Stefanie Gans (a hottie) recently wrote up a post describing her encounter with the Washington Post's Dana Priest:

gansie: Well, they put together this hottest media contest and you and I were both nominated for hottest female off air.

Ms. Priest: Beauty Contest...ME ?!?!?

The only problem is that Priest says she was not at that dinner last night.

Which of course makes it all the more interesting: We need to find this Priest doppelganger!

But we already told you that...

From the Post:

"She is not hot; she's beautiful. Her hair, thick and mahogany, shows no trace of having been put through much but a brush. Her dark eyes are moist, her smile prim and pink. Each facial plane -- her high, wide brow; that long, smooth heart-shaped stretch from cheekbone down to neck -- sings in milky harmony. . . . O, Greta! I need coffee; I want you."

-- Esquire magazine's ode to Greta Wodele, host of C-SPAN's "Washington Journal." The November issue also names cover girl Charlize Theron as this year's "sexiest woman alive."

Last week, the Wall Street Journal made National Journal columnist Stuart Taylor the first journalist admitted into the Law Blog Moustache Society. (via The Gate)

(Send us your t-shirt idea by making one here and emailing it here)

Is it who's hot? Or who's got the bot? Salon takes a look at some of the questionable voting tactics employed against our feeble polling software during the 2007 FishbowlDC Hottest Media Types competition (despite our pleas).

A particular interesting nugget:

[P]erhaps it's going too far to suggest, as one of the contestants did, that the poll functions as a perfect metaphor for Washington life, in that everyone knew that the only way to get ahead was to play outside the rules.

We feel pretty confident in the new PollDaddy.com software that we've started using, which means that the 2008 FishbowlDC Hottest Media Types contest will be the most honest yet (perhaps the first?!?).

So hit the gym. Cuz it'll be your body, not your bot-y that gets you the trophy next year.

>UPDATE: Hottest Male, Off-Air Winner Kriston Capps writes:

Salon decided to write a story about how Catherine and I won our respective categories in the Mediabistro FishbowlDC Hottest Media Types contest—namely, by cheating. But only by passive cheating. It's a critical distinction that you'd totally understand if you lived in the District. In any case, it's a fun article, to which lolcath and I respond here. Now I only need to figure out where this award goes in my CV.

And Capps and Hottest Female, Off-Air Catherine Andrews send their bot-loving friends this thank you video.

>UPDATE: And, finally, we have no idea how we managed to miss this priceless thank you video from Andrews.

Hottest PR Male nominee Ben Goldstein does his best karaoke.

After we revealed some questionable Get Out The Vote tactics in the Bill Press Show shop, newly crowned Hottest Male, On Air -- Bill Press -- wrote in:

July 30, 2007

Dear Friends at Media Bistro:

I am not surprised to learn that I was voted the Hottest On-Air Media Star in D.C. because, of course, I am!

As honored as I feel, however, I'm afraid I must decline this award. I just learned that a far-too-enthusiastic member of our broadcast team had, temporarily, posted on our website – billpressshow.com – instructions on how to cheat in your contest by voting more than once.

Horrors! Voting more than once in an online poll!

Yes, I'm as shocked as you are. As a former Boy Scout, a Catholic, and a liberal, I can't tolerate cheating on beauty contests, not even temporarily.

I also promise you that, unlike George W. Bush, I will not let this crime go unpunished. When I say "whoever had anything to do with this matter will be taken care of," I mean it.

Again, unlike Bush, who always covers up any wrongdoing by members of his staff, I have already appointed a Special Prosecutor in this matter. We will have a public trial/flogging of the guilty party Tuesday morning on The Bill Press Show, AM 1260, D.C.'s Progressive Talk Station, at 8:30 a.m. And I will not commute his sentence!

Meanwhile, like a disgraced Miss America, I must step aside. I hereby surrender my crown to that also-ran, Ari Shapiro - who is nowhere near as hot as I am.

Bill Press

But does Press really need to surrender? Allow us to explain. Turns out that, given a.) the high number of votes (1.25 million plus) and b.) the oh-so-wonderful mediabistro.com polling software, the Hottest Media Types competition began to crash our servers. Therefore, any votes made after Friday night never registered, meaning that, whoever was ahead as of Friday, was the ultimate winner. Press was already #1 in his category as of Friday night, so the GOTV notice, also posted Friday evening, wouldn't have changed things anyway.

When we explained this to Press, he wrote back: "I guess you could always refuse to accept my resignation!"

Which we did.

So, congratulations, Bill: You're still #1.

Bill's associate producer, Dan, wrote this on the Bill Press Show's blog:

Now, I (Associate Producer Dan) humbly ask for forgiveness to allegations of giving instructions on how to cheat the contest. Competition was getting tough, and we know for a fact other campaigns were cheating as well -- it just so happens we got caught! I ask for forgiveness. Bill has given me my lashings.

For the record, Bill took the high road and did not accept the win from FishbowlDC, but they rejected his rejection.

Isn't this what politics is all about? Cheating, then forgiveness? :-)

(Do any other bot-loving winners have similar confessions?!?)

>UPDATE: Politico says, "[O]f all these guys, who won? Bill Press? Bill Press. Nothing against Bill Press, but it's surprising, no matter how you slice it."

Hottest Male, Off Air: Kriston Capps

Hottest Male, On Air: Bill Press, "The Bill Press Show" (even though Entertainment show EXTRA will profile FNC's Greg Kelly tonight as one of the most eligible bachelors in the TV industry...)

Hottest Male, PR: Jonathan Shradar, Department of Energy

Hottest Female, Off Air: Catherine Andrews, Washingtonian

Hottest Female, On Air: Pamela Brown, WJLA

Hottest Female, PR: Jade Floyd, AACTE

An original version of this blog post on Bill Press' website instructs readers to, well, game the system in order to boost Press' poll numbers.

It's since been edited, but still: Our hearts are broken nonetheless.