Awards

(A Sprinkling of Things we Think you Ought to Know…)

Al Jazeera English Grabs Major Award – Al Jazeera English was given the Grand Prize Award at The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism for its documentary film “Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark.” The movie focuses on the crackdown of protests in Bahrain in 2011. The film was written and directed by May Ying Welsh. The footage was obtained mostly through hidden camera and undercover reporting.

Local Worker Crowned “Commuter Idle” – WTOP has been on the hunt for the person with the worst commute in the region and they have announced their winner: Brenda Wells from Sparrow Point, MD. According to WTOP, “Wells travels nearly 100 miles, 5 hours a day from Sparrow’s Point to Washington, D.C., and back. Her day begins at 3 a.m. and her commute includes a 45-minute drive (complete with two tolls), a 50-minute train ride, two metro rides, a short walk, and a metro bus ride.” And you thought YOU had it bad by having to spend 20 extra minutes in rush hour. Wells wins $1,000 in gas money and a limousine ride for one of her future commutes.

Results of our FishPoll – Yesterday, we asked for your vote on whether or not conservative commentator, S.E. Cupp, had a case against Hustler for photo-shopping an inappropriate picture of her. Here are the results. The vast majority of you, 45.54%, say that yes, she does have a case. Meanwhile, 30.69% say that she is fair game because she is a public figure. Interestingly, 20.79 also weighed in saying that she didn’t have a case, “but she should make things as uncomfortable as possible for Hustler’s legal team.”

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.

On Tuesday, we reported on notorious content thief, DCRTV’s dirty bearded Dave Hughes, who didn’t give proper attribution on a story we wrote on Buzzfeed opening a D.C. bureau. It’s impossible to write about Dave without pointing out that he has a piece of dead roadkill residing on his face, but some people have a problem with us talking about it. Like this week’s AnonymASS.

“WOW could you and DCRTV be more petty. How about everyone grows up and acts like adults. And comment on someone’s beard, ghee if he likes then who the fuck are you to call him out about.”

Memo to ASS: As difficult as it is to understand your sloppily written question, we’ll take a crack at it. Here’s the thing, ASS. Hughes is a thief. Plain and simple. Any self-respecting media outlet credits someone for breaking a news story. So the fact that we called him out on NOT doing that hardly makes us petty. As for the beard, how in the world are we not going to mention that thing? It looks like a hunting accident. That beard is what it would look like if someone took a nightmare, threw a bunch of gray hair over it and then hot glue-gunned it to a psycho’s face. Hope you enjoy the Memorial Day weekend.

When the rest of the world steps out, you always want someone to step in.

The White House Correspondents Insider, a website whose Editor-in-Chief is none other than Publicist WHCD Garden Brunch hostess Tammy Haddad, has doled out first-ever award to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren and her husband, John Coale for their uncanny ability to secure the best guests to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner each year.

While many in Washington media and beyond are lambasting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for becoming a celebrity clusterf&%kfest, Hadded has bestowed upon them the White House Correspondents’ Insider Hall of Fame Award for 10 years of best bookings.

As we learned this week, NBC newsman Tom Brokaw couldn’t care less about all the celebs they’ve brought to Washington, which have included Ozzy Osbourne, Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan, this year’s starlet. He came out this week against the celebrity onslaught he says the dinner has become. In response, Van Susteren made him a deal. She declared that she’d forgo celebs next year for more attention paid to the Sudan.

Even a post on Haddad’s blog double dog dares others to try and secure better guests than Van Susteren and Coale have to help raise awareness for diseases such as Epilepsy.

An excerpt from Haddad’s blog on the matter:

“If Van Susteren is considering getting out of the celebrity booking game, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to acknowledge her savvy, along with her husband John Coale, in introducing the Washington press corps to people they perhaps would never have otherwise met.”

…With the presentation of the WHC Insider Hall of Fame Award we dare others to try to compete!  Congratulations Greta and John, and thank you for bringing in the big names, supporting the causes, and demonstrating that people in Washington do care about the nation  – and some actually have a sense of humor.”

Read the full post and see the entertaining pictures here. There’s a ridiculous worth seeing glamour shot of Kim Kardashian with a personal fan.

The tenacity of TWT‘s Senior Opinion Writer Emily Miller has paid off. She has earned herself an award for her “Emily Gets Her Gun” series on obtaining a gun in the District. It’s the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting from the Institute on Political Journalism.

Miller’s editor, Brett Decker, tells us he couldn’t be more proud. “When she gets a hold of a story, she’s like a pit bull and won’t let go,” he wrote. “I guess that would be a pit bull in pumps.”

Congratulations to Miller! And a note to Decker and anyone else who thinks about crossing her: We’d take it easy on the metaphors — she is armed.

See the internal memo…

Read more

In the self-promotional culture that now dominates modern journalism, some try to make an event, story or quote all about them. Some journalists are even subtle about it. But Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff does it with an unparallelled expertise. Congratulations to Graff (or something like that). He’s referring to an award won by New York Magazine.

