A memo to WaPo: Next time you want to give credit to a paper for breaking a story, how about doing it in the first couple of graphs? How about doing it at all?

On Friday morning at 9:58 a.m., Paul Farhi wrote about the flap over Politico yanking a video on its “about” page because Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office got its knickers in a twist about the potential lack of ethics involving a video of his staffer on a page where they’re selling Politico.

The story is well-written and cites Politico Chief Operating Officer Kim Kingsley. But why does it take Farhi eight flippin’ graphs to mention the story and publication that broke it in the first place, which was Roll Call on Thursday at 4:58 p.m.? He writes,

“Roll Call, a Politico competitor, reported Thursday that senate ethics rules prohibit senators and their staff from making endorsements. The publication reports Holmes said he didn’t realize that the video would be used as an ad. He received a written request for a video interview from Politico’s director of marketing, who said the video would be ‘a profile of you first — and how you use Politico second.’”

Farhi told FishbowlDC by email: “I was not aware that Roll Call had broken the story until I got your email (I’m assuming you’re correct, btw). I was first alerted to the story yesterday by a colleague, who didn’t mention where he’d seen or heard about it. I reported it out and filed something short about it late last night. I DID notice that Roll Call had done some fine reporting on this and credited them accordingly.”

Psst…Farhi! Google is your friend.

We also reached out to Roll Call‘s Meredith Shiner, who broke the story, for comment.

UPDATE: WaPo‘s Erik Wemple also writes about the Politico-McConnell debacle — because why shouldn’t two media reporters from the same publication delve into the same story? He cites Shiner by name five graphs into a pretty lengthy post.

The Breitbart Embassy on Capitol Hill will host a memorial gathering for Chip Gerdes, a behind-the-scenes conservative operative, who died last week of a sudden heart attack. He was 42.

As they showcased the upcoming issue of GQ on this morning’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, Co-host Mika Brzezinski wondered about all the boobage in the magazine. We’re talking full-on breast shots that she flashed for the TV screen.

The story with the naked breasts concerned five-day cruises with Kid Rock.

The hosts were appropriately disgusted and outraged and quickly crumpled the magazine so the boobs were hidden. But not before Brzezinski flashed viewers with this bold shot. Those are Joe Scarborough‘s fingers at the top crease of the magazine.

One question. If nudity isn’t allowed on national cable TV, are pictures of naked breasts acceptable?

See the other shots and chyron that helped hide the picture of the guest holding up the nudy feature. Read more

Huma under fire: NYT Vs. Politico –  NYT‘s Raymond Hernandez writes that Huma Abedin, wife of the most ambitious weiner in New York, former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Schlongville), did not disclose how much income she earned in her private consultant role while working as a top advisor for Sec. of State Hillary Clinton. The story rolled in last night around 11:31 p.m. (at least according to a @nytimes tweet as there is no time stamp). In graph three, he cites a Thursday afternoon Politico story published at 4:14 p.m. triple bylined by Maggie Haberman, John Bresnahan and Glenn Thrush. Politico reported the special arrangement that Abedin had with the State Department, but did not report that the information was not disclosed on Weiner’s financial disclosure report. They wrote that the information was not publicly available. Abedin declined to speak to the NYC; Politico‘s story never mentions requesting to speak with her. While Hernandez cites longtime Hillary Clinton press aide Philippe Reines and “an associate of Ms. Abedin,” Politico, meanwhile, cited “a source familiar with the arrangement,” “a friend of hers,” “several sources” and “one source.”

White House Scandalpalooza 

Benghazi Timeline—Rowan Scarborough’s piece in TWT this morning gives an in-depth analysis into the Benghazi scandal. Organized in somewhat of a timeline, the story explains step by step what went wrong from before the attack up until recent weeks when the scandal broke. Read here.

IRS questions unanswered—Politico’s Lauren French and Rachel Bade examine holes in the IRS scandal that have yet to emerge. The piece thoroughly outlines questions the case has left unanswered and why they’re important. Read here.

Scandal ADHD—In a piece in WaPo this morning, Aaron Blake puts the week in scandals involving the IRS, Benghazi, and AP phone records into perspective. Though the scandals have dominated news media this week, not many Americans are paying attention. Read here.

