“Who’s Pareene?” asked Michael Goldfarb of The Free Beacon. He tweeted the question yesterday linking to a Salon column that named The Drudge Report‘s Matt Drudge as 2012′s No. 5 biggest media “hack.”

Assuming it was a serious question from Goldfarb, Alex Pareene, whose mustache sometimes makes him look like a porn star, is a writer at Salon and the news world’s favorite ginger. Each year he names his personal 10 “hacks” in news media that are “hurting America.” While the not-that-much-anticipated list is harmless, it causes a buzz for directly and brazenly (or, as brazenly as can be done sitting at a keyboard) calling out big names in news.

Over the last two days, the list trickled out full of the kind of angst generally reserved for misunderstood teenagers in high school courtyards. In the end, we couldn’t help but think that in a few places, Pareene colored outside the lines.

No. 1 on the list is Politico, which Pareene said is founded on “a myth” that its reporting is “exclusive” when in fact it’s the same old Beltway journalism.

He specifically named Executive Editor Jim VandeHei and White House Correspondent Mike Allen as the driving forces behind Politico‘s hackery. Of Allen, who writes the widely-read Playbook tip sheet, Pareene said he is “paid a fortune” for emailing out “a bunch of links to day-old news stories.” It’s a business model Pareene has apparently mastered so well, it’s a wonder he’s not making his own fortune copying it. Or, maybe he’s pissed he didn’t think of it first?

Pareene dismissed all of Politico‘s election coverage. “No one reading any of these pieces … gained any genuine insight into the state of the presidential race,” he said. And yet, even after the election, Politico maintains high web traffic (though on election night, traffic climbed to 2.2 million page views an hour) which brings in money and allows the publication to expand.

In case Pareene wasn’t aware, it turns out there’s an audience for people who want to read about politics– in fact, every teeny tiny detail on the subject. Pareene doesn’t understand it. He’s kind of like a gorilla frustrated that he can’t make the star-shaped block go through the square-shaped hole.

It’s the audience he should hate. They’re reading Politico. Even if he doesn’t see why they should.

Moving on to No. 2 on the list… Read more

Quotes of the Day

Is it BuzzFeed or is it HuffPost Hill

HuffPost Hill does its best impersonation of BuzzFeed with this email subject line: “HUFFPOST HILL – 25 Photos Of John Boehner Trying To Keep His Conference Together... And Kittens” (The afternoon newsletter has neither inside, so it’s all just a spiteful tease.)

On the Serenity Prayer…

“I hear that serenity prayer was said with typical Boehner grumble. Slight smile. He’s a devout Roman Catholic. Dark sense of humor.” — NationalReviewOnline‘s Washington Editor Robert Costa.

Uh oh. 

“On my way home via @Uber_DC. Am so grateful a service like this exists – would pay anything for the independent reviews and safety.” — Anna Sproul-Latimer, a Washington-D.C.-based literary agent. Clearly Anna hasn’t heard the news.

A complaint about flack emails

“Flack emails I will not read begin with ‘Hey XXX…’” — Daniel Newhauser, House leadership reporter for Roll Call.

NBC’s Chuck Todd gets questionable haircut?

“Did @chucktodd tell his barber ‘give me the Moe Howard‘?” — AP‘s Jon Resnick. Resnick’s joke involved Todd’s hair on Thursday, but it’s got legs. Could also refer to substitute hosts for “The Daily Rundown.” Today it’s WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza. We’ve asked Resnick for clarification on the matter.

The Observer

“Emerging buzzphrase of Dem Senate presser: ‘political gyrations’” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

How to Make it All About Me: “As someone who’s worked in digital journalism for a while, this NYT effort on an avalanche is inspirational.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza. We’re not sure why he felt the need to qualify his statement. We get it! You’re an expert!

In defense of journalists covering tough stories

“Many people express hate for journalists covering tragic stories in their neighborhoods. Honestly, we hate being there, too.” — WTOP’s Neal Augenstein.

Fox News producer needs parka for hearing room

“Senate Foreign Relations hearing room is ridiculously cold. So glad I brought my big North Face parka.” — FNC Senate producer Kara Rowland.

Reaction to Pareene’s Hack List

“Good God, what will Alex be like when he gets old? His list is gripping reading, though, exactly the way Fox News itself is.” –The Daily Beast and CNN Contributor David Frum on Alex Pareene‘s annual Hack List for Salon.com.

Uh oh.

