New Rule for HBO’s Bill Maher: Make your “New Rules” biting and trashy enough to elicit more than a single hiccup in Washington. Last week Maher issued a new rule for TWT columnist and Drudge’s Joe Curl.

Few talked about it. Curl hadn’t heard of it and had no comment. He earned the rule for denouncing President Obama in a recent TWT column for not acknowledging the death of one of the Beastie Boys.

Maher flashed a picture of Curl and read the new rule: “A columnist for the right wing Washington Times suggested Obama is racist for not noticing the death of one of the Beastie Boys because he was white must be promoted to Fox News.” He added, “That is such a spectacular piece of hackery, I can’t believe Sean Hannity didn’t think of it first. It should be a reverse Pulitzer.”

Create a social media strategy and learn from the biggest names in social media in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Jen Brown (TODAY.com), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Who says being a NYT staffer who got laid off in the 2009 cuts won’t get you someplace?

Adam Chadwick wrote late last night with an unusual pitch: “I just wanted to reach out to you and let you know about “Fit to Print” – a feature-length documentary on the U.S. newspaper industry crisis and the changing dynamics of investigative reporting.This is an independent film that I have been working on for the past three years. It examines newspapers all across the U.S. and the threat to local watchdog reporting as staffs and resources are cut. This film is being made on a shoestring budget by myself and other former newspaper staffers, hoping to give voice to the thousands of newsroom employees laid-off over the past several years, while also examining the light at the end of the tunnel for the industry.”

Key words: “shoestring budget.” Chadwick needs cash. He has 22 days to reach a $10,000 goal. To entice potential investors he has offered a promo clip that includes NYT’s David Barstow, WaPo’s Bob Kaiser, and Laura Frank from the now defunct Rocky Mountain News and “other great newspaper folks from across the country.” Chadwick says they did a lot of filming at the Washington Post.

While most publicists for such a film would throw out a lot of formalities and hound reporters, not Chadwick. He writes humbly, “Full disclosure: I SUCK at anything promotional related for a film. But we’re trying to raise completion funds right now and I was hoping you could help us spread word on the film.”

Watch the promo. It’s well worth a look.

To reach Adam, write him at adamgchadwick@gmail.com.

Funny. When Politico goes outside the confines of its home, the Playbookers are called “guests.” But when they go inside? He’s a celebrity.

Politico‘s Mike Allen has taken a whopping (at least for him) three days of vacation this week from the Playbook prison.  We remind you that he hasn’t taken a day off since August 2009. On day 1 their “guest” was ABC’s Jonathan Karl. On day 2 their “guest” was TIME‘s Michael Crowley. By today, day 3, they brought in the big gun “CELEBRITY PLAYBOOKER” Editor-in-Chief John Harris to tackle the job.

Mike, we hope you’re enjoying your time off and not doing any Playbook consulting, although we think you’re doing a little. We’re glad your bosses finally mustered the confidence to let someone within your workplace sub for you.

Quotes of the Day

Lest anyone forget about former CNNer Eric Kuhn, who fled Washington for Hollywood’s United Talent Agency last year, he’s having his 25th birthday party in Manhattan in early June. We’ve blocked out some of the details so intruders don’t ruin his party. Happy Birthday Kuhn!

Writer’s life threatened

“Both @MichaelEDyson & I have received threats on our person since last Friday. Americans we can do better than this. Truly. #EPluribusUnum” — NBC theGrio columnist Sophia Nelson, who isn’t permitted to talk to the media about this for the time being.

Stress as a weight-loss plan

“#2012WorkoutPlan – Romney just told reporters ‘high stress’ keeps him in shape on the road.” — FNC Correspondent Peter Doocy.

Funniest Hate Mail

“Dave Weigel keep drinking that kool-aid, you ignorant baboon.” — said by @iamstainaverse (who is now — ouch! — suspended).

Breitbart editor threatens to cut off birthers

“Honest to G-D, Birthers. I will BLOCK you if you don’t cease with the stupid. Say what u want but not with a @ in front of my name.” — Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte.

Question to Ponder: “Is there anything to explain today’s traffic jackassery in DC?” — Reuters‘ Sam Youngman.

