Anthony Weiner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 9th district
In office January 3, 1999 – June 21, 2011 (resigned) [1][2]
Preceded by	Charles Schumer
Succeeded by	Bob Turner
Member of the New York City Council for the 48th District
In office 1992–1998
Preceded by	New District
Succeeded by	Michael C. Nelson
Personal details
Born	Anthony David Weiner (1964-09-04) September 4, 1964 (age 47) Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Huma Abedin (m. 2010–present)[3]
Residence	Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, New York[4]
Alma mater	SUNY, Plattsburgh (1985)
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Judaism[5]
Ethnicity	Ashkenazi Jewish[5]

Anthony David Weiner (pronounced /ˈwiːnər/; born September 4, 1964) is a former U.S. Representative who served New York's 9th congressional district from January 1999 until June 2011. A Democrat, Weiner held the seat previously occupied by Democrat Charles Schumer and won seven terms, never receiving less than 59 percent of the vote.^[6] He was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City in the 2005 election, and had begun to amass a campaign fund to run again for mayor in 2013.

Previously, Weiner was a New York City councilman from 1992 to 1998, and a congressional aide to then-U.S. Representative Schumer from 1985 to 1991. A New York City native, he attended the public schools and graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1985 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.

Weiner resigned from Congress due to a sexting scandal,^[7] effective June 21, 2011. A special election was held on September 13, 2011, to fill the remainder of his term.^[8]

Early life, education, and family[link]

Weiner was born in Brooklyn, New York, one of three sons of Mort Weiner, a lawyer, and his wife Fran, a public high school mathematics teacher.^[9][10] The family lived for a time in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Weiner described his ethnic and religious background in 2011: "We weren't a very religious household," he said, "but we had a very strong sense of our Judaism."^[5] His older brother, Seth, was killed at age 39 in a hit-and-run vehicle-pedestrian accident in May 2000.^[11][12] His younger brother, Jason, is a chef and co-owner of several New York restaurants.^[13]

Weiner took the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT), qualified for Brooklyn Technical High School, and graduated in 1981.^[14] He attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh,^[15] where he played on the hockey team and initially aspired to become a television weatherman. He spent his junior year as an exchange student at The College of William and Mary, where he befriended future comic/political commentator, Jon Stewart. His interests turned towards politics; he became active in student government and was named most effective student senator.^[12]

Upon receiving his bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1985, Weiner joined the staff of then-Congressman and current Senator Chuck Schumer. He worked in Schumer's Washington, D.C. office for three years, then transferred to Schumer's district office in Brooklyn in 1988 when Schumer encouraged him to become involved in local politics.^[16]

New York City Councilman: 1992–98[link]

After six years of working for Schumer, Weiner's first chance at political office came in 1991 when the New York City Council was expanded from 35 to 51 seats.^[17] Considered a long-shot, Weiner faced strong primary competition from two other candidates who had better local name recognition and more funds.^[17][10] Right before the September 1991 primary, Weiner blanketed the largely white 48th council district with anonymous race-baiting leaflets playing on the voters' fears and racial hostility in the immediate aftermath of the Crown Heights race riots and tying his white opponents to black politicians who were deeply unpopular in the district.^[17] Weiner won the primary in a surprising upset, besting his opponents by 125 and 195 votes, and guaranteeing his victory in the general election in the majority Democratic district.^[17] Weiner then became, at age 27, the youngest councilman in City history.^[17][10]

Over the next seven years on the City Council, Weiner initiated programs to tackle quality of life concerns. He started a program to put at-risk and troubled teens to work cleaning up graffiti. He spearheaded development plans for historic Sheepshead Bay that led to a revival of the area; and, when supermarkets started leaving the neighborhood, Weiner worked to reverse the trend.^[18]

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on public housing, he fought to increase federal funding, to ban dangerous dogs, and to add more police officers to the beat. His investigation into the cause of sudden, fatal stairwell fires made headlines; he exposed dangerous practices that eventually led the city to replace the paint in developments citywide.^[10]

U.S. Congressman: 1999–2011[link]

In the 1998 primary election, Weiner won the Democratic nomination to succeed his mentor and long-term boss, U.S. Representative Chuck Schumer who had given up his seat in the House to run for the U.S. Senate. At that time, victory in the primary was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic 9th District which included parts of southern Brooklyn and south and central Queens.^[19] Upon winning the general election, Weiner became only the fifth person to represent the District since its creation in 1920.^[20][21]

Domestic issues[link]

Anthony Weiner showing his support at a NYC gay parade (2009)

He received a 100% rating from the NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2003 and a 0% rating from National Right to Life Committee 2006, indicating a strong pro-choice voting record.^[22] He was critical of the 2009 Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the health reform bill, calling it "unnecessary and divisive" and saying it would prevent health insurers from offering abortion coverage regardless of whether an individual uses federal funds to purchase an insurance plan.^[23]