FishbowlDC intern Austin Price contributed to this report.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) changed out of his usual bow-tie this morning for a complete nerd ensemble for Current TV’s “Full Court Press.”

Seriously. A member of Congress shows up for TV in a dorky “Back to the Future” T-shirt and running shorts? “F–king gold,” one observer remarked to us.

Quotes of the Day

RAINING IN THE ROSE GARDEN: “Overheard: ‘Melt the Press.’ @MarkLandler of NYT pops out a Georgetown umbrella.” — NPR White House Correspondent Ari Shapiro with the accompanying photograph. And NBC’s Luke Russert: “The #Marines holding the umbrellas at this presser are unbelievably cool, had no idea there’s military protocol for umbrella holding.”

Umbrella memories

“In my first job as a sports reporter, my editor had me hold the umbrella over him & his camera on the sidelines. Good times.” — HotAir’s Mary Katharine Ham.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 5:48 a.m.

From the Dept. of Bragiculture…

“So much happening-impt stuff must be slipping by for bandwidth lack. Just in my niche, turned in 7 stories in past 4 days & 8th mostly done.” — NYT‘s Charlie Savage.

ABC “Scandal” finale fallout

“So Fitz is porking a black woman to bring diversity to the Republican Party? Wow. #StartedFromATwerkNowWereHere” — Javonni Brustow, Washington editor of The DC Pundit.

“Oh damn Fitz just went rogue! And quotes Dillon Thomas to boot!” — Essence and theGrio.com‘s Sophia Nelson.

“Damn, Fitz just went Bulworth on Mellie! @ScandalABC #Gladiators” — Washington Watch and Tom Joyner Show regular Roland Martin.

“When @tonygoldwyn saw this two page monologue for the first time at the table read, he gasped. Then he dove in.” — Scandal creator and writer Shonda Rhimes.

“Mellie is going to fuck everybody. #Scandal” — @emokidsloveme.

“Liv. #shutitdown and call a locksmith.” — Avid “Scandal” watcher Shawna Thomas of NBC News as Olivia Pope nearly gets killed. And later, after Fitz sees a video in which Olivia, his mistress, has sex with another man, she writes, “OK Fitz. She is not a virgin nor your wife and she didn’t know that guy was charged w/ bedding/protecting her. STOP BEING A CHILD.”

“Can’t even type. This ending kills me! #scandalfinale” — Actress Kerry Washington, who plays Olivia Pope.

“Lemme get this straight, the season finale of Scandal is on during #ScandalWeek? THIS TOWN” — TPM Assistant Editor Igor Bobic.

Brian’s Stelter’s walk on the moon

“I vividly remember my first time watching ‘The Office.’ It was May 2005, on my laptop, on a train from Baltimore to NY.” — NYT‘s Brian Stelter. And were you simultaneously monitoring your Tumblr account, Facebooking, and checking your MySpace?

The power of ass kissing

“The power of @carr2n: He tweets your story and you get 126 clicks in 15 minutes.” — Slate‘s Jack Shafer in reference to NYT‘s David Carr.

Journo annoyed by mouth breather

“This kid who is mouth breathing next to me really needs to get off the train. Can’t deal. #imsoannoying” — Roll Call‘s Emily Cahn.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day

“Intrigued by Cool Ranch tacos tho I’m normally not a Taco Bell fan & hearing cool ranch flavor gets overwhelmed by filling. Anybody tried?” — Washington Examiner‘s Philip Klein.