Be VERY afraid

“Tomorrow, I will introduce the Weigel Plan to destroy my enemies. If you guys don’t like it, I’ll denounce the plan and deny it exists.” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

Journo is down on politics

“There are days when I look around at the political landscape and detest the fact that I’m standing knee-deep in a cesspool.” — NYT‘s Charles Blow.

What’s Driving the Day: “Just go ahead and click on that GOP butt plugs story now and get it over with.” — Reason Magazine’s Peter Suderman, who links to this story.

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

 

 

Here’s something that should give people pause. Politico has swooped in and hired CQ Roll Call’s Senior V.P. of Advertising Mark Walters. Before CQ Roll Call Walters was Assoc. Publisher of online advertising for Newsweek. As of Thursday we hear Walters was telling people he was weighing more than one option before he opted to jump ship for Politico.

CQ Roll Call Spokeswoman Rebecca Gale told FishbowlDC: “Mark Walters will be missed. He took the advertising team by storm: bringing in quality sales people, expanding CQ Roll Call’s reach and exceeding expectations. No matter where Mark goes, he will use his talents well. In the meantime, the 8th floor of CQ Roll Call will be missing some of his New Jersey swagger.”

Both Politico and CQ Roll Call have issued their respective memos.

See them after the jump…

Read more

Landing a byline at a regional pub when you’re an out-of-towner takes some effort, but as long as you keep in mind the audience you’re writing for, editors are usually open-minded.

Take The Boston Globe Magazine, for example. Editor-in-chief Susanne Althoff asks freelancers to remember that the Globe magazine is, at root, a local magazine. “That doesn’t mean we’re not interested in national trend stories,” she said. “But it’s got to be a trend that’s of interest to readers in the Boston area, or in the greater Boston/New England area.”

Find out where to send your story ideas in How To Pitch: The Boston Globe Magazine.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

The next time FNC’s Chris Wallace and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews are contestants on Power Player “Jeopardy,” hopefully producers will pit them against each other. Then we might be able to determine just which Chris is more appealing. In the meantime, we’ll improvise.

In the game show that aired Monday, Matthews played against CNN’s Lizzie O’Leary and former Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Wallace’s round was broadcast Wednesday. He faced “Dr. Oz” host Mehmet Oz and “BBC World News America” host Katty Kay.

Based on coverage of both nights, Matthews bombed and Wallace crushed the competition. Following Matthews’ poor showing, NewsBusters recalled Matthews hypothesizing in 2008 how well former V.P. hopeful Sarah Palin would perform in the game (in short, he was calling her dumb). The NewsBusters story went viral. Flash to Wallace coverage: almost every story highlighted how well he did.

Jezebel Editor-in-Chief Jessica Coen called Matthews “entirely too slow” for the game show. His MSNBC colleague Willie Geist relentlessly mocked him for not seeming to grasp the answer-in-the-form-of-a-question rule of the game. “Did you see his face?!” Geist said the next morning.

For Wallace, the comments were nicer. “Congratulations to my friend Chris Wallace … for winning DC Jeopardy! tonight,” his colleague Juan Williams tweeted. “Go get ‘em, Chris!” FNC reporter Shannon Bream tweeted in support.

But Jeopardy is just a game, after all. We still need to settle the score between the two men: Who really is the better man?

Here we have Chris Matthews

Age: 66

Hair: Blonde. Gets unruly on long election nights. The mane looks crazier as the night wears on.

Education: College of the Holy Cross

Spouse: Kathleen Matthews, chief communications and public affairs officer for Marriott International

TV behavior: He’s the interrupter. He does it to the point where even his guests roll their eyes and look annoyed as they wait for him to finish diatribes. That said, reporters who go on his program also say they like him and insist that  he’s quite amiable off air.

Best on-air moment: An incredibly awkward interview during the 2004 Republican National Convention in which former Democratic Sen. Zell Miller (who was being questioned via satellite) told Matthews to “get out of my face” and said he wished he could “challenge” him to a “duel.”

