Author Archive

Looking for an unusual and dirt cheap Father’s Day gift?

Jake McGuire, an accomplished Washington photographer, may have the answer to your Father’s Day shopping woes. He’s giving away a minimum of 500 free copies of his most popular photograph, “Marine One” so Washingtonians can give their fathers what he considers to be a dramatic gift. “The economy is slow and most people can’t spend much money,” says McGuire, “so I thought I’d share the one photo that most dads go ‘wow’ over.”

The details on this contest sound easy. The fine print involves little more than clicking the “like” button on Facebook. If you work in a Congressional office and have to deal with a gift ban, a $10 donation is perfectly acceptable.

The photo, a straight-on view of the Presidential Helicopter flying down the National Mall. The print is a $40 value. He thinks the photo is particularly dynamic because the heat from the turbine engines of the Sikorski helicopter creates the mirage effect on the Capitol Dome. The photo has been “wildly popular” with White House and Capitol Hill staffers, lobbyists, Secret Service agents, DC interns, aviators and those who love great pictures of our Nation’s Capital.

Find out how to get a free copy for the June 17th holiday here.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Jay Lauf, Vice President and Publisher of The Atlantic, announced today that Hayley Romer has been named Associate Publisher of The Atlantic. Working closely with Lauf and overseeing the national sales team, Romer will help lead advertising efforts for the brand across all its platforms.

Her past… Romer spent five years at the Condé Nast Media Group, most recently as Executive Director of Corporate Sales. In that role, she managed an integrated team on accounts ranging from Finance to Luxury to Technology across titles such as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Wired. Before joining Condé Nast in 2007, Romer managed the luxury account list at Forbes Media. She began her career in publishing at American Heritage magazine.

Romer begins on May 30.

WaPo is moving Olga Khazan to the foreign desk to be a producer. She’ll be responsible for daily digital presentation. She joined the publication in October 2011 to work on the Small Business section. As her name suggests, she speaks Russian fluently, which might help in navigating WaPo‘s website since nothing else seems to be working.

Congratulations to Olga!

See the internal memo…

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If you’re a reporter covering the media you may have noticed new pitches flowing in for The Hill from Elizabeth Luke at High10 Media, a New York-based communications agency that also reps The Hollywood Reporter, Norman Lear‘s People for the American Way, NatGeo Network, Time Inc., Adweek, A&E Networks and Simon Cowell. The Hill has notoriously not had a publicist in a good while ever since Tricia Barba left the role in 2011 after about a year. Before Barba, they went years without a publicist. In January 2012 they brought on Megan McCourt as an editorial assistant to handle social media.

Now they’re giving High10 Media a try.

It’s hardly surprising that the publication would secure a New York-based firm considering The Hill‘s hands-on owner, Jimmy Finkelstein, resides in Manhattan. But what is a little confusing is that they’re not actually letting Luke autonomously speak to the media. When I asked her questions about whether she will serve in an actual role of spokeswoman, ironically she never replied, despite saying repeatedly in her emails, “Feel free to contact me with questions.” Editor Hugo Gurdon also did not reply to simple, basic questions we sent yesterday.

So who is actually speaking for The Hill? That would be High10 Media CEO Lisa Dallos, who said Tuesday morning that she would be handling my questions, but had to talk later because she was on an airplane. She explained quickly by email, “We were retained by The Hill to help promote its editorial and business interests — stories, events, special reports, and so forth. We work very closely with the client, in terms of what gets promoted. Elizabeth is part of the HIGH10 team working on the account.” On the subject of Luke, she said, “Elizabeth works with me, I run High10 Media, I oversee all the work with The Hill. I am the one to speak to.”

I told Dallos that Luke not being able to talk seems fishy. She replied, “Funny u think this is fishy. This would be a lot better if I could talk with you when I land.” She added, “It is very straightforward and not complicated. I am the CEO of company and lead work on all our clients Elizabeth as well as other members of the high 10 team work collaboratively to fulfill our clients needs.”

Luke seems qualified to answer questions and Dallos said I could call her or Luke anytime. Before joining High10 Media, Luke spent three years at Nielsen, most recently as a corporate communications analyst. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Communications. While it appears that Luke will not serve as an actual spokeswoman for the publication, Barba’s role also did not involve commenting on the record to reporters.

In a morning phone interview with Dallos, she said she’d be handling all questions related to the editorial and business sides of the publication. “Any of those questions feel free to call me,” she said. “I think the hope to have a coordinated communication effort under the guidance of Hugo and that we would be able to properly disseminate information to media on multiple subjects, whether it’s breaking news, evergreen and on announcements of whatever kind, both on the business side and the editorial side.”

So far, Luke typically sends out one email a day featuring a story they mark as “Breaking News.” Luke’s email intro on most pitches is as follows:

Good morning, I represent The Hill at High10 Media and am sharing this breaking story with you (link and text below) because it aligns with your beat and I thought you and your readers might be interested.  If you decide to cover this story, please link to the article and credit to “The Hill.”  Feel free to contact me with questions.  Thank you!

But maybe don’t take that second to last line too seriously. That’s not exactly true.

