Networks

Is there anyone out there dying to be on TV more than Tommy Christopher? Mediaite’s White House reporter, and man of mystery (who is he REALLY????), has been kissing up to MSNBC host Chris Hayes for months in stories and on Twitter with messages to him using the hashtag #Uppers, in reference to Hayes’ show “Up with Chris Hayes.”

Well, he might have been talking about drugs he has no need to take, since Christopher is already high-strung. He fiercely maintains he has been writing these multi-part series pieces on media personalities for years and that these stories don’t cover any hidden desire to be on the shows. Actually, he freely admits it, he wants to be on the programs and recently told FBDC that “any sane person would.” Whatever the case, Tommy spends a lot of time praising MSNBC personalities. This week was no exception: one lip per cheek of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell.

Tommy snapped to action when Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize winning fact-checking outfit, pointed out some, um, factual inconsistencies in O’Donnell’s “Lean Forward” ad on the GI Bill. Tommy would have none of it. With the First Family on yet another vacation, Tommy wrote, count ‘em –TWO, posts on the dispute, both of which come to the defense of MSNBC, calling their research “shaky.”

He wrote glowingly about Maddow’s attempted refutation of Politifact’s research, calling it an “obliteration.”

Given MSNBC’s obvious aversion to ratings, why not just give Christopher a show already? It can be a weekend show, a nice lead-in for #Uppers who can’t sleep. Better yet, it could be a great show of people ON uppers who need to come down.  Just a thought.

Create a clear, strategic approach to the way you use Facebook to market your business in our new Facebook Marketing Boot Camp. The online conference and workshop starts April 24. Learn more.

Somewhere between Washington and New York lives FNC’s Sean Hannity‘s Twitter alias, who goes by the handle, SHannitysHair. Hair, the name I usually call him, showed up for CPAC last week and was, in some respects, the bell of the ball. He signed in as Theron Cal, a racist white hater, as a joke and a way to hide his real identity. He somehow secured a media badge, a mysterious feat, but not so surprising at the exquisitely disorganized CPAC where wifi working was a fantasy.

Speaking of which, somehow when a Twitter personality shows up in real life, it can have an elusive, surreal quality. Like is this even real? On Thursday night, Hair and I exchanged several pleasant Direct Messages on Twitter and we agreed to meet the next day inside the hotel. When Friday came it took him several hours to return a message. I panicked, thinking, is this guy even real? Online you imprint everything you think a person is, what they look like, sound like, and everything you want a person to be. In real life? There was BigGov’s Andrew Breitbart complimenting him for his tweets. Who “he” is remains a mystery — he never shares his real identity. “I’m surprised at how well known I am,” he said. “Coming to CPAC this week, I met Breitbart yesterday and Dana Loesch and they were very much aware of me. And the fact that little old me, they’re aware of me? Breitbart even said, ‘I love your tweets.’ To me, that’s a thrill.”

To be sure, Hair felt overwhelmed by all who wanted to meet him in the flesh. “I’m freaking nobody,” he told me, reiterating his sentiment. “I guess on Twitter I’m somebody.” In the end, he gave us the “exclusive” interview on Bloggers Row — others were vying for it. We can’t show you what he looks like because he wouldn’t allow us to photograph him. Suffice it say, he’s not the 20-something we thought he might be. His hair is thick and silver. His demeanor is exceedingly normal.

Even so, Hannity in real life hasn’t always been jazzed about this guy — who claims to be an ordinary, conservative, married, father and employee who has taken a fancy to Hannity’s hair. In fact, at one point, when Hannity wasn’t manning his own Twitter account, whoever was blocked Hair. But three weeks ago that all changed. Now that Hannity is tweeting for himself, Hair is unblocked and on the loose. His Twitter count holds steady at 5,100 followers. We sat down with him to comb for more details.

When and how did you start tweeting by the handle SHannitysHair? About a year and a half ago. I have my own personal Twitter account it and used it to talk mainly about sports. When I inserted politics into the discussion, people started attacking me. I learned whoa, I might not want to talk politics on this account. We might agree on sports, but politics is a whole other animal. So I started Sean Hannity’s Hair. I just wanted to come up with a unique handle. At the the time, Blagojavich was in the news and I was very close to creating Blago’s hair. I knew he wouldn’t have staying power so I chose Hannity’s Hair. I am a huge fan of his, always have been. It’s rare that I ever disagree with anything he says. We’re about the same age, actually. He’s a few months older than me and we just have a lot of things in common. I also consider myself a Reagan conservative.

