Today, the NYT’s Nick Wingfield and Brian Stelter  are the latest to attempt to read the mind of Jeff Bezos, bringing us the latest in a string of technology and innovation will save us type stories. Ironically, they are the two things some newspapers, WaPo among them, have spent much of the last two decades avoiding.

This one is notable because it attempts to paint Silicon Valley as not just a savior, but an altruistic one at that.

“Call it a sense of obligation. Or responsibility. Or maybe there is even a twinge of guilt. Helping print journalism adapt to a changed era is becoming a cause de jour among the technology elite.”

I’m not and editor, but I think can tighten that up: “Rich tech guy bought a newspaper. Hooray!”

Who else has been riding this bandwagon?

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Something’s fishy — Normally we love fish-related stories, for obvious reasons, but this one scares us a little. If you’re a male who’s thinking of skinny-dipping in Scandinavia, you may want to think again. As CNN’s Leslie Holland reports, an exotic species of fish that has a habit of chomping on testicles has infiltrated the Danish/Swedish strait of Oresund. A “friendly cousin” of the piranha, the Pacu is actually a vegetarian and uses its large teeth to crush nuts, but sometimes bites the wrong type of nuts after mistaking testicles for their favorite snack. The fish is native to South America and could have been brought to Scandinavia by “amateur aquarium owners and fish farmers.” Don’t worry though, the Fishbowl is still Pacu-free.

The real Weiner film — We recently laid out some damn good ideas for an Anthony Weiner movie, but as TWT’s Cheryl K. Chumley reports, a real documentary may be in the works. In what could be only speculation, Chumley writes that Weiner has been close to MTV filmmaker Josh Kreigman, who has been recording nonstop for the past few months. The NYC mayoral candidate has also been carrying a black microphone box in his back pocket. According to the New York Post, and Weiner campaign officials, Weiner’s filming is only for a television ad. Kreigman, who used to be Weiner’s congressional district director, wouldn’t comment. We’re hoping to see a documentary soon on MTV, because we, at least, can’t get enough Weiner and please don’t take that the wrong way!

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Revolutions, a blog about numbers and analytics, was on hand to hear ESPN’s Nate Silver at the recent Joint Statistical Meeting in Montreal. He’s got some 11 tips and principles for journalists when it comes to dealing with numbers, specifically statistics.

Here’s a few.

• Our favorite, correlation is not causation. You can’t always connect the dots, as much as you might want to. For example, just because incidences of violence go up when it’s hot, doesn’t mean climate change causes violence, CBS News.
• The average is still the most useful of all stats. “Because they are looking for interesting stories, journalists often focus on the outliers.” While interesting, outliers don’t illuminate much that you can apply to the world.
• Make predictions. “If journalists would put their money and their reputations where their mouths are they might get closer to achieving scientific objectivity.”

About a month ago, Miles Smith, a weekend producer at WJLA, left his job. And Friday was Steve Friess‘s last day with Politico Pro. The couple is relocating to Ann Arbor, where Miles (pictured at far right) will return to school and Friess will resume his freelance writing career.

We’re thinking their respective office meetings in the last year made for interesting pillow talk. As is common knowledge, Robert Allbritton sold WJLA to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

See his heartfelt memo, including the revelation that he and his partner plan on becoming fathers. Read more

How was WaPo “lost” to Jeff Bezos?

The NYT‘s Ross Douthat wrote in his column this weekend that it was because the paper missed its opportunity to seize the internet by the throat. What’s fascinating is Douthat knows exactly when this happened. The moment was “in 2006 when John Harris and Jim VendeHei left … to found Politico.”

He argues that Politico created the political-journalism juggernaut WaPo should’ve and could’ve been, a daily must-read that dominates “the D.C. conversation … that matches the metabolism of the Internet.” There can be only one, and according to Douthat, it’s Politico.

It still gets better. Despite the ass kissing you might think this is at first glance, Douthat doesn’t think so highly of Politico.

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A lot of us have been there.

Respond or don’t respond to a tweet that makes you want to drive your fist through the computer screen. Or maybe just cuss a little too much. Many think ignoring is the way to go, and they’re probably right. But some in the news business can’t always go that route.

CNN’s Piers Morgan appears to enjoy mixing it up with his gun-toting foes. An example: “Hey @piersmorgan , saw my neighbor walk in his front door with an AR-15 yesterday. Glad I have him for a neighbor!” a follower wrote. Piers retweeted by didn’t respond. But on Sunday he replied to a raunchy tweet that involved the t-word. Judging from the reaction, followers were neither surprised nor came down on him for it. His response appeared to only fuel the fire and trash talk.

Some weren’t pleased Piers even responded. But see how the bulk of fans reacted… Read more

Earlier today we published a story highlighting the marked increase of women in leadership roles at Politico. The publication, clearly founded by two males, has been dogged since it began in 2006 over the heavy presence of males in top roles. Insiders have said repeatedly that the reports were overblown. But that didn’t stop WaPo‘s Erik Wemple from highlighting the startling numbers of women who have left over the years. Or TNR from recently questioning VandeHarris over the reputation of “overt sexism” at the news outlet.

