Oh, to be a fly on the wall at MSNBC. Any DUers have an inside

[Democrat 4 Ever]

mole at MSNBC? What is the scuttlebutt on what Tweety, Dead Intern, Bow Tie Boy, Gravel Girty and their producers saying about Keith's latest rant? Keith's ratings? Keith's popularity? Keith's truth telling?

I'm betting it is pissing them off that first, they have a traitor in their mist; two, that Keith has the courage and honesty they can only dream about; three, that he is stealing their thunder - notice Keith is never invited to their little Friday Night Circle Jerks; and four, if they do decide to work up a little honestly this late in the game it will be too little, too late, they will be forever branded as Not Keith. Keith is red hot, the rest of the bunch are just pale imitations as nothing more than fax readers of KKKarl's talking points.

So, anybody got any industry gossip?

[bdamomma]

1. I am not an insider but I hope I see Keith on tonite.

[Jensen]

3. Me too!

Keith rocks.... We will have to write time and time again to MSNBC on how "we celebrate KO"!

[WA98296]

2. I wonder how much the ratings have skyrocketed!

[NVMojo]

4. hopefully they will continue to allow him to tell the truth!

[OneBlueSky]

5. broadcast journalists who tell the truth are an endangered species . . .

because truth-telling violates the compact between BushCo and the corporate media masters . . . I fear for Keith's future at MSNBC . . .

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. Please don't even think that.....

Keith is the best thing they've got going in primetime on the network. I would love to know what Joe's ratings are. I can't reach the remote quick enough when Keith signs off.

[LTR]

7. I'm sure they love him over there

He and Matthews get the only notable ratings on the entire network.

Besides, MSNBC knew what they were getting when they hired him back. They know he can be controversial and opinionated, and that's why they like him.

It also seems that lately, they seem to have structured the entire prime time lineup around his show. Just wish they could get rid of those stupid prison documentaries.

[longship]

8. Keith would be gone already if that were true.

Dan Abrams is the managing editor (???) at MS/NBC. Obviously, he sees the wisdom of this tack. Of course, he's correct, if he does.

[bbgrunt]

9. He has been exceptionally outspoken since he returned

from vacation two weeks ago and Abrams took over. I especially enjoy the nervous looks from Tweety and dead intern as they segue to/from his program. And ohhhhh, the looks last night just as he segued into their hosting of the president's speech!!!

[VolcanoJen]

10. According to yesterday's Olbermann interview in Salon...

... the muckity-mucks at MSNBC rather like his commentaries, because they seem to lead to much bigger ratings. He's their golden boy.

They're even encouraging him to hit harder.

Worth the ad click-thru if you're not a subscriber:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/09/11/olbermann/

Salon: Is there anyone over in corporate headquarters who's seeing what happens as you take this approach and saying, "Keep doing this, it's helping you"?

Olbermann: Oh, yeah. If there has been any negative reaction to it, it has been kept from me. In other words, they have the way you would want employers in this situation to approach it. They have been supportive. They have been interested in what they are supposed to be interested in on a corporate level, which is making money. More ratings, of course. More money. It's not a complicated solution. It's the reason that Fox owns Fox News Channel and, say, "Family Guy." Wherever you can make the money is what interests them and it's -- ironically, given the flaws in commercial broadcasting as opposed to some other models, such as commercial-free broadcasting -- it is one of the protections of our liberties that the people who are owning most of it are at bottom line interested only in making money, and whatever makes money is what they will go for. That's one of our great protections ... In fact, sometimes I have to turn to them and say, "No. I know you like this and I know you think this is going to do real well for you in the ratings, but just don't pull the gun out of the holster every 35 seconds." If anything, I have to calm them down, rather than the other way around.