In April 2008, Weiner created the bi-partisan Congressional Middle Class Caucus.^[24] Weiner received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.^[25]

In June 2008, Weiner sponsored a bill that would increase the number of O-visas available to foreign fashion models, arguing that it would help boost the fashion industry in New York City.^[26] Weiner has criticized UN diplomats for failing to pay parking tickets in New York City, claiming foreign nations owed $18,000,000 to the city.^[27]

During the health care reform debates of 2009, Weiner advocated for a bill called the United States National Health Care Act, which would have expanded Medicare to all Americans, regardless of age.^[28][29] He remarked that while 4 percent of Medicare funds go to overhead,^[30] private insurers put 30 percent of their customer's money into profits and overhead instead of into health care.^[31] In late July 2009, Weiner secured a full House floor vote for single payer health care in exchange for not amending America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (AAHCA) in Committee mark-up with a single-payer plan.^[32] When a public health insurance option was being considered as part of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, he said it would help towards reducing costs, and set up a website to push for the option.^[31] He attracted wide attention when described the Republican Party as "a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry, teaming up with a small group of Democrats to try to protect that industry",^[33] and proclaimed in front of Congress in February 2010 that "every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry."^[34]

He was the chief sponsor of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT) of 2009,^[35][36] which makes the selling of tobacco in violation of any state tax law a federal felony, and effectively ends Internet tobacco smuggling by stopping shipments of cigarettes through the United States Postal Service. Weiner said, "This new law will give states and localities a major revenue boost by cracking down on the illegal sale of tobacco", and added that "Every day we delay is another day that New York loses significant amounts of tax revenue and kids have easy access to tobacco products sold over the Internet."^[36]

On July 29, 2010, Weiner criticized Republicans for opposing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. This act would provide for funds for sick first responders to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, many of whom reside in Weiner's district. In a speech on the floor of the House, he accused Republicans of hiding behind procedural questions as an excuse to vote against the bill.^[37]

In October 2010, Weiner urged YouTube to take down Anwar al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror."^[38] In November 2010, YouTube removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos featuring al-Awlaki's calls to jihad.^[39]

Weiner voted against the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. He said the Republicans turned out to be "better poker players" than Obama.^{[40][clarification needed]}

Foreign policy[link]

Weiner voted for the authorization to use force against Iraq in 2002.^[41]

In May 2006, Weiner attempted to bar entry by the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations. ^[42] Weiner further stated that the delegation "should start packing their little Palestinian terrorist bags", and went on to claim that Human Rights Watch, The New York Times, and, in particular, Amnesty International are biased against Israel.^[42]

On July 29, 2007, Weiner and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) objected to a $20 billion arms deal that the Bush Administration had negotiated with Saudi Arabia because they do not want to provide "sophisticated weapons to a country that they believe has not done enough to stop terrorism," also noting that 15 of the 19 hijackers of September 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia. Weiner made the announcement outside of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Washington, stating that "We need to send a crystal clear message to the Saudi Arabian government that their tacit approval of terrorism can't go unpunished." Weiner and Nadler intended to use a provision of the Arms Export Control Act to review the deal and pass a Joint Resolution of Disapproval.^[43] Weiner and several other members of Congress later criticized the Obama administration proposal to sell over $60 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. He said: "Saudi Arabia is not deserving of our aid, and by arming them with advanced American weaponry we are sending the wrong message", and described Saudi Arabia as having a "history of financing terrorism" and teaching "hatred of Christians and Jews" to its schoolchildren.^[44]

Criticisms and controversies[link]

In July 2008, The New York Times characterized Weiner as one of the most intense and demanding of bosses, describing him as often working long hours with his staff, requiring them to be in constant contact by Blackberry, frequently yelling at them, and occasionally physically abusing office furniture in anger.^[45] As a result, according to the Times, he had one of the highest staff turnover rates of any member of Congress, including, at one point, three chiefs of staff in 18 months.^[45] Weiner admitted he pushed his aides hard but said his speaking at a high decibel level was part of his background and style, not necessarily shouting.^[45] Though some former employees were critical of Weiner's supervisory practices, others praised him for his intense involvement in constituent concerns and readiness to fight for New York City.^[45]

A 2010 license plate check by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call showed that Weiner's vehicles were among several owned by members of Congress which had unpaid tickets. Weiner's past due fines which spanned three years and totaled more than $2,000 were among the highest uncovered by Roll Call and they were paid in full shortly after publication of the article.^[46][47] On June 13, 2011, the New York Daily News reported that one of Weiner's vehicles, though it had been issued valid plates, was displaying expired plates that had been issued to another one of his vehicles.^[48] Weiner has criticized UN diplomats for failing to pay parking tickets in New York City, claiming foreign nations owed $18,000,000 to the city.^[27]

Resignation from Congress[link]

