NY Observer > Keith Olbermann

Irrational Exuberance Engulfs MSNBC's Mitchell at RNC

Matt Haber — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:47:44 -0400

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell got caught in the middle of the balloon drop last night at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. "I am somewhere on the floor of this convention," Ms. Mitchell said. "I'm about to be bombarded by balloons."

Anchor Keith Olbermann called Ms. Mitchell's location "the political equivalent of a Chuck E. Cheese."

Watch the video here.

Brian Williams to Gulf Coast, Tom Brokaw to St. Paul, Keith Olbermann to New York

Felix Gillette — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:15:10 -0400

Tonight, Brian Williams will interview John McCain from the Gulf coast in the pathway of Hurricane Gustav for Sunday's Nightly News. In the meantime, Tom Brokaw will be heading up the network's coverage of the RNC convention in St. Paul.

Over at MSNBC, Dan Abrams will be anchoring the channel's primetime hurricane coverage on Sunday from a studio in New York. On Monday, Mr. Abrams will handoff to Keith Olbermann. Chris Matthews will be anchoring the convention coverage from St. Paul.

Morning Memo: Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson Respond to Papa Lohan; David Duchovny's in Rehab (But It's Not What You Think)

Irina Aleksander — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:06:39 -0400

Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson have responded to Michael Lohan's public comments about Ms. Ronson's supposed tell-all book via their MySpace celebrity blog. [MySpace via Daily Intel]

A Gossip Girl script for the upcoming season has leaked! Click through at your own risk. [Gawker]

At the DNC, Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) asked staff to introduce her to Jennifer Lopez. Meanwhile, Jessica Alba is over there drinking something called a "Dirty Delegate" martini. [NY Daily News] read more »

Morning Memo: Jessica Alba and Friends Show Up in Denver, But Barack Obama Keeps His Distance

Irina Aleksander — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:03:03 -0400

Barack Obama's campaign managers are focused on keeping celebrities off the stage and out of sight of cameras in order to prevent further "celebrity" attacks from the McCain camp. [NY Daily News]

That's not stopping them from coming to Denver, though. Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba, Eva Longoria, Fat Joe, Wilmer Valderrama and Sofia Vergara will reportedly party tonight at the Voto Latino DNC event in Denver. [P6]

Richard Price, author of Lush Life and Clockers, compared his creative process to the way that a woman "of a certain age" feels when she has not yet had a child and her biological clock is ticking. [P6] read more »

Memo to Olbermann et al: Keynoters and V.P.'s From Same State Not That Uncommon

Steve Kornacki — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:04:59 -0400

Tim Kaine’s stock as a potential running-mate for Barack Obama has dropped markedly in the last day, with the news that Mark Warner, Kaine’s predecessor as Virginia’s governor, will be the keynote speaker at the convention in Denver.

The thinking, widely repeated in the media yesterday and this morning, is that Warner’s selection effectively excludes Kaine from the V.P. hunt since the Obama campaign wouldn’t want two Virginians occupying the featured speaking roles on two consecutive convention nights. As Keith Olbermann put it on his MSNBC show last night:

Warner's rising star might actually dim the VP chances for Virginia's current governor, Tim Kaine on this simple theory.
read more »

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

Felix Gillette — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:44:02 -0400

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 »

Olbermann Overboard? Huffington Post Chronicles Fallout From Keith vs. Katie

Felix Gillette — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:26:04 -0400

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 »

Keith Olbermann and MSNBC Crew Invade Time Warner Center

Felix Gillette — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:58:19 -0400

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 »

Katy Tur On Assignment: "Have You Ever Seen an Easter Bunny on Ice Skates Before?"

Felix Gillette — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:59:15 -0400

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 »

Katy Tur Not Quite at Anchor Level Yet

Felix Gillette — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:36:18 -0400

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 »