Opinion & Commentary as Entertainment

To be fair (and balanced?), there is an "entertainment quotient" that is important to the success of news programming that leans left (Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show immediately come to mind). In conservative quarters, they are certainly disparaged as much as the left ridicules the right (see David Frum's last appearance on Rachel Maddow).

Rush Limbaugh, embracing his critics in Media Week (August 2003), said

"I combine two elements: irreverent humor and serious discussion of issues," Limbaugh, who doesn't know when he'll stop told Media Week. "People tune in for both. But the key is having credibility. This has led to critics saying I am just an entertainer. I'm proud to be an entertainer. This is showbiz. At the same time, I believe everything I say."

Olbermann often refers to him as a comedian.

And from the Ziegler Atlantic article:

John Ziegler is not a journalist—he is an entertainer. Or maybe it's better to say that he is part of a peculiar, modern, and very popular type of news industry, one that manages to enjoy the authority and influence of journalism without the stodgy constraints of fairness, objectivity, and responsibility that make trying to tell the truth such a drag for everyone involved.

Does Bill O'Reilly routinely feature Dennis Miller on his show for two reasons, one obvious and the other subtle? The first, to add to the entertainment quotient of The O'Reilly Factor (if you still find Dennis Miller entertaining), and the second, to distinguish and defend O'Reilly as a serious newsman: I am the authority - he is the comedian.