On May 27, 2011, Weiner sent a link to a sexually suggestive photograph of himself via his public Twitter account^[49][7] to an adult woman who was following him on Twitter.^[50] After several days of denying he had posted the image,^{[51][52][53][54]} Weiner held a press conference at which he admitted he had, "exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women over the last three years".^[55] He apologized for his earlier denials.^[55][56][57] After an explicit photo was leaked through the The Opie & Anthony Show,^[58] Weiner announced on June 16, 2011, that he would resign from Congress,^[59][60][61] and he formally resigned on June 21.^[1] In the special election held on September 13, 2011, to replace him, Republican businessman Bob Turner^[62] defeated the Democratic candidate, state assemblyman David Weprin, to fill Weiner's seat.^[63]

Mayoral run[link]

Weiner sought the Democratic nomination to run for New York City mayor in 2005, vying against three other candidates. He had a three-part pitch to voters that included criticizing sitting Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his top-down style of management and promising a more democratic approach; against "passivity in City Hall" and for getting more federal money for the city; and a series of ideas on how to get the city to work better.^[9] He presented a book of 50 "Real Solutions" and among his policy proposals were fixes for the health care and educational systems.^[9] One idea already in play was a neighborhood scrubbing-up program he dubbed "Weiners Cleaners".^[9] Weiner started out last in many polls,^[9] but gained ground in the final weeks of the campaign, coming in second. Initial election returns had Fernando Ferrer with 39.95 percent of the vote, just shy of the 40% required to avoid a runoff against Weiner who had 28.82 percent, but Weiner conceded, citing the need for party unity and denying rumors that various high-ranking New York Democrats, such as Senator Chuck Schumer and then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, had urged him to concede. Ultimately, absentee ballots put Ferrer over the 40% mark in the official primary election returns.

Weiner appeared to be a candidate for mayor again in 2009.^[64] However, in May 2009, after the New York City Council voted to extend term limits for Mayor Bloomberg, Weiner announced his decision not to run against the popular incumbent.^[65] By July 2010, Weiner had raised $3.9 million for a potential campaign in the 2013 mayoral election, and was considered a leading contender in early polls.^[66]

Personal life[link]

Weiner became engaged to Huma Abedin, a longtime personal aide of Hillary Clinton, in May 2009; they married in July 2010 in an interfaith ceremony with former president Bill Clinton officiating.^[67] On December 21, 2011, Abedin gave birth to the couple's first child, son Jordan Zain Weiner.^[68]

Weiner began a longterm friendship with comedian Jon Stewart when the two lived in the same summer house in Dewey Beach, Delaware in 1987.^[69][12] He is also a friend of actor Ben Affleck, whom he met while Affleck was researching his role in the political thriller, State of Play, in 2008.^[70][24]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Anthony Weiner

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anthony Weiner

• Anthony Weiner official campaign site
• Anthony Weiner on YouTube
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Appearances on Charlie Rose
• Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Live from New York, It's Anthony Weiner. Daphna Berman, Moment Magazine, May/June 2011
• Video of Weiner's June 6, 2011 Press conference (CBS News), with transcript (New York Post), June 6, 2011

	Government of the United States portal
	Biography portal
	New York City portal

Megyn Marie Kelly (born November 18, 1970), formerly known as Megyn Kendall,^[1] is an American journalist and news anchor employed by the Fox News Channel. Kelly currently hosts America Live from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST live from the network’s New York City headquarters. She occasionally also co-hosts on America's Newsroom along with Bill Hemmer during the Fox Channel Network's Morning Line-Up at 10:00 AM EST. Since 2007, the two have hosted Fox News Channel's New Year's Eve special every year.

Personal life and education[link]

Kelly was nine years of age when her parents moved to Delmar, New York from Syracuse, New York. At Bethlehem Central High School, she played on the basketball and field hockey teams, as well as captaining the cheerleading squad. Kelly's father, who was on the staff of the University at Albany, died when she was 15.^[2] After high school, she pursued an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Syracuse University and later pursued a J.D. from Albany Law School; she served as an associate editor of the Albany Law Review while enrolled at Albany Law School.^[3][4][5] Kelly's first marriage to Daniel Kendall, an anesthesiologist, ended in divorce in 2006.^[6][7] In 2008 she married Douglas Brunt, the President and CEO of Authentium, at Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York.^[8] They have two children: Edward Yates Brunt (September 25, 2009) and Yardley Evans Brunt (April 15, 2011).^[9][10]

Career in law[link]

Following her graduation from Albany Law School in 1995^[11], Kelly practiced law for nine years at Jones Day^[12] She first worked as an associate in the Chicago office of Bickel & Brewer LLP during which the time when she co-wrote an article for the American Bar Association's Litigation journal entitled "The Conflicting Roles of Lawyer as Director."^[13]

Career in journalism[link]

