Media peeps of the year
December brings awards season and Iwantmedia.com, a site that comprehensively surveys the media landscape, has named none other than Stephen Colbert as it’s 2006 media person of the year. I applaud this decision, as Colbert has shown himself to be not just a great comedian but a great patriotic journalist.
Huffington Post’s “Eat the Press” section has a good story about Colbert winning the award today. Colbert’s been on top of his game all year, but it was his brilliant performance at the White House Correspondents dinner in April that probably won it. If you’re not familiar with that little episode, check out the transcript here.
I’d say that MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann should have been more than a write-in candidate though. The brave dissidence that he displayed throughout 2006 actually gives one hope that the mainstream broadcast media might not be completely down the toilet after all. As Daphne Eviatar of The Nation pointed out recently, “Keith Olbermann Proves That Dissent Has An Audience.”
I’ll also give kudos to NBC’s White House correspondent David Gregory. I saw him speak at a political journalism convention in DC in 2005, and he struck me as someone who is not full of BS. I’ve seen numerous clips of Gregory challenging White House press secretaries over the hypocrisy and lies coming out of the White House and like Olbermann, Gregory offers hope for the mainstream media yet.
Crooks and Liars points out another good bit with Gregory today, where he challenges Tony Snow over the hypocrisy of Donald Rumsfeld’s November 6 “cut and run” memo.
I’d also include Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi, who has been doing his best to keep the gonzo spirit of Hunter S. Thompson alive in Rolling Stone’s political journalism, which has trumped much of what was seen from so called venerable sources like the NY Times and Washington Post this year. Alternet has a collection of his stories here.
October 5th, 2007 at 12:29 am
[...] My gals Jennifer and Kimberly at CBS must never sleep because just after the Late Show aired, I received a transcript of Dave’s exchange with Tony. I’m a good Democrat and a major Bush disliker but I thought Snow was candid and funny. Of course, Dave has some fun with Tony about the President. [...]