ABC News is launching a Fellowship program to attract and develop aspiring journalists from diverse backgrounds for a “rigorous” and “rewarding” year-long opportunity.   Starting this July, future news leaders will rotate through several ABC News departments and broadcasts while mastering editorial, production, and newsgathering skills.  Participants from a variety of racial, ethnic, socio-economic and geographic backgrounds will work closely with an experienced ABC News mentor.

ABC is now accepting applications for a July 2, 2012 start date. Candidates must have a Bachelor’s degree, solid writing skills, shooting and editing experience and a minimum of two years of journalism experience to be considered.  Positions are offered on a rolling basis and participants will be employed by ABC News for a full year.

Apply here.

After WaPo names a new Pop Culture Editor Joe Heim will move into an editing role for WaPo Magazine. They describe him as a “wordsmith” who “loves to edit.” Heim joined the publication in 2000.

The memo on him, which isn’t half bad as memos go, remarks that “He wrote the memorable Bruce Springsteen profile and recently the story about public clocks for A1, a story he no doubt was inspired to do when he checked a public clock to see how late he was for work.”

See the full memo…

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FROM THE ROAD

NBC News campaign embed reporter Garrett Haake is so accustomed to the bizarre media rules surrounding presidential campaign events that they no longer strike him as odd.

On Tuesday night, GOP hopeful Mitt Romney held a fundraiser at the Hyatt in midtown Manhattan. Knowing the rules, one of which is that no cameras are allowed at these types of events, Haake tried to get arrival footage by waiting outside by a rear entrance with a small camera and press credentials. But that was a no-no — Haake was tossed from the premises. No one from the campaign ever saw him or, as far as he knows, asked that he be removed.

This is how he describes it: “Last night (Tuesday) Governor Romney held a fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. There are no cameras allowed in Governor Romney’s finance events, and we hadn’t seen him in public yet this week so I was dispatched to try to get arrival footage of he and Governor Christie when they showed up at the fundraiser. In the past, I know Romney has come and gone through the back entrance to the hotel on 43rd Street – so I went there first. (I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Hyatt but there’s an elevated bit of street there that serves the back entrance of the Hyatt and then curves around Grand Central.) When I started setting up my camera, a hotel security officer told me I had to move off the sidewalk because it was hotel property and this was a private event. I complied, and stepped into the street. Another gentleman, who I think might have been a plainclothes police officer based on his lapel pin, but I’m not sure exactly, told me I actually couldn’t be on the street either, because that particular stretch of pavement was not city or public property, but somehow otherwise considered off-limits due to the proximity to Grand Central. We went back and forth a bit, but since there was no obvious public property for me to stand on and get the shot, I left.”

Haake told FishbowlDC that he didn’t consider what happened jarring. “I can’t emphasize enough that I don’t really think this is a big deal,” he said. “We (campaign embeds, photogs, etc.) try to get as much raw material of the candidate as possible, and sometimes we don’t succeed. You shrug it off and hope for better luck next time. I’m not going to blatantly trespass on private property.”

Doug Frantz, former Managing Editor and investigative reporter for LAT, is going to work as WaPo‘s National Security Editor. He was previously an investigative reporter for NYT and was part of the team that covered public service following the 9/11 attacks. That team won a Pulitzer.

See the internal memo…

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Quotes of the Day

Uh oh.

“If you receive an Edible Arrangement & 4 mylar Happy Birthday balloons in DC today, your bike messenger just got in a fight w my cabdriver.” — The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball.

More ragging on Washington

“There is too much wrong with Washington to say ‘So and so represents everything that’s wrong with Washington.’ But it’s Lanny Davis.” — Former Obama speechwriter and The Atlantic‘s Jon Lovett. Davis is former special counsel to President Clinton. He’s a lawyer and TV commentator.

Bumpy ride followed by brisket

“AF1 was wheels up in Denver at 5:09 p.m. local time (7:09 p.m. DC time). The first 15 minutes or so were unusually bumpy, throwing folks around before settling down in time for the beef brisket on Texas toast.” — NYT‘s Peter Baker in a late-night White House Pool Report.

Headline that should make you squirm: “Woman charged with putting menstrual blood in boss’s coffee.” If you must read the story see here. The lede is wonderfully appropriate: “This is not the best part of waking up.” In a strange twist, the story reports that in certain cultures this is a ritual that promotes sexual connection. Yikes.

TV reporter gets cheeks question

“Working in TV gets you questions. stranger asked if I had cheek implants. said no moved on. now wonder… which cheeks we talking about?” — ABC7′s always dramatic reporter Stephen Tschida.

Alec Baldwin wonders about Breitbart’s death

“I asked what killed Breitbart. And all your RW zombies say I ‘mock his death.’ I’m glad these people are a fringe few. Sad.” — Alec Baldwin. To one detractor he replied, “Will, you fool. No one is mocking anyone’s death. What killed Breitbart is the question.”

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

As we’ve been quietly chanting here in the Fishbowl, if it’s Wednesday, it’s Wendy Wednesday, a chance to highlight the inexplicably wild photographs displayed by Washington publicist Wendy Gordon. This week we have Wendy swinging on an indoor wooden swing in a painted on Wilma Flintstone dress — because what else would she be doing? We’re calling this one Weee!!! Wendy.