Kelly moved to Washington, D.C. where she was hired by the ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV as a General Assignment Reporter.^[14] While at WJLA-TV she covered significant national and local events including major national events such as the 2004 Presidential Election and the D.C. Sniper cases.^[15] She then applied for a job at Fox Entertainment Group in 2004.^[15] Prior to her anchor role on the Fox News Network she served as a General Assignment Reporter located in Washington D.C where she provided live coverage of the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John Roberts; she reported on the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.^[15]

Kelly contributed legal segments for Special Report with Brit Hume and hosted her own legal segment, "Kelly's Court," during Weekend Live; she frequently appears on The O'Reilly Factor and occasionally fills in for Greta Van Susteren on On the Record. Most of her reporting focused on legal and political matters. At this time she occasionally contributed as an anchor but she was often stationed as a substitute anchor, mostly on the weekends.^[16] On February 1, 2010, Kelly hosted her own show, America Live, replacing Fox News’ previous show The Live Desk co-hosted by Martha MacCallum and Trace Gallagher. In turn, MacCallum took Kelly's position on America’s Newsroom. She has been a regular guest-panelist on Fox News' late-night satire program Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. Kelly's "America Live" program has been up 20% in total viewers (averaging 1,293,000) and up 4% in the 25–54 demographic (averaging 268,000).^[17] On November 23 Megyn Kelly made the following statement about a Police officer who had used pepper spray on protestors at UC Davis: "It's a food product, essentially", this episode was satirized on Funny or Die, and also went on to generate an Internet Meme.^[18][19][20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bio on FoxNews.com
• Megyn Kelly at the Internet Movie Database
• Megyn Kelly on Twitter

Keith Olbermann
Olbermann in 2008
Born	Keith Theodore Olbermann[1] (1959-01-27) January 27, 1959 (age 53) New York City, United States
Education	B.S. Communications Arts
Alma mater	Cornell University
Occupation	sports announcer, broadcast journalist, political commentator
Years active	1980s–present
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)[2]
Television	Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2003–2012) SportsCenter (1992–1997) Football Night in America (2007–2010)
Awards	three Edward R. Murrow Awards[3]

Keith Theodore Olbermann ( /ˈoʊlbərmən/; born January 27, 1959) is an American political commentator and writer. Most recently, he was the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of the Current TV weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, until March 30, 2012, a program he hosted with the same title and a similar format on MSNBC from March 2003 to January 2011.^[4][5]

During his time at MSNBC, Olbermann established a niche in cable news commentary, gaining note for his pointed criticism of mainly right-leaning politicians and public figures^{[6][7][8][9][10]} such as Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly,^[11][12] President George W. Bush and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain.^[13] Though he has been described as a "liberal", he has resisted being labelled politically, stating "I'm not a liberal. I'm an American".^[14]

Olbermann spent the first twenty years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and radio stations in the 1980s, winning the Best Sportscaster award from the California Associated Press three times. He co-hosted ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he was a producer and anchor for Fox Sports Net and a host of Major League Baseball on Fox.

Early life[link]

Olbermann was born January 27, 1959, in New York City to Marie Katherine (née Charbonier),^[15] a preschool teacher, and Theodore Olbermann, a commercial architect,^[9] and is of German descent.^[16] He has one younger sister, Jenna, who was born in 1968.^[17] Olbermann grew up in a Unitarian household^[18] in the town of Hastings-on-Hudson^[19] in Westchester County, and attended Hackley School^[9][10] in nearby Tarrytown.

Olbermann became a devoted fan of baseball at a young age, a love he inherited from his mother who was a lifelong New York Yankees fan.^[15] As a teenager, he often wrote about baseball card-collecting and appeared in many sports card-collecting periodicals of the mid-1970s. He is also referenced in Sports Collectors Bible, a 1979 book by Bert Sugar, which is considered one of the important early books for trading card collectors.^[20]

While at Hackley, Olbermann began his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer for WHTR. After graduating from Hackley in 1975, Olbermann enrolled at Cornell University at the age of 16.^[21] At college, Olbermann served as sports director for WVBR, a student-run commercial radio station in Ithaca.^[21] Olbermann graduated from Cornell in 1979 with a B.S. in communications arts.^[22]

Sports broadcasting[link]

Olbermann began his professional career at UPI and the RKO Radio Network before joining then nascent CNN in 1981. Among the early stories he covered was the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid including the "Miracle on Ice."^[21] In the early-to-mid '80s he was a sportscaster on the old WNEW 1130-AM radio station in New York City. Also in the mid-1980s, he did the voice-over on the USA Cable Network's "Cartoon Express", with cheering kids heard in the background. In 1984, he briefly worked as a sports anchor at WCVB-TV in Boston, before heading to Los Angeles to work at KTLA and KCBS. His work there earned him 11 Golden Mike Awards, and he was named best sportscaster by the California Associated Press three times.^[23]

ESPN[link]