Controversy: Matthews has been accused several times of being openly sexist, particularly in regards to Hillary Clinton, who he said didn’t become a U.S. Senator on merit, but because her husband “messed around.” And then there’s the time he “forgot” President Barack Obama “was black for an hour” during the 2010 State of the Union address.

Famous relative: His son Michael‘s father-in-law James Ormonde Staveley-O’Carroll was implicated in a $8.1 million international drug bust. Over 4,000 pounds of pot were found in transit on a boat from Jamaica to the U.S in early 2011. The boat belonged to Staveley-O’Carroll. Also, Matthews’ son Thomas has been cast to play in Aaron Sorkin‘s upcoming HBO drama “The Newsroom.”

Workload: Hour-long nightly news talk show “Hardball,” half-hour Sunday morning news panel show “The Chris Matthews Show”

Accomplishments: Failed run for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania as a Democrat; he received 25 percent of the primary vote.

 

And here is Chris Wallace

Age: 64

Hair: Dark and kempt and rarely moves. Fox News must have better hairspray.

Education: Harvard College

Spouse: Lorraine Wallace, author of the cookbook Mr. Sunday’s Saturday Night Chicken and Mr. Sunday’s Soups.

TV Behavior: Folksy. Wallace, unlike Matthews, is annoying in an entirely different way. He’s the school marm, the enforcer of the rules and making sure guests don’t interrupt one another. They might as well hand him a ruler for the show. At least then all his enforcing might be entertaining.

Best on-air moment: A contentious 2006 interview with Bill Clinton in which the former president accused Wallace of asking questions that he wouldn’t “ask the other side [Republicans].”

Controversy: Wallace faced some sexist claims of his own. Last year he asked then presidential candidate Michele Bachmann if she was “a flake” (which he later apologized for). His colleague Greta Van Susteren asked if he would “ask the same question of a man.” And Wallace faced intense criticism for a lack of objectivity when he said if presidential candidate Ron Paul were to win the Iowa Caucuses in January, it would discredit them.

Famous relative: Son of the late CBS reporter Mike Wallace.

Workload: Hour-long Sunday news talk show “Fox News Sunday”

Accomplishments: A Peabody and three Emmy awards

When POTUS makes a lunch run, Washington pays attention. We got word yesterday that he grabbed grub at a local chain, Taylor Gourmet, for meetings at the White House. We first learned of this “news” from Politico‘s Donovan Slack, who was giving us pool reports throughout the day. We perked up when her dispatch came through at 12:05 p.m. ET with the subject line: “yes, they’re having hoagies.” This immediately began the conversation around Fishbowl Headquarters over whether they’re called “hoagies”, “grinders”, or “subs.” (The issue still isn’t resolved.)

POTUS picked up an “an assortment of sandwiches”, but we were not given the crucial details of what he ordered.  Some 20 minutes later, Slack picked up where she left off by sending her next report with a subject line that made us choke with laughter: “Sandwich Facts.” It’s your one stop shop for all things between two slices of bread. As it turns out, POTUS ordered a sandwich with “roast turkey, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and sharp provolone.”

You’d think that if the leader of the free world made a lunch run, he’d come back with something a LITTLE more impressive than a turkey sub. POTUS paid for the pack of sandwiches at a cost of $62.79.

In this episode of “Cubes,” we tour the worldwide headquarters of IPG Mediabrands, the media holding company responsible for $34 billion in global revenue from advertising agencies such as Universal McCann. IPG’s work includes the Geico Gecko and Volkswagen’s pint-sized Darth Vader.

The IPG headquarters is home to a cutting edge media lab full of “Minority Report”-esque marketing technology, and the office includes a high-tech workspace dubbed “the desk of the future” and a skyway stretching 10 stories above the street that was once used by the Gimbels department story, the building’s previous tenant.

For more mediabistroTV videos, check out our YouTube channel, and be sure to follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

HuffPost Food, not to be confused with HuffPost‘s Italian, French, UK, Canada, divorce, black, Latino, high school, travel, college or gay sections, has a video clip featuring Washington’s most spirited politically opposing couple, James Carville and Mary Matalin.

But as you can see, they can agree on one thing: the Maker’s Mark cocktail.

Watch here.