The epic battle royale between NBC/MSNBC and all of the Rupert Murdoch-owned media outlets will just not die. Usually, the members of the Murdoch press stick to making fun of Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews. But Richard Johnson of Page Six (of the Murdoch-owned New York Post) crossed a line yesterday when he seemed to attack Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert. Page Six had this report, basically saying that Luke Russert had some huge NBC contract that he wasn’t fulfilling, and accusing NBC of nepotism:

Some hardworking folks at NBC and MSNBC — who work long hours for little pay — are wondering, “Where in the world is Luke Russert?”

One insider sniped, “He was hired last year to be the youth correspondent — he got a great contract and was supposed to cover youth issues, blog and bring in young viewers, but he’s been MIA for a while. It’s like, ‘Well, that’s what you get for nepotism.’ ”

Russert, 23, was hired at the network on July 31 as a correspondent-at-large, after his beloved father, Washington bureau chief and moderator of “Meet the Press” Tim Russert, died last summer.

Luke was highly visible during the presidential campaign, but disappeared after the inauguration. He was raked over the coals when news of an “Inaugural Party Hosted by Luke Russert” at preppy DC nightclub the Rookery was announced. The party had a $95 cover and a “cheesy” invite with Russert posing as Uncle Sam in the “I Want You” pose.

It also violated NBC’s ethics policies and forced the network to issue a statement noting it was not an NBC event. Russert quickly had his image deleted from the fliers.

The insider sniped, “He hasn’t even updated his blog which he’s paid a lot to do and just got on Twitter. Some youth correspondent!”

Russert’s last blog, “The Courage To Go Online” was posted Dec. 4, 2008 — and he started his Twitter account on Feb. 18, which was the date, incidentally, that Luke was last on air, interviewing Bill Clinton for President’s Day. His last tweet, “Been on the Road,” was on March 31.

Last October, Russert told MediaBistro, he was aware of the nepotism surrounding his hiring and said, “Did my name get my foot in the door? Absolutely, I’ll be the first to admit that. But has my performance and ability got my butt through the door? Yes.” Too bad he seems to have looked a gift horse in the mouth.

A rep for NBC said, “I think he’s been on since then,” but didn’t provide details.

[From Page Six]

An NBC spokesperson defended Luke Russert, and Keith Olbermann attacked Page Six last night on Countdown. Keith pointed out that the “youth correspondent” blogging that Luke was doing (without pay) was for the campaign. Olbermann and the NBC spokesperson identified the multiple times Luke has appeared on MSNBC, just in the past few weeks:

NBC News spokesperson Allison Gollust responds, telling TVNewser, “Luke Russert is, and will continue to be, a valued member of the NBC News correspondent team. Just last week, he appeared all day on MSNBC with hourly updates for a story he was covering. Meanwhile, he is working on long-lead pieces for Dateline and the Today show, was on Nightly News a couple weeks ago, and has recently been added to our talented team covering Capitol Hill.”

NBC’s Gollust says, “He has never been asked to blog or Twitter,” adding, “It’s unfortunate that a gossip column would choose to attack a hard working, talented young man who is getting a great start as a broadcast journalist.”

[From Media Bistro/Newser]

So, Page Six just attacked a 23-year-old guy, son of one of the most revered newsmen of the past two decades, and all based on some shoddy quotes about “nepotism”. I’m sure people will think Luke Russert is fair game, but I find it gross to attack a kid just starting out, especially considering he lost his father almost exactly one year ago. Olbermann correctly surmised that this wasn’t really about Luke Russert, but about the bloodsport between the two media giants. Olbermann also said last night, almost as if he was psychic, that because he and NBC News had taken such pains to correct the record, Page Six would run something nasty about him (Olbermann) before the week was out. It only took Page Six a matter of hours to come up with this one, about Olbermann’s girlfriend:

KEITH Olbermann gets paid by NBC — and now so does his young, blond girlfriend.

Katy Tur, who at 25 is half the age of the MSNBC uber-dork, has landed an on-air reporting job at the Weather Channel.

Conveniently, both cable networks are owned by NBC Universal. Do we sense a little preferential treatment? Olbermann huffed to TV Newser: “Anybody who suggests so is misinformed, and/or sadly unaware that in this time when the industry is collapsing around us, nobody gets a job based on ‘influence,’ only talent.”

[From Page Six]

Seriously, you’re going to attack a man through his girlfriend? And is there really some sort of journalistic setback if Keith Olbermann’s girlfriend works at the Weather Channel? If he did get her a job (at the Weather Channel, for God’s sake), who cares? That being said, I doubt he got her the job. Because it’s the Weather Channel! Do people really think Olbermann is going to call up his “Weather Channel sources” and try to intimidate them into giving his girlfriend a job?

Tim Russert’s 22-year-old son Luke just got the kind of job most new grads wouldn’t dare to hope for: he’ll be working as a correspondent for NBC News during the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions. The job is bittersweet for Luke since his dad passed away unexpectedly a month ago. Given everything he’s gone through, Luke still seems pretty excited about the opportunity.

Like father, like son. Luke Russert – son of Meet the Press’s Tim Russert, who died tragically this summer – has signed on to help cover the Republican and Democratic national conventions later this year. He’ll report on youth issues for his dad’s network, NBC.

“I’m not trying to be my father,” Luke told the Associated Press. “He’s irreplaceable.” Tim – a respected newsman and NBC’s Washington bureau chief – died of a heart attack in June. He was 58.

His 22-year-old son, a Boston College graduate and regular host [with James Carville] of XM Satellite Radio’s 60/20 Sports, said he was “humbled and grateful” for the opportunity. “I’m simply trying to do something that I think there’s a real niche for,” he said. “There’s a calling for … youth [involvement], not just in the election but in politics from now on.”

The Democratic conventional will be held in Denver, starting August 25. The Republican gathering begins Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn.

[From People]

On Monday Russert’s widow Maureen Orth told Matt Lauer that she and Luke were “doing great” because of the outpouring of support and love they’d received from all over.

Orth, a high-profile journalist who was promoting her latest in-depth feature — a cover story on France’s controversial first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, in the September issue of Vanity Fair — said Russert would have been tickled with how media coverage of his passing impacted today’s popular culture.

“You have to know that his People magazine cover knocked off the Summer’s Hottest Bachelors,” Orth said with a laugh. “He broke Britney Spears’ record for most hits on People.com. So this would make Tim so happy and make him laugh so hard.”

[From MSNBC]

The day after Russert died, Bruce Springsteen – a longtime friend – gave a tribute to him on stage and performed “Thunder Road” in his honor. Just three days after his father died, Luke appeared on the Today show and talked about what a great man his father had been. It was around that time that rumblings started that Luke might have a future career in journalism, because he was so composed and well-spoken. His father must be extraordinarily proud.

Here’s Luke speaking at his father’s memorial service in Washington D.C.