In 1992, Olbermann joined ESPN's SportsCenter, a position he held until 1997 with the exception of a period from 1993–1994 when he was at ESPN2 on SportsNight. He joined ESPN2 as their "marquee" personality to help launch the network.^[24][25] He often co-hosted SportsCenter 11 PM show with Dan Patrick, the two becoming a popular anchor team. In 1995, Olbermann won a Cable ACE award for Best Sportscaster.^[22] Olbermann later co-authored a book with Patrick called The Big Show about their experiences working at SportsCenter; he also said that the short-lived ABC dramedy Sports Night was based on his time on SportsCenter with Patrick.^[26] In his last year with KCBS before moving east to work for ESPN, Olbermann's salary was $475,000 but started "just over $150,000" with ESPN.^[27] He made $350,000 at the end of his tenure at ESPN.^[28]

Early in 1997, Olbermann was suspended for two weeks after he made an unauthorized appearance on The Daily Show on Comedy Central with then-host and former ESPN colleague Craig Kilborn. At one point in the show, he referred to Bristol, Connecticut (ESPN's headquarters), as a "'Godforsaken place."^[28] Later that year, Olbermann abruptly left ESPN under a cloud of controversy, apparently burning his bridges with the network's management;^[29] this began a long and drawn-out feud between Olbermann and ESPN. Between 1997 and 2007, incidents between the two sides included Olbermann's publishing an essay on Salon.com in November 2002, titled "Mea Culpa", in which he stated: "I couldn't handle the pressure of working in daily long-form television, and what was worse, I didn't know I couldn't handle it."^[30] The essay told of an instance when his former bosses remarked he had "too much backbone," a claim that is literally true, as Olbermann has six lumbar vertebrae instead of the normal five.^[30]

In 2004, Olbermann was not included in ESPN's guest lineup for its 25th anniversary SportsCenter "Reunion Week," which saw Craig Kilborn and Charley Steiner return to the SportsCenter set. In 2007, ten years after Olbermann's departure, in an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, he said: "If you burn a bridge, you can possibly build a new bridge, but if there's no river any more, that's a lot of trouble." During the same interview, Olbermann stated that he had recently learned that as a result of ESPN's agreeing to let him return to the airwaves, he was banned from ESPN's main (Bristol, Connecticut) campus.^[31]

[edit] Post-SportsCenter

In 1998, Olbermann joined Fox Sports Net as anchor and executive producer for The Keith Olbermann Evening News, a sportscast similar to SportsCenter, airing weekly on Sunday evenings. While at Fox, he again hosted the 2000 World Series as well as Fox Broadcasting's baseball Game of the Week. In May and July 1999, Olbermann also guest starred ten times on the Hollywood Squares.^[32]

According to Olbermann, he was demoted by Fox when he asked for a slight reduction in duties for health reasons, and then was fired from Fox in 2001 after reporting on rumors that Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns Fox, was planning on selling the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[33] Olbermann characterized the demotion as "blackmail".^[34] When asked about Olbermann, Murdoch said: "I fired him...He's crazy."^[35][36] News Corp. went on to sell the Dodgers to Frank McCourt in 2004. That year, Olbermann remarked, "Fox Sports was an infant trying to stand [in comparison to ESPN], but on the broadcast side there was no comparison—ESPN was the bush leagues."^[21]

After Olbermann left Fox Sports in 2001, he provided twice-daily sports commentary on the ABC Radio Network, reviving the "Speaking of Sports" and "Speaking of Everything" segments begun by Howard Cosell.^[37]

In 2005, Olbermann made a return to ESPN on the radio when he began co-hosting an hour of the syndicated Dan Patrick Show on ESPN radio, a tenure that lasted until Patrick left ESPN on August 17, 2007.^[38] Olbermann and Patrick referred to this segment as "The Big Show," just as their book was known. Patrick often introduced Olbermann with the tagline "saving the democracy," a nod to his work on Countdown.

On April 16, 2007, Olbermann was named co-host of Football Night in America, NBC's NFL pre-game show that precedes their Sunday Night NFL game, a position which reunited him in 2008 with his former SportsCenter co-anchor Dan Patrick. Olbermann left the show prior to the start of the 2010 season.^[39]

News journalism[link]

In 1997, Olbermann left ESPN to host a primetime show on MSNBC, The Big Show with Keith Olbermann (ESPN objected to the use of the title).^[28] The news-driven program, with substantial discussion, relied on Olbermann to carry the 8 to 9 PM hour.^[28] The show typically covered three or four topics in a one-hour broadcast. Olbermann also hosted two Sunday editions of NBC Nightly News and once co-anchored a Saturday edition of the Today show.^[40][41] During that period, Olbermann along with Hannah Storm, also co-hosted NBC Sports' pre-game coverage of the MLB 1997 World Series.

When the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, The Big Show with Keith Olbermann morphed into White House in Crisis. Olbermann became frustrated as his show was consumed by the Lewinsky story. In 1998, he stated that his work at MSNBC would "make me ashamed, make me depressed, make me cry."^[29] Olbermann left MSNBC for Fox Sports Net shortly thereafter.