As we reported earlier today, as some top male editors are leaving the publication, they’re being replaced by women. Before this, women had already assumed top roles. We asked if this, as well as a number of other females in high-ranking roles, is a concerted effort to beat the bad rap.

Editor-in-Chief John Harris told FishbowlDC, “To be clear, I don’t  believe in our many years as editors and reporters either Jim or I were ever ‘accused of being anti-women.’ It is true that due to the circumstances of our launch we were for a time kind of top-heavy with men in ways that did not reflect our vision for POLITICO. By no means are any recent moves a reflection of some sort of ‘concerted effort’ on gender grounds. Instead, they flow naturally from our determination to get the most talented and ambitious people in jobs where they can have the most impact on our newsroom, on our business, and for our readers.”
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Politico is slowly but surely putting together its magazine team. Run by Susan Glasser and Blake Hounshell, both of whom recently arrived from Foreign Policy magazine, they’ve hired on Jason Zengerle from New York Magazine and GQ. Zengerle previously wrote for The New Republic.

In addition, Glenn Thrush, the White House reporter known for his feisty arguing on Twitter, is moving over to the magazine beat. If Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris gushed any more about him, his head even in his infamous fedora, might not fit through the door. He calls him “one of our most brilliant reporters and writers” and says the “move is a natural for Glenn, whose greatest strength may be his ability to understand the ways that human character animates Washington and its large political and policy debates. Glenn is as gifted as any writer I have known at bringing this to life in vivid ways, and we are extremely enthusiastic about his new assignment.”

See the memo… Read more

Are women on the rise at Politico? If you recall, in a recent interview with TNR, Executive Editor Jim VandeHei and Isaac Chotiner got in a verbal dust-up on the matter when Chotiner uttered the phrase “overt sexism” and suggested that Politico has a female problem. “I think women would find the premise deeply condescending,” VandeHei shot back at him, saying no one who presently works at Politico would make the charge. And the facts are what they are. Even if you argue this may just be for appearance sake, there are a lot of females in high-ranking roles.

In recent months Politico has been a steady procession of men out of leadership posts. With what looks to be a substantial overhaul of Politico management, the winners are all women. Tim Grieve, who had repeatedly been accused of treating women unfairly, is out and now at National Journal, where his new colleagues say he couldn’t be nicer; Craig Gordon, the highest ranking male outside of VandeHarris is gone as of today — he’s off to Bloomberg News, where he’ll be Deputy Managing Editor. Females in high-ranking roles at Politico include Susan Glasser, who they’ve hired to run a longform magazine project and one their newest hires, Denise Kerston Wells, who they snagged from Washingtonian, to be a senior editor for the longform project. Danielle Jones, meanwhile, is the highest ranking woman in editorial who beat out Gordon and Grieve for job, Kim Kingsley is the COO and Rachel Smolkin, who will take over for Gordon.

We asked Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris if this has been a concerted effort combat the rap and put women in top roles and will report back if he replies.

See the extremely complimentary memo from Politico on Gordon as well as Bloomberg‘s announcement… Read more

“He’s a pioneer.” – BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith on New York mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner, who he’s interviewing for “BuzzFeed Brews” tonight in New York City for 45 minutes. Asked what new things we’ll learn tonight, if anything, Smith told MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” this morning, “That’s kinda up to Anthony. I think there are a lot of questions…about how his email-mate is enjoying her 15 minutes.” He’s referring to Sydney Elaine Leathers, who recently shot a masturbatory porn video. Valid Q: Will Weiner ever watch it?

Cantankerous Jay Rosen compares FNC’s Ed Henry to a dog

“Ed Henry is hilarious! So transparent. Like a cellophane puppy dog desperate for a pat on the head. (If you’re watching WH press conference)” — Blogger, prof and fantastically smug Jay Rosen.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 8:48 a.m.

Journo vexed by computer mishap

“Not good tech backup plan: LONG wait at @westelmgeorgetown. Internet down. No plan for when this happens?” — Politico‘s Anna Palmer.

Convo Between Two Journos

This morning’s conversation is between WaPo’s Clinton Yates and nbcwashington.com Contributor Chuck Thies.

YATES: I just don’t consider phone use selfish.

THIES: @clintonyates, YOU don’t. But if it diminishes the experience of a nearby moviegoer, it is polite to refrain. #MyFartsDontSmell

Travel Bitches

“@united flight delayed due to lack of ice and beverages. It’s a 75m trip. Who the f cares? Can’t wait for @USAirways to join OneWorld.” — Reason Magazine’s Preston Cornish.

The Adviser

“Seriously @KrisJenner? You might wanna chill on this one when @KimKardashian’s claim to fame is a sex tape. Just keep it moving.” — TV One morning host and syndicated columnist Roland Martin.