RT @mlcalderone: New York wins single-topic award for 9/11 Encyclopedia issue. #ellies // congratulations NY! proud to have contributed.

— Garrett Graff (@vermontgmg) May 4, 2012

A few letters can make all the difference. In a post last week News Buster‘s Tim Graham criticized lefty radio and Current TV host Bill Press and quoted him on what they perceived to be his “high flatulent” thoughts on Ann Romney’s ugly $990 fish shirt. We’re pretty sure Press said “highfalutin” and that he doesn’t think Romney is gassy.

Take a look below. Read more here.

Maybe it’s the frenzied panic that descends upon D.C. as we approach WHCD, but the ASSES are out in full force. We can hardly contain the onslaught of ASS, so instead of giving each one their own moment in the sun, we’ll line them up and knock them down in this one post. Let’s start with ASS #1:

“This blog used to have actual news about DC media etc. have you all moved that content to a different blog?”

Dear ASS, we realize that it’s tough for you to read the site as thoroughly as you’d like. But, we have another website that you should REALLY check out. Just click over to www.YouAreAnAnnoyingASSWithNothingBetterToDo.blogspot.com. Let us know what you think!

Onto ASS #2. This ASS has a problem with our Wendy Wednesday feature saying that we should cover other topics instead of posting “a stupid photo of some aging publicist I’ve never heard of.” We are offended, ASS. Everyone knows who our resident hottie Wendy Gordon is and everyone loves Wendy Wednesday. Clearly, Wendy fever hasn’t stricken you yet. There’s still hope for you, ASS.

As for ASS #3, there is no cure for stupid. This ASS says,

“Your obsession with the Reliable Source is weird. did they turn you down for a job or something? that’s how it reads. just wondering. thanks.”

This is a common argument that many ASSES turn to when they take issue with this site’s content. Do these ASSES realize what site they’re reading? We are media critics. We critique the media. So, why the weird outrage when we do just that? We can only hope that you are enjoying your life filled with demented ignorance.

The national non-profit organization Childhelp is hosting it’s fifth annual Capitol CAREaoke event tonight. Childhelp puts on the fundraiser, which features media figures performing karaoke to raise money for child abuse prevention and treatment.

Big names include CNN’s Brianna Keilar, FNC’s Shannon Bream (photo at right) and SportsNet’s Michael Jenkins (who tweeted that he’d singing Bel Biv Devoe’s 1990 classic “poison”) are scheduled to perform. ABC7 anchor Rebecca Cooper and Washington Capitals announcer Wes Johnson will emcee the event.

Jordin Sparks is billed as a special guest and will also perform.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) will be awarded as Congressional Champions for Children.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building.

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced this afternoon. Noteworthy to Washington are Politico‘s political cartoonist Matt Wuerker; HuffPost‘s David Wood, who has been a national Washington-based reporter since 1980; AP Scribes include Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley. Apparently Wuerker is a little excited. Politico‘s Marty Kady wrote on Twitter, “Wuerker did a Cal Ripken-like run through the news room high fiving everyone. That was awesome.”

Check out the complete list…

JOURNALISM

Public Service – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Breaking News Reporting – The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News Staff

Investigative Reporting – Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times

Explanatory Reporting – David Kocieniewski of The New York Times

Local Reporting – Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News Staff, Harrisburg, Penn

National Reporting – David Wood of The Huffington Post

International Reporting – Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times (Gettleman is the East Africa Bureau Chief.)

Feature Writing – Eli Sanders of The Stranger, a Seattle (Wash.) weekly

Commentary – Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune

Criticism -Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe

Editorial Writing – No award

Editorial Cartooning – Matt Wuerker of POLITICO

Breaking News Photography – Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse

Feature Photography – Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post

Freelancer and visiting scholar at NYU Sarah Stillman is this year’s recipient of the Michael Kelly Award for her story, published in The New Yorker, on the mistreatment of foreign contract workers at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. David Bradley, chairman of Atlantic Media Company, announced the news today. Read the story here.

The judges also recognized four journalists from other organizations as finalists: Rukmini Callimachi of the AP, Kathy Dobie of Harper’s, and A.M. Sheehan and Matt Hongoltz-Hetling of the Advertiser Democrat (Norway, Maine). The winners and finalists were honored at a dinner last night in Washington at Atlantic Media Company headquarters.

The $25,000 award is given annually to a journalist whose work exemplifies a quality that animated Michael Kelly‘s career: “the fearless pursuit and expression of truth.” Kelly, who was the editor of two Atlantic Media publications, The Atlantic and National Journal, was killed while covering the war in Iraq in 2003.

In “The Invisible Army,” Stillman tells the story of 10 Fijian beauticians who were recruited for lucrative jobs in a posh Dubai salon, only to end up in Iraq giving manicures and massages to U.S. soldiers.

“Through their mistreatment, Stillman exposes the larger scandal of thousands of foreign workers on U.S. military bases reduced to something like indentured servitude,” said the Kelly Award judges in a statement. “Working as a freelance reporter without a contract, Stillman spent more than a year reporting the story, traveling to four countries, six military bases, and two war zones.”