After leaving Fox Sports in 2001, Olbermann returned once more to news journalism. In 2003, his network won an Edward R. Murrow Award for writing on the "Keith Olbermann Speaking of Everything" show.^[42] In addition, Olbermann wrote a weekly column for Salon.com from July 2002 until early 2003,^[43] worked for CNN as a freelance reporter,^[21] and was a fill-in for newscaster Paul Harvey.^[44][45]

Olbermann revived his association with MSNBC in 2003 briefly as a substitute host on Nachman and as an anchor for the network's coverage of the war in Iraq.

[edit] Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Olbermann's own show, Countdown, debuted on March 31, 2003, in the 8 p.m. ET time slot previously held by programs hosted by Phil Donahue and, briefly, Lester Holt. On October 13, 2004, Olbermann launched Bloggermann, his Countdown blog, hosted on MSNBC.com.^[46] Olbermann used the open format of the blog to expand on facts or ideas alluded to in the broadcast, to offer personal musings and reactions. However, in February 2007, Olbermann launched a new blog, The News Hole.

Countdown's format, per its name, involves Olbermann ranking the five biggest news stories of the day or sometimes "stories my producers force me to cover," as Olbermann puts it. This is done in numerically reverse order, counting down with the first story shown being ranked fifth but apparently the most important. The segments ranked numbers two and one typically are of a lighter fare than segments ranked five through three. The first few stories shown are typically oriented toward government, politics, and world events. His stories usually involve celebrities, sports, and, regularly and somewhere in the middle, the bizarre, in a segment he calls "Oddball." Opinions on each are offered by Olbermann and interviewed guests. Olbermann has been criticized for only having guests that agree with his perspective. Former Los Angeles Times television critic Howard Rosenberg stated that "Countdown is more or less an echo chamber in which Olbermann and like-minded bobbleheads nod at each other."^[47]

In a technique similar to that of former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite in connection to the Iran Hostage Crisis,^[48] Olbermann for many years closed^[49] the program by counting the days since May 1, 2003, the day that President George W. Bush declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished", and then crumpling up his notes, throwing them at the camera and saying "Good night and good luck" in the mode of another former CBS newsman, Edward Murrow. Olbermann discounts this gesture to his hero as "presumptuous" and a "feeble tribute." ^[50]

On February 16, 2007, MSNBC reported that Olbermann had signed a four-year extension on his contract with MSNBC for Countdown which also provided for his hosting of two Countdown specials a year to be aired on NBC as well as for his occasional contribution of essays on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams.^[51]

Olbermann co-anchored, with Chris Matthews, MSNBC's coverage of the death of fellow NBC News employee Tim Russert on June 13, 2008.^[52] He presented a tribute, along with several fellow journalists, in honor of Russert.^[53]

During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Olbermann co-anchored MSNBC's coverage with Chris Matthews until September 7, 2008, when they were replaced by David Gregory after complaints from both outside and inside of NBC that they were making partisan statements.^[13] This apparent conflict of interest had been an issue as early as May 2007, when Giuliani campaign officials complained about his serving in dual roles, as both a host and a commentator.^[54] Despite this, Countdown was broadcast both before and after each of the presidential and vice-presidential debates, and Olbermann and Matthews joined Gregory on MSNBC's Election Day coverage.^[55] Olbermann and Matthews also led MSNBC's coverage of the inauguration of President Barack Obama.^[56][57]

In November 2008, it was announced that Olbermann had signed a four-year contract extension worth an estimated $30 million.^[58]

Feud with Bill O'Reilly[link]

Since beginning Countdown's "Worst Person in the World" segment in July 2005, Olbermann has repeatedly awarded Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel, the dubious honor.^[6] The feud between the anchors originated with Olbermann's extensive coverage of a 2004 sexual harassment suit brought against O'Reilly by former Fox News Channel producer Andrea Mackris during which Olbermann asked Countdown viewers to fund the purchase of lurid audio tapes allegedly held by Mackris.^[59][60] In 2008 O'Reilly decided to avoid mentioning Olbermann's name on the air, and once cut off a caller who mentioned Olbermann.^[61] O'Reilly has also led campaigns against MSNBC's political coverage without ever specifically mentioning Olbermann.^[6][62][63] The rivalry continued when in 2006 at Television Critics' Association in California, Olbermann donned a mask of O'Reilly and made a Nazi salute, leading to a letter of protest from the Anti-Defamation League.^[64][65][66]

In an article on "perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade", the New York Times's Brian Stelter noted that as of early June 2009 the "combat" between the two hosts seems to have abruptly ended due to instructions filtered down to Olbermann and O'Reilly from the chief executives of their respective networks.^[67] On the August 3, 2009 edition of Countdown, Olbermann asserted that he had made statements to Stelter before the article was published denying that he was a party to such a deal, or that there was such a deal between NBC and Fox News, or that any NBC executive had asked him to change Countdown's content. Olbermann maintained that he had stopped joking about O'Reilly because of O'Reilly's attacks of George Tiller, and soon resumed his criticism of O'Reilly.^[68]

