Olbermann-Beck: ‘Once the Game of Oppo Research on the Press Begins, It’s Hard to Tell Where It Might Stop’

By Chris Ariens 

New York Times columnist David Carr weighs in on the Beck-Olbermann “get me what you can on…” joust. On the Media Decoder blog, Carr writes that Olbermann who on Sunday wrote on Daily Kos that he would begin to “accept leads, tips, contacts, on [Glenn] Beck, his radio producer [Stu] Burguiere, and the chief of his tv enablers, [Roger] Ailes,” which was a response to Beck’s tweet: “FIND EVERYTHING YOU CAN ON CASS SUNSTEIN, MARK LLOYD AND CAROL BROWNER.”

Carr writes Olbermann’s tactic “reminds us of the ambush interviews that ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ was doing earlier this year, adding:

While Mr. Beck may be serving as a proxy for the party of opposition, his targets are members of the administration, a rugged game to be sure, but not one that attempts to investigate journalists and commentators for having contrary opinions. What might Mr. Olbermann do if someone digs up dirt on his intended targets, who, like him, work in the infotainment industry and have been elected by no one? Once the game of oppo research on the press begins, it’s hard to tell where it might stop, no?

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