Why the hair thing? He has unique hair. He often gets teased about whether it’s real or not. If hairs could tweet…it’s clearly one of the things he has been teased about, whether his hair is real or not. So I figured why not?

The Hair hasn’t always been received well. Tell me about that…

Read more

Poor Luke Russert. When we heard the news that his first report for Dateline on NBC would be airing this past Sunday, we got excited for him. It’s not everyday that a Capitol Hill correspondent has a crossover hit and goes big-time with a Dateline feature. It was an examination of the case of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, a man convicted of murder and set to spend his life in jail. After Velazquez sent repeated letters to Dateline proclaiming his innocence, Russert took on the case of “JJ”. Sadly, news of Whitney Houston’s death pushed the Dateline episode back an hour to 8pm. Meaning it was now going head to head with the Grammy awards. Luke made the announcement on Twitter.

Due to tragic passing of #RIPWhitneyHouston“Conviction” on @datelinenbc will air at 8pm Sunday. No longer 7pm. bit.ly/wGXuPZ

— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) February 12, 2012

Luke then spent his Sunday making sure EVERYONE knew about the lineup change. He engaged his fans who were proclaiming that they were DVR’ing the Grammys so that they could watch Russert’s debut. He answered questions about how much work he put into the piece. He retweeted a fan whose husband wanted to watch the Grammys, so she went to watch the show in another room. All told, he tweeted or retweeted about his Dateline show 38 times in one day. While we can’t really fault Russert for  pushing his debut, he was definitely clogging our Twitter feed with his self-promotion. And if you missed it? Have no fear. Russert is already tweeting today about where to watch it online.

Missed #Conviction last nite due to #Emmys ? It’s now @msnbc .commsnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/@datelinenbc #USA #NYC — Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) February 13, 2012

 

 

A Democratic aide on Capitol Hill writes into FishbowlDC, “It’s amazing what you can learn about media outlets from the placement of their story on today’s jobs report.”

Check out the screenshots below.

View more after the jump…

Read more

Forget Propofol. As one might imagine, reading a Q & A interview with CNN’s John King could easily serve as a sleep aide for the perfect afternoon snooze. But before you slumber, one brief part of the interview caught our eye: What led King into journalism? The interviewer is Joseph Basco, who met the CNNer behind the broadcast tent at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, the site of the recent GOP presidential debate. Basco, the News Editor of student-run Spinnaker blog, said King made himself entirely available and didn’t turn away any question.

Why did you get into journalism? “Curiosity. I’m just a curious person, and I was at school, and I just wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I had a Shakespeare professor who said: ‘You know, you really like to write. You should go try some journalism.’ So I said OK. I took a few courses, and I had a smart enough professor who said: ‘I can only teach you so much in class. If you really want to do this, try an internship.’ I got an internship with the Associated Press. I got to cover trials, fires, cops and robbers, the state legislature and the governor. And I said: ‘Wow, they pay people to do this?’”

Read the full interview here and enjoy your nap!

Political reporters and pundits take note. If Fox News finds you worthy (and we already know they tend to waver on Politico reporters) you may wind up being asked to appear on a new online talk show they have in the works.

FishbowlDC has learned that the program in development is called The Greene Room, to be hosted by Jehmu Greene. Greene joined FNC in 2010 as a contributor. The format will be similar to the “The Five” focusing mainly on politics but also other topics du jour. All women co-hosts… Margaret Hoover, Alicia Menendez, Dee Dee Benkie, and Kirsten Powers are the names being considered with Jehmu as main host.

We’re told that it will start off as an online http://live.foxnews.com/ program. But if successful, it may be a new weekend program on FNC. Online producer Maria Karlsson has been tasked with running it. While the details of the show are in “heavy discussion” right now, a start date is unknown at this time.

It may have worked the first six times that GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich blasted the news media for posing questions he didn’t deem important enough. But after Wolf Blitzer delivered the knockout punch in the recent debate, Blitzer seemed to declare: ENOUGH, answer the question.

You’d think Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) would learn. But no. This morning he tried to pull a Newt by going after CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield when she asked him to comment on Newt’s cheating as it pertains to the presidential campaign by way of his own dealings with prostitutes.

