Pure Distilled Boldness

Corporate media outlets are the worst. CNN would rather have a story about a man with a sword confusing porn for rape than a story about African child soldiers, or the latest drivel from Lou Dobbs instead of anything remotely resembling analysis of the factors driving the US economy.

The obviousness with which they pander to the lowest common denominator of news is sickening to me. I used to go to Fark.com to have them find all the dumbest news. Now, I just go straight to Headline News and their 24-hour stream of crap.

Rants and bitterness aside, I greatly appreciate journalistic boldness (even if misplaced). Commentators from the Left and the Right who take strong positions about real issues should be lauded for encouraging thought if nothing else. I rarely agree with George Will or Charles Krauthammer, but I always read them (Robert Novak, who also appears in the Washington Post's editorial section is a partisan hack). A commentator from the Left who I like more and more (despite being on a 24 hour news channel) is Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann seems like a natural choice for Stain Club commendation. A former ESPN anchor turned political commentator, Olbermann has a real passion for sports and politics. More importantly though, he never toes the line of wishy-washy neutrality that so many other news anchors cling to. Rolling Stone just published a feature article on Olbermann titled "The Most Honest Man in News" which chronicles his steadily increasing success. Watching their collection of his Top 5 rants shows why his ratings are skyrocketing. Honest opinions and analysis from the news are popular? Shocking. Even if you completely disagree with Olbermann and his perspective, you have to appreciate the boldness.