The New Yorker has posted a must-read piece by Peter Boyer that looks into the life and daily dealings of Keith Olbermann.

Many could argue that Keith Olbermann, and his nightly show Countdown, have transformed cable news in many ways. It is not very often that we get to see someone like Olbermann on cable news delivering commentary in the way that he does it.

If you have never witnessed one of his “Special Comment” segments, you are truly missing out on a piece of journalistic history. Olbermann’s brutal truth, combined with almost scary at times facts, make his Special Comment segments absolutely can’t miss pieces of TV news.

Olbermann has managed to take his clear, opinionated analysis and put out it there willingly, while also providing you the facts that you need to know. This type of cable news poetry is almost absent in other realms of the cable news world, but it is surely something that America could stand to use more of. This type of raw journalism fuels greater debate and makes people question what it is really going on, while making sure that people are informed on the issues of the day. Olbermann does it with style and a unique wit that just simply cannot be found on other networks.

Being a viewer of Countdown for the last five years has given me a look into issues and subjects that I would have otherwise probably never been a part of. I want the tough questions asked, I want the opinionated analysis of the topic, and I want the honesty and sometimes brutal truth that only Olbermann can supply in the given environment.

This is was news should be about and is quite honestly one of the reasons that blogs have flourished so greatly in the recent times. Having the facts about a story is great, but then also having the opinions to go with those facts makes the story even more compelling.

Opinions drive debate and debate drives change. When we take in the opinions and debate those opinions honestly, we often times find ourselves engaged in change in order to produce a more productive outcome.

Olbermann has certainly done his part to drive the debate, and for that, we are at a point in history where change has never been more critical than now. How we will change and shape the political landscape is yet to be seen, but you can bet that as it gets transformed, Keith Olbermann will be there to give you the rational, opinionated commentary on it, just as he has for the last five years.