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Three D.C. media types were out on the town at a bar on P Street Thursday night and thankfully ran into this, our Hot Mess of the Week. Please journos, don’t try this, even while off the clock.

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Politico‘s Patrick Gavin has a story out this afternoon with splintering views on what effect a Hillary Clinton documentary will have on the news divisions of CNN and NBC.

CNN’s Candy Crowley tells him the network’s decision to commission a doc, even by an outside group, will still make things tough in terms of perception that they are somehow in Clinton’s pocket. Crowley told Politico:

“You can say all you want, this is a commissioned documentary from people who are not in the employ of CNN. It’s not me. It’s not Wolf Blitzer. It’s not John King. It’s an outside documentary group. But we’re with CNN and so this is not a story where the nuances are well-received, particularly by Republicans.”

Probably not a shocker that FNC’s Chris Wallace takes an opposing view from Crowley and thinks Republicans have a point.

Read the story.

Good news journalists! According to the Pew Research Center’s biannual media attitudes survey, the public is slightly more okay with your existence than in the past—at least in some respects.

They still, by and large, think you focus too much on unimportant stories, are barely ever accurate, try to cover up your mistakes, favor one side over the other and take your cues from the world’s powerful. And it’s just getting worse.

Ratings of the press have become much more negative since Pew Research first began measuring attitudes in 1985. Most of the press ratings tested in this survey are at or near all-time lows reached in 2011. In many cases, the decline in ratings has been dramatic.

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Man kills wife. We share. And Share. And share.

Yesterday in Miami, Derek Medina shot his wife to death and then posted a picture of her body on Facebook with a message that he was going to die and that he’ll miss all his friends. Obvious shock followed, as did the disgust. But here’s the worst part, from CNN: “The disgust did not prevent the commenters from sharing Medina’s photo. Again and again.” Get that? Again and again. We’ve turned ourselves into monsters.

Overworked? Need some vacation? Got a match?

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If you need some innovation inspiration, look no further than Atlantic‘s Quartz, a young outlet “for business people in the new global economy.” They publish online, but in an inventive HTML format designed to work well for smartphones and tablets.

The blog Evolving Newsroom notes this morning that now Quartz is taking things one more step by inlining comments to make them more relevant. Instead of a date- or popularity-sorted block at the bottom, Quartz is letting readers add comments that are more like sidebar annotations, right alongside the paragraphs they’re referencing.

While some sites boast of their comment counts, a quick glance usually reveals a mish-mash of trivial blather, name-calling and overt ignorance. Quartz’s approach just might be one that leads to actual, germane discussions.

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Former Politico reporter Dave Catanese, who now runs TheRun2016, has entered into his first syndicate agreement. He wouldn’t get into the exact numbers, but sufficed to say it’s a monthly contracted fee for content.

It is with YellowHammerNews, which is based in Homewood, Ala. The non-exclusive agreement transpired earlier in the month. YellowHammerNews is a conservative news and politics site founded by Cliff Sims, whose work has appeared the The Daily Caller and its sometimes arch nemesis Politico.

“I’ve received some interest from local websites and bloggers who are interested in national content and want to syndicate my content,” Catanese told FishbowlDC, explaining that more progressive and mainstream sites are also considering entering into similar agreements. “Essentially we agreed to a contract where they can syndicate TheRun2016 content on their own site.  We’re taking baby steps, but the idea is to try to expand this type of syndication agreement into other states — and am in that process right now.”

Cantanese stresses that TheRun2016 does not lean conservative.  “The content on my site will not be partisan — and I think taking even a cursory look at it bears that out,” he said. “TheRUN2016.com is dedicated to providing analysis on candidates in both parties and I don’t come from an ideological perspective.”

“They are creepy creeps who don’t know they got a problem.” — CNN Contributor Ana Navarro on “New Day” this morning regarding New York mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner and San Diego Mayor Bob Filner remaining in their respective race and political position.

She has a point.

“Anybody that says ‘TMI’ to me on twitter is failing at the internet.” — Daily Beast columnist and “Raising McCain’s” Meghan McCain. But can she maybe cut down on the exclamation points? “I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S SO COOL!!!! So proud (tomorrow is the last day of filming, emotions are at an all time high)!”

The Media Observer

“By my count, Pres Obama has held 123 press availabilities since taking office of which 24 were formal, solo WH news conferences.” — CBS White House Radio Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Forget happy hour. Try anchovies!

“Certain days can only be fixed with anchovies at 2 Amys.” — Washingtonian Style Editor Kate Bennett.

The Media Observer

“Wolf Blitzer right now doing some hard reporting on ‘BEYONCE’S NEW DO.’” — Mother Jones Washington Bureau’s Asawin Suebsaeng.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 6:17 a.m.

Convo Between Two Media Types

This morning’s conversation is between NBC’s Andrew Rafferty and Tim Murphy, executive director of America Rising PAC and former Huntsman and GOP flack.

RAFFERTY: When I told @anthonyweiner I was covering his campaign he told me to “You gotta get a hobby””

MURPHY: May I suggest chatroulette?

WaPo Express:

TWT

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It’s time to apply the bikini bod workout to the pitch, journos. If your pitch is fresh, editors at Shape are interested: “We absolutely are open to new writers,” said deputy editor Jeanine Detz.

The mag, with its 1.6 million circulation, is dedicated to helping women shape their lives — no matter what their shape.

“We are trying to give readers practical ways to work health, fitness and nutrition into their lives,” said Detz. “We’re not just reaching for the person who’s super fit or the person who’s not-so-fit; we really offer information for everyone on the spectrum.”

For tips on how to really impress editors, read How to Pitch: Shape.

– Sherry Yuan

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