The TV world can be so cold. When you’re out, you’re out. And sometimes sooner than you might expect.

There are 17 days left on Roland Martin‘s CNN contract. But the powers that be appear to be shutting it down early. With his contract ending April 6, some producers have been informed not to book him, FishbowlDC has learned. We knew something was awry when we noticed Martin hadn’t tweeted his usual #bringthefunk alert on Twitter that he’d be appearing on Erin Burnette’s “Out Front,” which he hasn’t done in a month. On Wednesday he tweeted that he did Canadian TV. The Canadians can find time to bring Martin’s funk, but not CNN?

Let’s get this straight. That semi-usual appearance he had on Thursdays during Carol Costello‘s slot? Gone. It’s been three weeks since he appeared on her program and months since he appeared on “The Situation Room.” He was also non-existent during CNN Inauguration coverage in January. A final appearance on his close friend, Soledad O’Brien‘s program, which ends next week? That appears to be a dead end proposition, too.

Martin’s fierce Twittering following is not pleased. “I’m certainly going to miss you on CNN,” wrote Pasadena, Calif. resident Carolee Reed. “I cant believe that the two people who always kept it real are leaving.” (Person number two being O’Brien, she explains.) Ebony Shamberger, a UNC J-School student, was dumfounded. “Leaving CNN on April 6 — what?” she wrote in response to Reed.

Martin isn’t the only one being given the shaft. Read more

CNN’s Jake Tapper is finding a new comfort zone. Namely reporting on things other than politics. On Monday on “The Lead” that included making fun of Tiger Woods and the golfer’s plea for privacy after declaring on Facebook that he was officially dating ski racer Lindsey Vonn and posting four pictures of him and his girlfriend.

“Apparently he wants us to know he and Vaughn are an item..and a plea to the world to respect their privacy because posting photos to Facebook is the best way to assure privacy,” said Tapper, dripping with sarcasm.

NYT’s Bill Pennington also struck a jocular tone about the idea of Woods maintaining a kind of privacy as an “ordinary couple.” He wrote, bluntly, “Good luck with that.”

MSNBC host Ed Schultz, who is moving from prime time to weekends, took a parting shot at Politico in his final 8 p.m. slot Thursday night. He used Politico‘s words to springboard a sentiment that other media writers such as WaPo‘s Erik Wemple have also expressed, which is that Schultz moving to weekends isn’t a step up.

Politico‘s Dylan Byers shoved a cryptic punch into the last few lines of a post on Schultz: “Sources at MSNBC told POLITICO that that was a very generous interpretation of events. Schultz was pushed out to make way for new talent, they said.” Byers wrote that Schultz would no longer host the weekday program as of April. As stated above, his final weekday show was last night.

“I understand that Politico wrote something about the fact that I’m going to a relatively no mans land for cable news programming,” Schultz said snidely at the close of his show. “Really? Well I guess I wouldn’t want it any other way, because we’re going to build those hours to the best hours in cable. This is what The Ed Show has always been about. This is what The Ed Show is always going to be about. The people on the road, the stories, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, those middle class Americans who are fighting for a fair share, their piece of the pie of this great country. That’s what I want to do, that’s what I’m going to do and I’m looking forward to it.”

Schultz’s farewell, which included an emotional tribute to his wife, Wendy, went so long that he was cut off before he could finish. No doubt he’ll have more to say in his brand new 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekend slot.

CNN’s Jake Tapper has long been viewed among the few TV journalists in Washington not on Fox News who routinely gets praise from the right-wing media. In a HuffPost story Wednesday, media writer Michael Calderone gets a quote from Tapper that is sure to please what he hopes will be his left and right-wing audience on his new program, “The Lead” which debuts Monday at 4 p.m.

An excerpt:

“Whether it’s drones or Benghazi, I want to be an outlet that covers a lot of those stories. Whether it’s what effect Obamacare will have on businesses or the treatment of Bradley Manning. These are stories I will cover and they’re ones that maybe more liberals have an interest in one and maybe more conservatives have an interest in another, but I think that they’re important and I hope that at this point, I have become an honest enough broker that viewers will tune in because they know that I will be able to get guests and ask tough questions regardless of the party affiliation of those I’m asking. I hope. That’s the hope.”

