Keith Olbermann

With allegations of media bias and candidate favoritism flying in every direction this campaign season, what's an honest-to-goodness straight-down-the-middle news anchor concerned about protecting his good name to do?

Simple: Wear a purple necktie.

Today in a classic bit of campaign trend spotting, Eric Wilson writes in The New York Times about a dramatic uptick in the number of purple neckties being sported this campaign season by TV men across the cable and broadcast landscape. (We suspect that Kurt Andersen approves.)

From the article:

Keith Olbermann, the commentator on MSNBC, has worn solid pale purple ties twice in the last week. And on Tuesday, he wore another one with purple stripes.  read more »

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Declaring the president of the United States the "Worst Person in the World," is apparently no biggie these days, what with his historically low approval ratings and all that. But saying the same about Katie Couric?

Outrageous! (Historically low ratings may not apply in this case.)  read more »

Last night, NBC threw a party to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Network bigwigs, including Jeff Zucker and Phil Griffin, turned out to toast their top cable-news anchor, who at one point during the night posed for pictures wearing a sparkling tiara.

The party was thrown at the Landmarc restaurant at the Time Warner Center.  read more »

Last week, we reported that Katy Tur, daughter of legendary chopper reporter Bob Tur and current paramour of MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann, had landed a freelance general assignment reporting gig with CW11.

Her addition to the CW11 team came amid some speculation about her qualifications for the job. All of which left us wondering what type of stories Ms. Tur would be reporting on.  read more »

This morning, Page Six reported that Keith Olbermann's 24-year-old girlfriend, Katy Tur, had just landed a news anchor job on CW11, despite minimal journalism qualifications. How did Ms. Tur—the daughter of legendary Los Angeles helicopter reporter Bob Tur—land such a lofty job at such a tender age? The Post reported that Ms. Tur had gotten the position "allegedly with [Mr. Olbermann's] help."

But as it turns out, Ms. Tur hasn't landed a news anchor job at all.  read more »

On a conference call just now, to Howard Wolfson responded to Ben’s inquiry about Keith Olbermann's characterization that the campaign was "awash in filth."

"We obviously vigorously disagree with that observation," said Wolfson. "Although many of us remain fans of Keith and enjoy watching the show on nights other than last night."

Chris Matthews woke up on Super Tuesday at the Ritz Carlton on Central Park South. For breakfast, he tore into a bowl of Raisin Bran with skim milk, slurped down a cup of coffee (no cream, no sugar) and attacked a stack of newspapers. Moving from story to story, he scribbled notes directly onto the newsprint, circling important facts and figures and jotting down the occasional exclamation points.  read more »

The Houston Chronicle reports that, in an interview, Phil Griffin, who oversees MSNBC's primetime lineup, "reject[ed] the notion that MSNBC has used [Keith Olbermann's] show and others as part of a deliberately more contrarian tone toward the Bush administration as an alternative to Fox News Channel."

Mr. Griffin told the paper: "Keith was doing this show before it was popular to beat up on this president or to beat up on this war ... Because of his point of view and the 'Special Comments,' people think this is our strategy. This isn't a strategy. This is Keith."

But two months ago, The Times reported:  read more »

Keith Olbermann has raised his profile and his numbers at MSNBC in part by taking on other cable hosts. And last night, notes TV Newser, he opened another campaign, naming CNN's Lou Dobbs as the"Worst Person in the World" (there's a new one every night, so don't take it literally).

Mr. Dobbs provoked Mr. Olbermann's ire with a tirade of his own, attacking LA Times columnist Tim Rutten on his Monday show, after Mr. Rutten wrote a column that argued that CNN devoted too much of its recent Republican debate to immigration, as a way to help Mr. Dobbs' show, which focuses on the issue.

   read more »

Come Back to San Gennaro: The Mob is Deeply Missed
City officials have since strived to cleanse San Gennaro of certain less than desirable elements: No more gambling. No more booze-slinging street vendors. And, if you believe the current organizers, no more Mafia involvement. Mob mentality, though, still has its place. Go to story by Chris Shott.  read more »