Archives: February 2009

What we almost missed today…

Editor & Publisher has its annual Pulitzer preview up- “Two Washington Post series in the running include Debbie Cenziper and Sara Cohen’s “Forced Out” investigation that revealed how local landlords drove tenants from rent-controlled apartments. It is a Goldsmith finalist. There is also the paper’s 12-part series on Chandra Levy, which many believe prompted the recent attention on a suspect named in the report. If he is charged, look for the jurors to take note.”

Who leaves the oldest show in television for the newest? Michelle Jaconi, who tells friends in an email today “CNN wooed me with an offer I couldn’t refuse– including creative control of a show that is going to change my favorite political institution, the Sunday morning public affairs program.” Her email after the jump…

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Tomorrow at 1pm at Politics & Prose Aram Roston discusses his profile of Ahmed Chalabi, “The Man Who Pushed America to War.”

Then on Monday, a moment we’ve all been waiting for… the Sunday Show Showdown, I mean Summit. We see them around the same time every weekend, but never on the same stage. They come together for the CSIS Schieffer Series at 5pm Monday at CSIS. The panel will be moderated by CBS’ Bob Schieffer and will include NBC’s David Gregory, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and Fox’s Chris Wallace.

Keith Olbermann and Michael Calderone are now boys…

After naming him “worse” of Countdown’s “Worst Persons in the World,” Calderone has redeemed himself with Olbermann, making his “Best Persons in the World” top three last night. For the count, that’s two bronze medals in Calderone’s collection.

CBS’ Kimberly Dozier was Carol Joynt‘s latest guest for “The Q&A Cafe” at Nathans in Georgetown. The show airs tonight at 8pm on DC Cable-TV 16. They discussed her book “Breathing the Fire” and her near-death experience covering the war in Iraq.

We chatted with Kimberly- “After making you comfortable on a barstool at Nathans, Carol asks VERY direct, take-no-prisoners questions, like why isn’t there more news coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan, and how big is the network bureau presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.” She was also quite taken by the dessert- Georgetown cupcakes.

NBC’s Meet the Press: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and a roundtable with former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN), GOP strategist Mike Murphy, Vanity Fair’s Dee Dee Myers and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough

ABC’s This Week: OMB Director Peter Orszag, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and a roundtable with Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, Karl Rove, The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel and ABC’s George Will

CBS’ Face the Nation: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

Fox News Sunday: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

CNN’s State of the Union: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, CNBC’s Suze Orman and Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)

CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: GWU professor of media and public affairs Steve Roberts, CNN’s Stephen Hayes and Barbara Starr, political analyst and author Keli Goff and former NY Post gossip columnist Liz Smith

Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Bloomberg’s Lizzie O’Leary, Julianna Goldman, Ellen Pinchuk, Kate O’Beirne and Margaret Carlson

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: WaPo’s Dan Balz, NYT’s Peter Baker and ABC’s Martha Raddatz

Roll Call TV with Robert Traynham: former House Republican Leader Tom DeLay and Roll Call’s Erin Billings, Lauren Whittington and Emily Pierce

Washington Post: Obama Announces U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Iraq

Washington Times: Charity tax limits upset many

Washington Examiner: Michelle Obama’s high fashion in hard times

N.Y. Times: Climate of Change

L.A. Times: Iraq withdrawal plan in factors and figures

USA Today: Obama’s budget offers middle and working class ‘good news’

The Hill: Obama’s tax plan: Extra change or lighter wallets?

Politico: Pelosi butts heads with Obama

ABC News: Obama: ‘By Aug. 31, 2010, Combat Mission in Iraq Will End’

CBS News: Time For Marijuana Legalization?

Fox News: U.S. Prepared to Shoot Down N. Korean Missile

CNN: Ed McMahon hospitalized

Wall Street Journal: The 2% Illusion

NPR: Obama To Overturn Bush ‘Conscience’ Rules

Roll Call: Steele Under Fire From GOP Senators

CQ: Labor Lobby Enjoys a Return to Prominence With Democrats in Charge

The dynamic duo at Yeas and Nays (Kiki Ryan and Jeff Dufour) report that Jon Favreau, the heartthrob speechwriter for President Obama may be receiving some unexpected voicemails in the coming days.

In a picture of Pres. Obama chosen for WaPo’s Op-Ed page today, Favreau’s digits are pretty distinct.

Check out Yeas and Nays for the full scoop.

FBDC co-editor Christine “C-Bass” Delargy is expected to be one of Favreau’s many late night callers.

The Hill’s Bob Cusack reports that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said today that the demise of daily newspapers is helping the Republican Party.

Coburn added that advances in technology, such as the Internet, Twitter, text messaging, and YouTube, are helping Republicans get their message out because policymakers don’t need to rely on daily newspapers as much as they used to.

Get the full scoop here.

FBDC has learned of a few more “ups” at NBC’s Washington Bureau. We told you earlier Antoine Sanfuentes was promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief today.

Albert Oetgen‘s role has been expanded to Managing Editor, senioring both Nightly News and the Today Show, and Meaghan Rady joins him from the NBC LA Bureau as a Coordinating Producer for those shows. Ken Strickland and Jay Blackman have been named Supervising Producers, and Scott Foster a White House producer. In the newsroom, Tony Capra has been named Manager of the News Desk.

Whitaker’s memo to the bureau after the jump.

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On any given night in DC, champagne flutes are raised for a new book by a journo, a politico, and last night was no exception.

Boston Globe editor Martin Baron and Washington Bureau Chief Peter Canellos hosted a book party at the office for “Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy.”

In attendance: Susan Milligan, Lisa Wangsness, Sasha Issenberg, Thomas Oliphant, Ana Marie Cox, Mike Allen, Michael Scherer, Lynn Sweet, Karen Tumulty, Nancy Youssef, Jonathan Martin, Robert Schlesinger, Richard Stengel, Nora McAlvanah, Erin McPike, Nina Easton and George Condon.

Across town at Ristorante Tosca, Playbook tells us about a party hosted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, James Carville, Mary Matalin and George Stephanopoulos for Stanley B. Greenberg’s “Dispatches from the War Room: In the Trenches with Five Extraordinary Leaders.”

In attendance: Rahm Emanuel, Senator Dodd, Michael Feldman, Mandy Grunwald, Walter Isaacson, Joel Johnson, Eileen McMenamin, John Podesta, Hilary Rosen, Rick Stengel, Jessica Yellin, and Jill Zuckman.