See more exciting Morning Chatter… Read more

Say hello to Paul Brandus who writes West Wing Reports and a column for The Week. He’s an independent White House Correspondent who writes a blog and has a Twitter account in which he doesn’t use his name. How come he goes nameless? “Here’s a question for you,” begins his standard refrain about it. “Name the CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN & Fox reporters at the White House 10 years ago. How about five years ago? This may come as a disappointment to many folks in this egocentric town, but most people can’t remember the names. And that’s at the most visible beat in Washington. Names fade quickly. But brand names have enduring market value. People have no idea who I am personally. I’d prefer they know my brands, one of which is West Wing Reports. Brands can be licensed, flipped, monetized in more enduring ways.” Even so, let’s get to know the man behind the brand, shall we? Brandus was a foreign correspondent in Moscow for five years. He worked for the U.S. Embassy, eventually NBC and NPR and did some magazine work. While in Moscow, he bought the broadcast rights to the Super Bowl from the NFL. He later worked at MSNBC and Fox — he says the concept of this makes people’s heads explode. “I helped launch MSNBC back in 1996,” Brandus explains. “Worked for Steve Capus, who went on to become President of NBC News. Good man. I was a writer, but apparently too good of a writer because they put me in charge of editing all the other writers. That’s where I learned the 80/20 rule: 20 percent of your people will cause 80 percent of your problems. At Fox News, I was a senior prime time producer in New York, working on news cut ins every half hour. If the you-know-what hit the fan, we had to run into the control room across the hall and break into Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity & Alan Colmes. Great fun.” Brandus worked on Wall Street for several years, cashed out and started another media company, his own. In 2011 he became a columnist for The Week. He moderates conferences for them on energy and cybersecurity. He also works with a Northern Virginia venture capital firm. Brandus won’t be found on the Washington cocktail circuit. Instead, he spends his weekends with his 18-month-old daughter or family horses in Fairfax County.

Now let’s proceed to the really important stuff.

If you were a carbonated beverage which would you be? Cherry Coke Zero

How often do you Google yourself? Once or twice a year.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor (or vice versa)? My old boss, Jim Farley, who hired me twice – first at NBC years ago and later at WTOP – taught me WGAS: “Who gives a shit?” It has universal applications today and I’ve used it to great effect in various times and places. WGAS is also text-friendly.

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Anyone who understands it’s not about them. Anyone who eschews the limelight and simply focuses on finding things out, communicating about it well and not pretending to be an expert or feeling compelled to have an opinion on everything.

Who is your favorite White House reporter and why? The wire service folks are usually the best. Not flashy, just solid, nose-to-the-grindstone types day in and day out. I really admire them.

Do you have a favorite word? “Dada.” Uttered by a certain 17-month old little girl.

What word or phrase do you overuse? “Dumb ass.” Use it a lot.

Who would you rather have dinner with – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s John King or CNN’s Piers Morgan. Tell us why. I think John King is an honest, hard-working, straight shooter guy. You know what I like about him? He made a mistake during the Boston coverage and dealt with it in a transparent, humble and honest way. People err – and it’s how they deal with it – for better or worse – that I remember. I tend to get along well with people like that.

What is the most interesting conversation you’ve had in awhile in the course of your work and who was it with? If I hadn’t hung up on Ronald Reagan in 1990, it might have been the time when, on a dare, I called him at home in 1990. This was a year after he left the White House. The Reagans were living in Bel Air and I never thought he would answer the phone himself. But I heard that famous voice: “Hello?” on the other end, freaked out and hung up. To use my favorite word, I was such a dumb ass. So I guess the answer would be the time I downed vodka shots with Boris Yeltsin at a Fourth of July party at Spaso House, the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Russia. I was lurking by the bar when he came over and we wound up downing a few and chatting. That’s what you do in Russia. Drink. Talk. Drink some more.

Tell us a funny story from the White House Briefing Room. Can be long or short. There used to be a guy named Lester Kinsolving, who used to show up in the briefing every day. Haven’t seen him in many months. He used to ask the most bizarre, completely out of left field questions imaginable on completely obscure, irrelevant matters. Bush’s flacks and now Obama’s used to call on him as a diversion. And, in this digital age, he used to carry a giant cassette recorder around with him like it was 1983 or something. Not picking on Lester, he is a nice guy. Hope he’s OK.

Without naming names, tell us some shitty thing that happened in the course of you covering the White House… Read more

That Washington Examiner columnist and former Editorial Page Editor David Freddoso will soon leave the publication and head out west. He didn’t answer an email request for comment about it and is generally keeping his plans close to the vest.

We asked Editor Stephen Smith for comment.

UPDATE at 2:37 p.m.: Turns out Smith had a lot to say! He wrote to FBDC, “David and his wife Nagore had decided long before the revamping of the Examiner that they wanted to leave Washington and move to Boise, Idaho, where her parents live. They did so because they thought it would be best for their two young children, and because they wanted a more relaxed lifestyle. Not that David will be idle: He and a partner will be writing a political newsletter from Boise, and he’ll be contributing a weekly column to the Examiner. We miss him already. He’s a wonderful colleague and a big talent — and I very much hope he’ll come back to the Examiner full time one day.”

