Burns "surprised" to be identified as regular contributor to Olbermann's new show

Lefty TV talker Keith Olbermann announced last month that PBS documentarian Ken Burns would be a "key contributor" and "regular part" of Olbermann's new show on Current TV — which surprised Baltimore Sun TV writer David Zurawik. "Yes, I was surprised, too," Burns told Zurawik in a column today (June 14). "I appeared on Countdown a lot. And he's been a friend for a long time. And when he moved [to Current TV], I said, 'Oh, I'll come and do it [the new show]'. And I think that's what it is." However, Burns said, he refused to accept a salary as a regular contributor. "They offered to pay me, and I said no," Burns told Zurawik. "I refused to be paid. I don't want any money to interrupt an exchange of ideas. And since I live in New Hampshire, I don't know how I become a contributor. You know, when I'm in New York, if there's something germane to something we're doing or to a topic I care about, I'll talk about it. But I would do the same thing at Fox News, know what I mean? We bend over backwards to be right down the middle."