Man of the Hour: Jake Tapper

Howard Kurtz profiles ABC’s White House correspondent Jake Tapper in today’s Media Notes.

Excerpts of what his fellow journos had to say about “ABC’s Man in a Hurry”:

“He’s not one of the wussy, blow-dried TV reporters,” says conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, a longtime friend. “He’s definitely savvy and aggressive, in a good way. He’s tough enough to handle network politics.”

“He’s one of the hungriest reporters I’ve run across,” anchor Charlie Gibson says. “He bombards us with e-mail, and it’s all about stuff he’s reporting. . . . He can be a little brash at times.”

Gibson, among others, likens Tapper to Sam Donaldson, and the onetime White House correspondent praises his work. Once, when he called Tapper twice to check on when a White House photo would become available — the second time, Donaldson admits, with irritation in his voice — Tapper replied, “I told you we’re working on it, and we are!” “There’s none of this ‘Oh, how’s the wife and children?’ He’s very intense,” Donaldson says. “He’s not a glad-hander, a backslapper.”

And don’t forget this- Tapper’s humble beginnings at the Washington City Paper, “I Dated Monica Lewinsky.”

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