(A sprinkling of things we think you ought to know)

AP-DOJ conflict doesn’t matter to Media Matters– Media Matters for America, the progressive watchdog dedicated to discrediting conservative media, has no coverage of the Associated Press-Justice Department fiasco that blew up Monday night.

A search of MMFA‘s website for “Associated Press,” “AP” and “Gary Pruitt” produce no results related to the conflict, in which the Justice Department secretly seized phone records of some of AP’s staffers. Pruit is the AP‘s president. He called the ordeal “a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.”

Republicans in Congress, the conservative media and even mainstream media have all jumped on the story, calling it an example of government overreach. While MMFA is an openly progressive non-profit, the organization generally peddles along with the news cycle, posting stories and sending out email blasts that either rebut the conservative side or provide more context meant to render the story a wash.

We’ve requested comment from MMFA‘s Sr. Director of Communications Jess Levin.

On the other end of things, conservative media watcher NewsBusters, has covered the story.

Greta wonders if you ever feel like a caged feline– FNC’s Greta Van Susteren asked the rambunctious readers of her Gretawire blog this morning, “Do you ever feel like this baby tiger?” In her blog post was a video of what actually looks like a vicious tiger sitting in a glass cage, snarling directly at the camera. “Do you know someone else who currently feels like this baby tiger?” her post continues. One reader replied in the comments section: “Do not call, do not text me first thing in the morning before my first cup of coffee LOL…REALLY!” News reports as of late have Van Susteren possibly moving out of her 10 p.m. time slot.

How to NOT make it about me– ABC’s Robin Roberts, co-anchor of Good Morning America, had a well-publicized battle with breast cancer and subsequent bone marrow transplant over the last few years. GMA seemed to run story after story about her recovery. Even so, Roberts didn’t pounce on the opportunity to make actress Angelina Jolie‘s double mastectomy about herself at all. “Terrific Tuesday at GMA,” she tweeted this morning. “We will discuss Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy. She wrote a moving OP-ED in the NY Times.” And that was it.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

How did an 18-year-old college student in Maryland gain the trust of and get access to TV executives and anchors in New York? “By posting 10 or 15 posts a day meant that the industry knew it was a reliable consistent source,” says Brian Stelter, creator of this site and now a media reporter for the New York Times and author of the just released “Top of the Morning.”

As he neared graduation, Stelter had to make a choice: work in TV news, or cover it.

• Part I: Stelter on Being Matt Lauer’s “nemesis”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Brian Stelter, who launched TVNewser almost 10 years ago, is now a published author. “Top of the Morning,” out today, lays bare a tumultuous year for network morning news shows which saw one anchor pack her bags, another face a serious health issue, a ratings leader fall — and lose a quarter of its audience — and an entirely new show launch.

In his first interview for the book, Stelter tells us about the secrecy behind “Top of the Morning,” the access he got, and what he thinks about being called Matt Lauer‘s nemesis.

• Part II, tomorrow: What happens when Brian Stelter Tweets something he shouldn’t?

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

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Life in the broadcast news business can be filled with travel, odd hours and a lot of uncertainty.

HLN news anchor Kyra Phillips worked the local TV circuit before making the jump to CNN in 1999. So is she happy with the path she chose?

Phillips recently sat down with TVNewser managing editor Chris Ariens to talk about how she views her life now and shares one of the frustrations of being a role model for those who want to follow in her footsteps.

Also, be sure to check out our first interview with Phillips.

>Media Beat Part One: Kyra Phillips Talks About the Challenge of Holding on to Viewers After the Jodi Arias Trial is Over

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

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

HLN has seen its viewership increase during the Jodi Arias murder trial, but what happens after the verdict is reached?

In this episode of Media Beat, “Raising America” anchor Kyra Phillips tells TVNewser’s managing editor Chris Ariens about the opportunity and the challenge presented by the network’s coverage of the Arias trial. “I want to say to them, ‘OK, I get it. I understand you’re interested in this. OK, we can give you some of that. We can continue to give you that. But also give me a chance to show you another way that we do TV, another way that we do news.”

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

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Lori Greiner knows firsthand the power of Oprah Winfrey to sell product.

In part two of our conversation with Greiner, the “Queen of QVC” and regular on ABC’s “Shark Tank” tells SocialTimes editor Devon Glenn what happens when one of your products makes the list of Oprah’s favorite things, how every inventor thinks they have the greatest thing in the world and what they need to do to make sure they’re right.

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

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Greiner, known as the “Queen of QVC,” is also a regular on the ABC show “Shark Tank” where those that have millions listen to pitches from those that have little more than a million dollar idea.