Read the full story here.

Expect to see ex-CNNer James Carville popping up more on MSNBC and ABC’s “This Week.”

We hear Carville is seriously contemplating semi-regular appearances on ABC’s “This Week”, as he did Sunday, and there’s a good shot he’ll try to strike a deal with MSNBC as well. Nothing has been signed on the dotted line. But stay tuned.

As of late, we are seeing former senior political advisor to the Clinton White House on various networks including NBC’s “Today Show,” MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS “This Morning.” As most know, he’s a fee-agent since he and his wife, Mary Matalin, recently parting ways with CNN.

Carville and Stephanopoulos… Read more

Earlier in the week, TheWrap‘s Alexander Kaufman reported that CNN President Jeff Zucker will meet with the National Assoc. of Hispanic Journalists on March 8 to discuss diversity issues at the network. On Monday, we reported that Zucker was scheduled to meet with the National Assoc. of Black Journalists to discuss similar issues.

Kaufman details the minorities at CNN as well as Fox News and MSNBC. He reported that Zucker has “agreed to” search for talent at NAHJ’s regional conferences, president Hugo Balta told TheWrap.

Just as we were flipping around the cable news networks last night looking for a fresh take on the Oscar Pistorious murder case, a new look at those blades at least, we realized no one was on it. So we settled for the next best thing: CNN’s Anderson Cooper and one hair clip short of a ponytaled Nancy Grace in full discussion about the Jodi Arias trial. Back and forth they went, marveling over Jody’s drastic dye job and how she couldn’t remember stabbing her boyfriend some 30 times.

And then who comes vaulting out of the Twitter peanut gallery and ruins it for us? Read more

CNN President Jeff Zucker is scheduled to meet today in Atlanta with the leadership of the National Association of Black Journalists to discuss the state of black journalists at the network, FishbowlDC has learned.

Bob Butler, Vice President of Broadcast for NABJ, posted a note on the group’s Yahoo list serve last night saying that he, President Greg Lee and Executive Director Maurice Foster, will sit down with Zucker today.

The meeting comes on the heels of an announcement last week that morning show anchor and NABJ member Soledad O’Brien is transitioning to a new and less visible role at the network producing documentaries.

Speculation continues… Read more

Over the weekend, The Daily Caller‘s Editor-in-Chief and Fox News Contributor Tucker Carlson unloaded on the Wiccan community. Is Carlson not afraid of the spells they could cast on him?

“I don’t spend a lot of time on Twitter, so I’m not sure of the dimensions of it, but I’m pretty sure that I’m unpopular in the witchcraft community, and I understand why,” Carlson told FishbowlDC this afternoon. “I probably was unduly harsh. As far as I know, most Wiccans are peaceful taxpayers. I’ve never been mugged by one anyway. So I apologize for hurting anyone’s feelings.”

On Sunday’s Fox & Friends, the crew was discussing the University of Missouri’s “Holiday and Recommended Accommodations” guide that lists eight Wiccan holidays. “The bad side of Wiccanism is it’s obviously a form of witchcraft,” Carlson said. “But the upside is you get a ton of holidays. Twenty percent of all school holidays, as described by the University of Missouri, are Wiccan holidays. Twenty percent of all.”

He later added that “any religion whose most sacred day is Halloween, I just can’t take seriously. I mean, call me a bigot. And I’m not, you know, not offering an editorial against Wiccanism.”

Carlson said Wiccan was either a “compulsive Dungeons & Dragons player or is a middle-aged, twice-divorced older woman living in a rural area who works as a midwife.”

Needless to say, a portion of the resident peanut gallery on Twitter wasn’t pleased. Read more

NBC News has named a new White House Producer. It’s Stacey Klein. In addition, Ali Weinberg returns to the Washington bureau as a general assignment associate producer.

See the internal memo… Read more