’s proven to be pretty resilient.
Colby Hall

leave my tie choices out of this Mr. Boi (though I suspect that isn’t your real name.)
Dsiscokid

I believe we could see a bidding war between olbermann and Mediaite for the services of Tommy Christopher. Will he stay here or go to olbermann’s site? I know y’all don’t get along TC but business is business!
Z_man723

“He was the T-Rex of libs on TV. Online, he’ll be a velociraptor among velociraptors.”

I read the column to see if Tommy had actually said this and wow… I”m speechless at just how lame that quote is…. What the hell is wrong with you?
BOMBSHELL

Hi!