UPDATE and Correction: In an earlier version, we ran with Boise, Montana but Smith actually meant to write Boise, Idaho and we should’ve caught it. Apologies to the state of Idaho.

It’s just after 7 a.m. and no doubt HuffPost‘s Howard Fineman is really glad he woke up at the ass crack of dawn to appear on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” from Washington only to be told that he’s boring the host, Mika Brzezinksi.

“Well Mika, I agree with you and even though the administration might want to cite civil service rules as it relates to some of those people. I mean, last night they fired the one guy they could fire — Steve Miller, who is a political appointee — so they could just summarily fire him. There are rules down there in the thick of the bureaucracy, but if I were the President, I would I would I would [sic] ignore them and try to move quickly, very quickly, to that source. To answer your earlier question about whether we’re going to look back on this as a fool’s errand or something that changes the nature of the historical view and accomplishments of the Obama administration, I think unfortunately for the Obama people we’re now in the situation where the situation is what did they know and when did they know it?”

Mika interrupting Fineman, saying, “But see, I just got bored. I just got bored. I’m just, I’m telling you.”

How does a guest recover from that? In Fineman’s case, he continues being toothpick prop your eyes up boring.

“Okay,” he continued, a little flustered, “but, but if it’s true as it said that both the IRS story and actions and the AP story and actions were down there in the bureaucracy and had absolutely nothing to do with and were not known by or managed by or shaped by the White House staff and the President … if that, in fact, is true,then this is going, in history, is going to seem like a wasted summer and a wasted year.”

Mika proceeded to awkwardly explain her boredom. Translation: It’s not you Howard Fineman, it’s me. Read more

Quotes of the Day

LAPCHILD ALERT: “Mel Watt has a toddler on his lap, name of ‘Nico.’” — Politico‘s Glenn Thrush.

“As I think Mark Twain said, trust leaves on horseback and returns on foot. … A president leads by persuasion, not command.” — Former Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld last night on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live” on the current state of White House scandals and the concept of a Benghazi coverup.

Memo to world: Keep your smoke to yourself

“I AM SO SICK OF INHALING YOUR CANCER SMOKE AT BUS STOPS PEOPLE. Have some class. That is all.” — Reuters Amanda Becker.

Important Q to Ponder: “Is it technically plagiarism if they only took half a sentence? How about if they use your half sentence to buttress an incorrect assertion?” — Megan McArdle, special correspondent for Newsweek/Daily Beast.

Deep thoughts with Michael Scherer

“Ironies: Benghazi/IRS may help pass immigration reform; AP subpoena may help pass shield law.” — TIME‘s Michael Scherer.

KATIE WEIGHS IN (so to speak): “A great shot of @morningmika, Katie Couric and Diane Smith during the taping of an hour special on Mika’s book.”

TV Critics/Observers

“Shep Smith is a conservative cockblock — going from red meat Obama scandal coverage to Jodi Arias.” — The Daily Caller‘s Jeff Poor.

“Chris Matthews is the whitest cracker to ever come out of the Pillsbury Dough Boy’s rear end. Funny to hear him scream racism.” — RedState Editor and Fox News Contributor Erick Erickson.

“I feel Wolf Blitzer‘s pain, having to transition from WH coverage to Jodi Arias sentencing.” — NJ “The Hotline’s” Josh Kraushaar.

“Modern cable dilemma: will CNN stick w/OJ Simpson, or switch to AG Holder when Judiciary hearing starts?” — CNBC and NYT‘s John Harwood.

Deep Thinker 

“Amazing thing abt Angelina Jolie: she managed to keep quiet treatment in @nytimes, & cover Time mag. DC needs her.” — CNN’s Jonathan Wald, who runs Piers Morgan Live.

Putting it all into perspective

“Shitty day? Hey, at least you didn’t get fired by the president of the United States on national television for something you didn’t do.” — Stefan Becket, who handles social media and writes for “The Intelligencer” blog for New York magazine.

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.