Purple Ties All the Rage this Political Season With Bias-Conscious TV News Anchors

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By Felix Gillette

July 31, 2008 | 10:44 a.m.

Purple Reign: Olbermann, circa 2006

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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. Lester Holt, the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News, appeared on camera in a more vibrant shade, approaching magenta. Over on Fox News, pretty much the polar opposite on the political spectrum, Bill O'Reilly was in shiny grape, and Kelly Wright, an anchor of “Fox and Friends Weekend,” showed that purple is bipartisan.

Is a color that represents the middle ground between Republican Red and Democratic Blue a sartorial statement of objectivity?

“Purple is the new neutral,” said Jim Moore, the creative director of GQ, who was making a point with two meanings.