SocialTimes editor Devon Glenn sat down with Greiner to talk about the show, her reign on QVC and if any of the products she’s invested in on “Shark Tank” have any bite.

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

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On his Fox News program last night Bill O’Reilly called out Howard Kurtz of CNN and The Daily Beast for allegedly misrepresenting O’Reilly’s recent criticism of NBC News.

In a segment with Fox News liberal contributor Bob Beckel last week, O’Reilly said NBC News wasn’t being critical in its coverage of the Obama administration and its drone program. This, even though it was NBC News that broke the story about the administration deeming it legal to target and kill Americans that appear to be terrorists. Kurtz pointed out the seeming contradiction on his Sunday CNN show Reliable Sources.

Referring to Kurtz as “my pal,” O’Reilly called him out for having “echoed the distortion” that he was unfairly critical of NBC News. “Are you kidding me, Howard?,” O’Reilly said. He went on to say that though NBC broke the story, none of the network’s news correspondents offered any negative analysis.

In a later segment, media critic Bernard Goldberg said he spoke with Kurtz via email and that Kurtz’s critique was… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Yesterday Byers posted an excerpt from a HuffPost story by Stein, who had interviewed former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman:

“‘In an interview with The Huffington Post, [Jon] Huntsman laid out his vision for the Republican Party going forward….’

“Get it?”

And that was it.

Stein reacted to the post by saying he “always thought it was weird that people think Republicans can’t talk to [HuffPost] and still be conservative.”

With that, Byers’ post starts to make sense. He was suggesting that HuffPost, known as a left-leaning publication, may not be the best platform for a Republican to try influencing the GOP.

“Call a GOP strategist and ask them if [HuffPost] is best place to lay out your vision for GOP,” Byers said to Stein. “Seriously?” Stein replied. “We scored a [Mitt] Romney interview in the primary? We talk to GOP lawmakers all the time, top operatives, officials, etc…”

A former Huntsman communications director says HuffPost is a reasonable place for the GOP to speak out…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In part I of our Media Beat interview with MDC Partners chief strategist and Crispin Porter + Bogusky chairman Chuck Porter, the ad exec (though he doesn’t really take to that term) discusses his holding company’s acquisition strategy and what it’s like working alongside MDC CEO Miles Nadal.

According to the ad vet, creativity is key when determining the right acquisition as he says simply, “My criterion is the work.”

This and all MediabistroTV productions can also be viewed on our YouTube Channel. Be sure to check out Part II and III of our chat with Porter tomorrow and Wednesday, respectively.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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

Is John King disappearing?!– Two days in a row now CNN’s John King is missing from our Google alerts. Typically the real John King appears in at least one of the results. Instead, here are the “John King”s who have turned up and we’ll be honest, they’re not all sounding so hot.

1. Former Director of Jail Authority Operations John King of Charleston, W.Va: This King was arrested Tuesday night on suspicions of drunk driving. It marked his third arrest related to driving while intoxicated within the last two years. In April 2011, King was found parked in his driveway with his car still running. His blood alcohol content level was .239. In February, he was arrested after almost driving into several parked cars. His BAC was .191. It’s illegal to operate a vehicle in any states with a BAC of .08.

2. Aviation educator John King: This King has been selected by the National Aeronautic Association to receive the Brewer Trophy for Aviation Education this fall. The award is meant to acknowledge the “passion and dedication in making aviation knowledge more accessible to pilots worldwide by combining elegant technology with clear, fun teaching featuring courseware that simplifies complex concepts for students,” according to a really poorly written NAA release.

3. School Board candidate John King of Indiana: This King is running to unseat an incumbent on the school board in Jasper, Ind. But it turns out he might be a white supremacist. King was once involved with a website called savewhitepeople.com and even cut a video for them. From TriStateHomepage.com:

The video begins with an introduction from King. “I’m John King from the White Voice at savewhitepeople.com. I’m here to talk to you on the subject of global white genocide.” Following King’s opening dialogue, the video transitions into photos, some gruesome, of Caucasian people who King claims were injured by people of different races. Then he goes through graphs and numbers explaining why he believes the white race is rapidly declining and at risk of extinction.

“I am not against anybody. I’m just talking about a ecological scientific problem that exists worldwide,” says King, who compares white genocide to whales in danger of extinction.

Nate Silver shares his media diet– In an interview with AdWeek Nate Silver, who runs NYT‘s “FiveThirtyEight” election blog, said he consumes a wide variety of news sources. “If you’re keeping yourself in the bubble and only looking at your own data or only watching the TV that fits your agenda then it gets boring,” he said. “I think reading broadly, but skeptically. That’s key. You have to try to avoid the temptation to jump on the bandwagon with political news, especially on Twitter where things go viral every couple of hours. In a campaign you don’t have game-changing events every single day. Most of these small viral things burn out. So it’s kind of about waiting those things out but not blinding yourself to the news.”