Suspension[link]

On October 28, 2010, days before the 2010 U.S. elections, Olbermann donated $2,400 each to three Democratic candidates for Congress: Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway, and Arizona Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords.^[69] Grijalva had appeared on Olbermann's show immediately before Olbermann mailed the donations. In response, on November 5, MSNBC President Phil Griffin suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating a network policy which required employees to obtain approval from management before making political contributions.^[70][71] An online petition calling for his reinstatement received over 250,000 signatures;^[72] two days after the suspension began, Griffin announced that Olbermann would return to the air on November 9.^[72]

Departure[link]

On January 21, 2011, Olbermann announced his departure from MSNBC and the episode would be the final episode of Countdown.^[73][74] MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with Olbermann, with no further explanation. Additional reporting in the days immediately following suggested that the negotiations for the end of Olbermann's tenure at MSNBC had begun soon after the end of his suspension.^[75]

Current TV and FOKNewsChannel.com[link]

On February 8, 2011, it was announced that Olbermann had taken the position of chief news officer for the Al Gore/Joel Hyatt–owned public affairs channel Current TV and would begin hosting a one-hour prime time program on the network.^[76] The new show was scheduled to air at 8 PM Eastern — the same time slot that Countdown was in.^[77] On April 26, 2011 it was announced that Olbermann's new show would debut on June 20 and would be named Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[78] Olbermann was also heavily involved in the development of the rest of the network's news programming.^[79] The deal also included an equity stake in Current TV.^[80]

During the interim between shows, Olbermann launched an "official not-for-profit" blog called FOKNewsChannel.com, "FOK" being an abbreviation for "Friends Of Keith". The blog featured political commentaries by Olbermann—including viral video versions of Countdown's "Special Comment" and "Worst Person" segments, as well as photographs of his outings at professional baseball games.^[81] On May 29, 2011, the FOKNewsChannel.com domain redirected to the Current website promoting the June 20 launch.^[82]

Olbermann was fired on March 30, 2012. In a statement from Current TV, they stated that "Current was [...] founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it." Olbermann released his own statement, apologizing for "the failure of Current TV" and "that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently." His show was replaced by a show hosted by Eliot Spitzer.^[83][84]

Olberman was on This Week as a roundtable participant on Sunday April 22, 2012.

Political positions[link]

Viewpoints[link]

Although it began as a traditional newscast, Countdown with Keith Olbermann eventually adopted an opinion-oriented format. In a Countdown interview with Al Franken on October 25, 2005, Olbermann noted that in 2003, after having Janeane Garofalo and Franken on his show, a vice president of MSNBC had questioned him on inviting "liberals" on consecutive nights, contrasting that occurrence to the apparent ideological latitude he enjoyed at the time of the second Franken interview.^[85] In January 2007 The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz wrote that Olbermann was "position[ing] his program as an increasingly liberal alternative to The O'Reilly Factor."^[86] Much of the program has featured harsh criticism of prominent Republicans and right-leaning figures, including those who worked for or supported the George W. Bush Administration, 2008 Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain and running mate Governor Sarah Palin,^[13][87] and rival news commentator Bill O'Reilly, whom Olbermann has routinely dubbed the "Worst Person In The World".^[7]

During the 2008 Democratic Party primaries, Olbermann frequently chastised presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton for her campaign tactics against her principal opponent, Senator Barack Obama, and made her the subject of two of his "special comments".^[88][89] Olbermann has also posted on the liberal blog Daily Kos.^[90]

In November 2007, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph placed Olbermann at #67 on their Top 100 list of most influential US liberals. It said that he uses his MSNBC show to promote "an increasingly strident liberal agenda." It added that he would be "a force on the Left for some time to come."^[91] Avoiding ideological self-labeling, Olbermann described his reporting in 2006 to Salon.com, "I don’t think in these issues that I’m a liberal; I think that I’m an American. I think I’m acting almost as a historian on these particular things".^[7]

Before the 2010 Massachusetts special election, Olbermann called Republican candidate Scott Brown "an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, Tea Bagging supporter of violence against women, and against politicians with whom he disagrees".^[92] This was criticized by his colleague Joe Scarborough, who called the comments "reckless" and "sad".^[93] Yael T. Abouhalkah of the Kansas City Star said that Olbermann "crossed the line in a major way with his comments".^[94] Jon Stewart criticized him about this attack in his show by noting that it was "the harshest description of anyone I've ever heard uttered on MSNBC", following which Olbermann apologized by noting, "I have been a little over the top lately. Point taken. Sorry."^[95]

