Olbermann, O'Reilly nothing more than gluttons for ratings

I've been mum on the executive-ordered ceasefire between MSNBC's liberal Keith Olbermann and Fox News Channel's conservative Bill O'Reilly mainly because I don't watch either channel (or much TV news at all, if I'm to be totally transparent), and I don't care for their drama-masquerading-as-news approach. Friday The New York Times reported that the truce has ended because folks at Fox say Olbermann overstepped his boundaries by calling O'Reilly a "racist clown." Today the Associated Press has a story about General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC and NBC, calling reports by O'Reilly that the company supplies terrorists with explosives materials false.

Out of all that, you know what I wonder? What would happen if these two "journalists" worked this hard at actual journalism? Sure, they would still be rivals -- for the Pulitzer.

What gets me -- even more than the immaturity of the two, who could learn something about etiquette on any given playground -- is the fact that I think the whole thing is a ratings spectacle. The crazier they sound, the more people tune in. Unfortunately, most are not watching for that entertainment value, though. Many people believe what they say. For proof, you just have to look at the many flare-ups attributed to O'Reilly's rants, the most violent being the May murder of Dr. George Tiller, who performed late-term abortions. (Note that you don't hear as much about negative behavior stimulated by Olbermann. Is it the liberal media bias or is Olbermann not as inciting?)

See, I am not convinced the men believe what they say. Washington Post and CNN media critic Howard Kurtz once told me that some of the most out-there cable news personalities used to be much more reasonable. He cited Ann Coulter in particular. This column in The Post shortly after Tiller's death leads me to think O'Reilly might be the same way.

Maybe I am naive and like Anne Frank, I want to still believe that people are truly good at heart. People like O'Reilly and Coulter and even Olbermann who feed their power by generating fear in others need to fade into the background. Where's Howard Beale when you need him, shouting, "I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!"