“Leave Britney Alone” guy visits D.C.– Back in 2007 Chris Crocker gained a little notoriety when a YouTube video he created went viral. In the video, Crocker, eyes smeared with black makeup, hysterically cries to the camera, “LEAVE BRITNEY [SPEARS] ALONE!” It came at a time when Spears having something of a public meltdown. We found Crocker was in Washington at a bar in Dupont Circle. Earlier in the day he had visited the White House. Crocker wouldn’t let us question him at the bar. The gentleman who was with him (he identified himself as Crocker’s manager) said it would be best for Crocker to do the interview when he hasn’t been drinking. So we caught up him today and learned more. He’s in town promoting a documentary about himself, titled “Me @ the Zoo.” The Hirschhorn museum is hosting a public showing of the film tonight at 7:45 p.m. Below is a picture Crocker tweeted yesterday: “In the White House briefing room,” he wrote. Crocker told FBDC that he went on a private tour of the White House and described it as “surreal.” Asked about his D.C. experience as a whole, he said, “It’s a beautiful city.” But he didn’t know what to expect considering what he’d heard. “I actually used to have a tranny friend who lived in D.C. and she used to tell me how the park had needles,” he said, referring to McPherson Square.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Hill‘s Alexandra Jaffe broke the news yesterday that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) was distancing himself from remarks made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. “As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in,” Brown told The Hill. He was referring to Romney’s recently surfaced comments that labeled “47 percent” of Americans as people who feel “entitled” to government benefits.

Jaffe’s story was picked up by HuffPost, Political Wire and Politico, all of which attributed The Hill for breaking it.

The AP also picked it up.

Shortly after Jaffe’s story broke, AP reporter Steve LeBlanc wrote the same story, correctly paraphrasing Brown’s quotes. What was missing, however, was any attribution to The Hill.

LeBlanc’s story was updated later with actual quotes from Brown, the same quotes from Jaffe’s story. But LeBlanc’s article attributed them to a statement from Brown’s office. The first version of his story did not attribute to any statement.

Pictured is a screen capture of LeBlanc’s original story.

The Boston Herald‘s Hillary Chabot wrote the same story, attributing the same quotes to a statement. NYT did the same.

We requested comment from the AP media relations, LeBlanc and Chabot. A publicist is looking into it.

We’ve also sought comment from Brown’s campaign office to clarify if they sent out a statement with the same quotes after The Hill‘s story was published. But even if that is the case, the paraphrased version of LeBlanc’s story still did not cite The Hill for breaking the news.

UPDATE: AP’s Paul Colford explains…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Would you wear one of these Ezra Klein?

The Media Research Center is giving out these little ditties today at the Family Research Council’s annual Value Voters Summit at the Omni hotel. No, it’s not a pack of tissues– it’s a T-shirt with an Uncle Sam graphic that shrieks “Don’t believe the liberal media!”

It was handed to us by a cautious staffer working the MRC booth. “It’s a small, but you can have it,” he said. Thanks, I think.

A list of  MRC products and their prices is on the back of the package. This shirt typically sells for $18.75. Other items sold by the MRC:

• Notable Quotables: “A bi-weekly compliation of the most outrageous quotes in the liberal media;” twelve issues for $30 (FBDC tip: you can find these on Twitter for free);
• Flash: “A monthly newsletter full of interesting bits of bias, photos, campaign updates and much more; twelve issues for $25;
• MRC book How to Identify, Expose and Correct Liberal Media Bias; $22.75 per copy.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Rich is an executive producer for the show and by far one of the most likable Media Beat guests we’ve had, so we couldn’t think of a better person to get such an honor. Don’t believe me? Check out the video for yourself.

Part 2: Frank Rich Compares New York Times and New York Magazine
Part 3: Frank Rich on the ‘Great Theater’ of Politics and Pop Culture

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In the third and final part of our Media Beat interview with Adam Richman, the man behind Man vs. Food talks about his latest Travel Channel project, Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America. Instead of taking on food challenges, this time, our host travels the nation region by region (10 in all) and narrows down the best sandwiches in each based on what he calls his “BITE” system. Like March Madness itself, there can only be one winner in the end.

This and all MediabistroTV productions can also be viewed on our YouTube Channel.

Part I | Monday: Adam Richman on Bloomberg Soda Ban: ‘We Are In a Very Precarious Situation as a Society’

Part II | Tuesday: Adam Richman on Landing ‘Man vs. Food’ and His Health Regimen

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.