He has accused the Tea Party movement of being racist due to what he views as a lack of racial diversity at the events, using photos that show overwhelmingly Caucasian crowds attending the rallies. In response, the Dallas Tea Party invited Olbermann to attend one of their events and also criticized his network for a lack of racial diversity, pointing out that an online banner of MSNBC personalities that appears on the website shows only white personalities. Olbermann declined the invitation, citing his father's prolonged ill health and hospitalization and noted that the network has minority anchors, contributors and guests.^[96]

Criticism of the Bush administration[link]

In Olbermann's "Special Comment" segment on July 3, 2007, he called President George W. Bush's commutation of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence the "last straw" and called for the resignation of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.^[97]

On his February 14, 2008 "Special Comments" segment, Olbermann castigated Bush for threatening to veto an extension of the Protect America Act unless it provided full immunity from lawsuits to telecom companies.^[98] During the same commentary, Olbermann called Bush a fascist.^[98]

In a special comment on May 14, 2008, Olbermann criticized Bush for announcing that he had stopped playing golf in honor of American soldiers who died in the Iraq war. He stated that Bush never should have started the war in the first place, and he accused Bush of dishonesty and war crimes.^[9]

Baseball fan[link]

Olbermann is a dedicated baseball fan and historian of the sport, with membership in the Society for American Baseball Research.^[99] In 1973, when he was only 14 years old, Card Memorabilia Associates published his book The Major League Coaches: 1921–1973. The September issue of Beckett Sports Collectibles Vintage included a T206 card that depicted Olbermann in a 1905-era New York Giants uniform.^[100] He argues that New York Giants baseball player Fred Merkle has been unduly criticized for his infamous baserunning mistake.^[101] He contributed the foreword to More Than Merkle (ISBN 0-8032-1056-6), a book requesting amnesty for "Merkle's Boner". Olbermann was also one of the founders of the first experts' fantasy baseball league, the USA Today Baseball Weekly League of Alternative Baseball Reality, and he gave the league its nickname "LABR".^[102] Olbermann wrote the foreword to the 2009 Baseball Prospectus Annual.^[103]

In March 2009, Olbermann began a baseball-related blog entitled Baseball Nerd. He has also written a series of articles on baseball cards for the Sports Collectors Digest.^[104]

Personal life[link]

In June 2006, Olbermann began dating Katy Tur, now a reporter with WNBC-TV.^[10][105] According to Mediaite, the couple broke up in 2009 after three years of cohabitation.^[106]

Olbermann suffers from a mild case of coeliac disease,^[107] as well as restless legs syndrome.^[9] In August 1980, he also suffered a head injury while "leaping" onto a New York City Subway train.^[108] This head injury permanently upset his equilibrium, resulting in his avoidance of driving.^[9] Along with Bob Costas, he supports the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation as an honorary board member.^[109]

During a period in the mid-1990s, Olbermann appeared in a series of Boston Market advertisements, in which he would instruct a group of underweight models to "Eat something!"^[28]

Olbermann's father, Theodore, died on March 13, 2010 of complications from colon surgery the previous September. His mother had died several months before.^[110] Olbermann had cited the need to spend time with his father for taking a leave of absence shortly before his father's death, occasionally recording segments to air at the beginning of the shows which Lawrence O'Donnell guest hosted in his absence, giving his views on the state of the American health care system and updating viewers on his father's condition.^[111]

Career timeline[link]

• SportsCenter, co-anchor (1992–1997)^[112]
• The Big Show, anchor (1997–1998)^[112]
• White House in Crisis, anchor (1997–1998)^[112]
• Major League Baseball on Fox, studio host (1999–2000)^[112]
• The Keith Olbermann Evening News, anchor (1998–2001)^[112]
• Football Night in America, co-host (2007–2010)
• Countdown with Keith Olbermann, anchor (MSNBC: 2003–2011; Current TV: 2011–2012)^[112]

Bibliography[link]

• The Major League Coaches: 1921–1973 (Card Memorabilia Associates, 1973).
• The Big Show: Inside ESPN's Sportscenter (Atria, 1997) (coauthor: Dan Patrick). ISBN 0-671-00918-4.
• The Worst Person In the World and 202 Strong Contenders (Wiley, September 2006). ISBN 0-470-04495-0.
• Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration's War on American Values (Random House, December 2007). ISBN 978-1-4000-6676-6.
• Pitchforks and Torches: The Worst of the Worst, from Beck, Bill, and Bush to Palin and Other Posturing Republicans (Wiley, October 25, 2010). ISBN 0-470-61447-1.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keith Olbermann

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Keith Olbermann

• Keith Olbermann on Twitter
• Keith Olbermann's blog on The Daily Kos
• Baseball Nerd, Olbermann's Major League Baseball blog
• Biography at TV guide
• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • C-SPAN Q&A interview with Olbermann, March 12, 2006
• Keith Olbermann on Charlie Rose
• Keith Olbermann at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Keith Olbermann in libraries (WorldCat catalog)