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I didn’t start watching “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” until 2008. To be honest, I was determined to dislike him at first. I’d already chosen even-tempered Rachel Maddow as my political role model, and Olbermann seemed like something else altogether – loud, pushy, full of self-righteous indignation. A left-wing version of Bill O’Reilly, I thought. Obviously I was far too intellectual and sophisticated for such things.
Turns out I was wrong, both about my first impression of Olbermann and that whole sophistication thing. As the media became obsessed with Sarah Palin, I found myself sitting up late at night poring over news coverage on the Internet, looking for someone who was fighting back – some sign that Americans hadn’t completely lost their minds. One night I stumbled across one of Olbermann’s Special Comments on YouTube. Within two weeks, I’d watched all of them.
It wasn’t always easy. Like all devoted Olbermann fans, I have spent many a primetime news hour rubbing my forehead and wishing for booze. But in the end, I had to admire him for his passion and his honesty, and the way political issues are so personal for him. Behind all the bluster and public feuds, he strikes me as sincere, empathetic and very smart, with a spectacularly geeky sense of humour. Headaches and all, he’s my kind of person.
And then there’s this: Last April I volunteered to review two books about American politics for a writers’ festival in Auckland, and I was offered the chance to interview the authors, including Adrian Wooldridge from The Economist. Olbermann had just joined Twitter (and eventually followed me, I’m proud to say) so I asked him how to prepare for an interview with an expert who knows a lot more than me. He replied, giving me my first bit of instruction about journalism: “Ask simple, direct questions. Ask for layman’s explanations. Say ‘You mentioned X – can you expand on it?”
That experience, along with the wonky political discussions I kept having with my fellow Olbermann and Maddow fans every week, got me thinking about what I enjoy, what I’m good at and where it all could lead. The result is that I’m going back to school in June to complete a year-long National Diploma in Journalism. I have no idea what happens after that – look at all the newspapers going out of business, am I crazy? – but the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that I’ve got the right idea.
As for Keith Olbermann’s career, I plan to follow him wherever he ends up – even if I have to brush up on the rules of baseball to do it. That’s dedication right there.
Well said!
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