The result is a deliciously awkward exchange between Banfield and Vitter as he deflects his past by claiming the American people are focused on the economy. He acts genuinely shocked that she’d bring up the topic and says CNN will not determine the election — the American people will.

How Banfeld enters the cheating minefield: “You seemed to manage that baggage very well. I want you to weigh in on Newt Gingrich’s baggage and handling that baggage and what it is like for a politician who has some serious baggage trying to be elected.”

Vitter reacts by trashing CNN: “Ashley, the good news is, in America, it’s not up to CNN, it’s up to the American people and it’s up to voters.” Banfield: “Well, I appreciate that you say it’s not up to CNN, but I like to say we’re a messenger here.” Vitter pounces back by saying that Banfield is “outdoing out King” (he corrects himself, saying, John King). Banfield snaps, “I’m not trying to outdo anyone, sir. I am holding you accountable for the things you did.”

After ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jake Tapper hosted “This Week” on Sunday so soon after George Stephanopoulos resumed hosting the program, journos began clamoring to have him there permanently.

This isn’t the first time that Tapper has received an uprising of support among Washington journalists. But it is another example of a crowd that isn’t pleased with ABC’s choices where “This Week” is concerned.

WaPo‘s “Right Turn” blogger Jennifer Rubin began rousing the troops, saying, “DEAR ABC SUITS: Give Jake the gig permanently.” Former George W. Bush Speechwriter and journalist David Frum backed Rubin. “Make it permanent!” demanded National Review Online‘s Jonah Goldberg.

Of course things online can turn wacko. When follower Jim Ehlan, who refers to himself as a “big fat liberal,” said he likes Tapper more than NBC’s David Gregory, Tapper disagreed. “Jake Tapper, I’ll follow you, you’re better than David Gregory on that other channel. Thanks for your time – I’ve got a no stalking policy.” We like a guy with bold policies. Tapper replied, “I don’t agree, but not to worry, I was just a substitute host.”

If Tapper really wants the host’s chair or thinks he ought to have it, he’s not showing his cards: “Thanks for all the kind words, folks! Glad you liked @ThisWeekABC ….back to the WH beat tomorrow, see you there! Have a great Sunday -jt”

We took a few weeks off counting up dongs on the morning shows. But in our quest to see how female pundits and journos are considered (or not) by the networks, it’s time to check back in with the Sunday morning political talk show circuit.

NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show: 2

Andrew Sullivan, Newsweek
Katty Kay, BBC
Michael Duffy, TIME
Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post

CBS’s “Face the Nation”: 0

The Miami Herald‘s Marc Caputo, RCP‘s Scott Conroy and CBS News’s John Dickerson. It must be noted that two guests of the program will be former GOP Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

NBC’s “Meet the Press”: 1

Joe Scarborough
Host, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Presidential Historian
Chuck Todd
Political Director, NBC News
Chief White House Correspondent, NBC News

ABC’s “This Week”: 2

Donna Brazile, ABC News Contributor
Austan Goolsbee, Former Chairman, Obama Council of Economic Advisers
Laura Ingraham
Radio Host, “The Laura Ingraham Show”, Fox News Contributor
George Will, ABC News

Mark Whitaker, Executive V.P. and Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide, kicked off CNN’s week of in-depth Super PAC coverage with an editor’s note this morning. The series addresses what they are and how much influence they’ll have in the 2012 presidential election.

The week-long series will air daily on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, John King USA and throughout prime time, including Anderson Cooper 360, Piers Morgan Tonight and Erin Burnett OutFront.

Whitaker initially uses Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart to help make his points. “You know that a news story has broken through, as we like to say in the journalism business, when Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart start playing it for laughs. In the last few weeks, the dynamic duo of Comedy Central has had a field day with the subject of super PACs, those fundraising machines that can raise unlimited donations to fund political ads, provided that they are not officially affiliated with a specific candidate.”

Details of what the network will be doing… “We will go behind the scenes at American Crossroads, Karl Rove‘s conservative PAC that helped launched the trend (and the conspiracy theories). We’ll profile Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas billionaire who wrote a $5 million check to a PAC that waged a nasty air war against Mitt Romney in South Carolina, helping to pave the way for Newt Gingrich‘s stunning primary victory on Saturday. We’ll air an investigation into how super PACs have outmaneuvered a bewildering obstacle course of campaign finance regulations, and given rise to calls for a whole new maze of do’s and don’ts.”

For more on what the week’s coverage will entail, click on the link above.