Former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel has responded to MSNBC host Keith Olbermann‘s criticism of him. Koppel spoke at length about Olbermann’s “special comment,” and journalism in general on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” yesterday.

“I think Keith Olbermann is a very bright and clearly passionate man, but I think he has his perspective a little screwed up, and he has his facts screwed up too,” Koppel said.

Among other arguments, Koppel says that the reason journalists like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite had such an impact when they gave their now legendary commentaries is because they spent their entire careers as objective journalists:

“What made those pieces so powerful as they they came out of a lifetime of objective, and not subjective, reporting,” Koppel said.

Listen to the entire NPR segment, which includes a debate with journalism professor Jeff Jarvis, after the jump.