The Keith
The girlfriend enjoying her college roomies.
Sigh. Looooonnnnnnggggg sigh.
So I drove my son down to Ohio State this afternoon to start a new quarter in school and maybe I should have had this conversation with him.
First, son, I’m so glad your not following your old man into journalism. At least in computer science engineering, having a great rack and attracting the sexual favors of powerful older men aren’t a prerequisite for the fast track to media stardom.
And second son, try not to have anyone you would ever loosely admire or even (gasp) call a hero. In this society they will ultimately disappoint you.
Which brings us to this and this.
Keith Olbermann is 49.
Katy Tur is 24.
This would be akin to me (age 45) boffing one of my son’s female roommates at OSU.
As Hank Hill might say, that’s just not right.
And what else just isn’t right is Ms. Tur getting the job in the first place. Read the comments following the New York Observer story (second link above). Tur actually giggles “this is exciting” during coverage of the tragic crane accident in New York City.
People, um, died Katy. Gravitas, you know? Look it up.
But its not like this should be any surprise. It’s an unfortunate fact of life in the media that career shortcuts are often found in the journalistic equivalent of Hollywood’s casting couch. Perhaps that’s life, but maybe we should be upfront about in J-school and communications schools. And it’s not just a female issue - Tur may have been leapfrogged ahead of far more qualified males for the job as well.
I know I shouldn’t feel this way but Olbermann was practically a hero of mine and now, while I’ll probably still watch his show, it will be with a far different feeling.
I know I’ll probably annoy my regular commentator “K” with this observation but what does a 49 year old have in common in any real sense with a 24 year old? What do they talk about after ‘the act?’ Yeah, I’m just an ordinary guy and perhaps I just don’t understand what’s it like in the ‘big leagues.’ I’m too into old fashioned morality, I suppose. Real men of middle age don’t shag women 25 years their junior, period. Again, I look at the students in my son’s college dorm - same age diff. It’s just not proper.
But even if you put that aside, it’s a debasement of journalism for Olbermann to have pulled strings to get his girlfriend a job she really didn’t deserve.
Yeah the world’s unfair, I know that very well. But people I formerly admired shouldn’t go out of their way to debase their craft and make it more unfair than it is.
Keith Olbermann, tonight you are my WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!
6 responses so far ↓
Jill // March 23, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Wow - I don’t watch Olbermann but boy, I can imagine what a bummer this would be. I’d be sighing too. I think what’s upsetting to me is to imagine that some people will be saying, hey hey hey! good for him.
Like you said, Sigh.
kegbot1 // March 24, 2008 at 7:23 am
Actually that’s exactly what a number of posters were saying in the comments on HuffPo.
K // March 24, 2008 at 6:24 pm
“…what does a 49 year old have in common in any real sense with a 24 year old?”
Annoy me? Why would that annoy me? Or do you just like it when I post here?
I’ve always thought your opinions were well reasoned and honest. Even when you’re wrong (Read: Disagree with me*poke, poke*).
What does a 49-year-old have in common with a 24-year-old? Is this like, “Why is a Raven like a writing desk?” The answer to the first is much easier: They each have something the other wants and are willing to trade. Pretty simple, really. (The answer to the second is, possibly: Poe wrote on both.)
Isn’t that what most relationships are about, really? Sure, no one wants to put such a fine point on it, but it is still true. Emotions aside, the average woman is looking for security, stability, respectability, and someone who makes her feel good about herself. The guy is looking for a partner, a friend, and, well, that part that women say is the only thing we think about. They both might be thinking about children, too.
I doubt Miss. Tur is just a simple prostitute for a job, really. Who can say what their relationship is about? It isn’t as though Olbermann is some nasty troll who can’t get any without paying for it. Though, frankly, no guy gets It without paying for it in one form or another. If you think you have you just aren’t aware of what you’re paying with. Payment is not always in cash or obvious.
Think about it for a while. I have.
I’m sure Olbermann is quite charming and he may, in fact, have feelings for the girl. I expect it will not last a long time because, as you say, what do a 49-year-old and a 24-year-old have in common? That is, however, just my opinion. Everyone knows opinions are like belly buttons: Some are exciting and some are revolting, but they’re all pretty much useless.
None of us has any right to judge anyone else’s intimate relationships unless we have some real knowledge of the relationship. Real knowledge does not include what you read in the papers or see on the Thorazine dispenser.
Say whatever you like about them, feel as outraged as it pleases you to, but what it boils down to is perhaps no more than jealousy.
Oh, and: Good for him (and her)!
kegbot1 // March 24, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Oh come on K, the jealousy charge is a convenient cheap shot and you know it. I wouldn’t even consider such a relationship and, in any case, she wouldn’t be my type even if you put 20 more years on her. You also ignore the thing that sticks in my craw the most - that its highly likely she got a job she wasn’t qualified for because of her connection to Olbermann’s boudoir.
Oh and, by the way, I judge whatever the hell I feel like judging.
K // March 24, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Well, no, you probably wouldn’t consider such a relationship. But you’re not Olbermann, either. He is, to get where he is, an extremely aggressive man with a drive to make a lot of money. I would bet he doesn’t spend a lot of his time considering the long term consequences to other people of what he does. He’s making a lot of money and having a great time. That’s what matters to him.
You, I suspect, (and I) seek stimulation a little farther to the north on the anatomy more often than the national average.
I really don’t understand the terror and outrage people express over these types of relationships. She is an adult, yes? He did not use force to coerce her, did he? I doubt either of them will suffer any sort of psychological damage from the relationship. At least no more than any of us do when the (in this case) inevitable breakup occurs.
The only other reason I can see for people to be so angry about these kinds of relationships is that they are, whether they realize it or not, jealous. Women envy her because of her ability to attract a powerful male, men envy him because he is able to attract a female of prime breeding age and characteristics.
Never discount those ancient instincts. They are stunningly powerful, subtle, and we are not so far from the savanna as we like to think we are.
As for how she got her job: “…the daughter of legendary Los Angeles helicopter reporter Bob Tur…” might have had a good bit to do with it, too. If her father was truly ‘legendary’ he probably had enough influence by himself, don’t you think? I don’t know. I really don’t follow that sort of thing at all, honestly.
That doesn’t mean she should have the job though. If she’s such a twit that she let herself be caught expressing a sentiment inappropriate for public display (It may be that she was referring to the fact that she was covering the event, not the event itself. She’s a vulture, not a ghoul.) she seems likely not to have the job for long.
I didn’t say you couldn’t judge whatever you wanted to. It’s your web page, after all. I’m just a noisy visitor. I just said you didn’t have a moral right to judge them. Not unless you actually know them. Again, my opinion/bellybutton. And probably neither exciting nor revolting and, as such, it will not sell many papers.
kegbot1 // March 25, 2008 at 7:50 am
Well terror and outrage aren’t my governing emotions here. More like a mixture of curiosity and sadness. People need to rise above their animal instincts. I know its naive but its my hope.
When you look at the ad for the NYC job (posted by the comment makers in the Observer) its clear she didn’t have anywhere near the requisite experience and that LA traffic reporters probably don’t have the pull in NYC that Olbermann has.
One of the comments wrote that she’ll probably be an anchor in a year or two. If she plays her cards right, probably so. Any doofus can read the news as long as they can read - and, of course, look attractive to a male audience.
I know this is the way the world works but I don’t have to like it.
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