“As of now I have bought zero Christmas presents. Talk about smelling the panic.” — Touré, co-host of MSNBC’s “The Cycle”.

Editor regrets eating all that junk food; and see who made this week’s FishbowlDC Fan Club Board… Read more

Forbes released it’s annual “30 under 30″ lists today. Featured on the media list are names you’d expect and those for which you’d need to suspend critical thinking to comprehend how this could’ve happened.

But for better or worse, we’ve picked our favorite additions to this year’s list with our own reasoning.

WaPo’s Ezra Klein– Because it’s become increasingly clear that you can’t have a list about media figures without including Klein. Hell, we even made our own entirely dedicated to Klein and his evolving hairstyles.

HuffPost Live‘s Abby Huntsman– Because when you make a list of highly-accomplished media professionals, Abby leaps to the forefront of America’s conscious. But not that America. The other America that former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards was always talking about… Read more

For an outsider, Salon‘s Alex Pareene really gets off on knocking Washington’s journalism culture. He usually goes after The Daily Caller‘s Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson with a vengeance. But a latest piece in The New Republic has him ripping through a much larger swathe of journalists on Twitter as a “a cult of cleverness” who feels they must be funny to impress their bosses and gain followers to determine their clout (or Klout, as the case may be). Pareene’s primary question: “Why is the political class so obsessed with being funny?”

An excerpt: “Twitter allows even those obliged to adhere to the bone-dry standards of legacy media outlets to show the entire world how witty they are—and maybe even win a pat on the back from the management types who’ve decided that social media represents the newsroom’s future. The result: a cult of cleverness, where a good joke is rewarded with retweets and new followers, the two main metrics of social-media clout. I’m certainly among those spending far too much time attempting to rack up both.”

We like how he admits he’s part of the problem, not the solution.

An interesting subject matter, no doubt. So much so, you’d think Pareene would turn to experts, workplace psychologists, so-called experts or even a wide variety of Tweeters themselves for their thoughts on the matter. You know, actually get out of his own bed head of curls and do some reporting? He quotes only one journalist in his story: Slate‘s Dave Weigel, who, for someone who is embedded in the Twitter bubble, bashes it mercilessly. Weigel, this is terrifying. Are you okay? Furthermore, Pareene, we love Weigel and all, but was absolutely no one else in your myopic inner circle worthy of quoting?

See what Weigel told Pareene… Read more

Quotes of the Day

“It’s so hard to talk these days.” — FNC’s Greta Van Susteren in reaction to V.P. Joe Biden‘s “gaffe” yesterday.

“He’s gotta recognize that he’s gonna be double teamed. Jim Lehrer is part of the cultural left so Mitt is going to have to communicate past Lehrer and past Obama to reach the American people.” — Fmr. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on FNC last night.

Not enough black journos on air tonight?

“@rolandsmartin we need a black room twitter debate team tonight since none of us will be on AIR–get some #WashingtonWatch peeps together.” — Preacher Sophia Nelson of theGrio.com, Essence and USA Today.

In the category of bright ideas…

“Today, I think I’ll work on a column giving Mitt Romney some advice because I want people to know how smart I am.” — DoubleThink‘s J.P. Freire.

Journo in-fighting between two guys named Alex

Salon‘s Alex Pareene: “I hope TheDC doesn’t uncover shocking video of me saying soda instead of pop on east coast.” The Daily Caller‘s Alex Pappas replied, “Don’t worry, no one cares about you.”

Speaking of that video…

• “Impressive in dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks category: Hannity calling non-news Obama ’07 Hampton video ‘a bombshell abt to be dropped’ on WH race” — CNBC and NYT‘s John Harwood.

• “If Obama haters think I’m going to expend a ton of energy on this issue, they are nuts. This amounts to nothing.” — CNN Contributor and Washington Watch host Roland Martin.

• “Oh lawd.. someone send me a link to TEH VIDEEOOHH!!” — Michelle Ray, Social Media Director at Conservative Daily News. It’s here.

• “Why are liberals so shocked that Fox News, Drudge, and Tucker Carlson practice racist demagoguery? Like being shocked sky is blue.” — David Zirin, Sports Editor at The Nation.

And Breitbart.com editor blesses Drudge, rips MSM

“Squirm, corrupt media, squirm! #GodBlessDrudge” — Breitbart.com’s John Nolte.

Mitt Romney’s Lunch: The Nasty Aftermath

“Can someone please interview the Chipotle worker? I can’t stop giggling. I want to know everything about him.” — National Journal’s Elahe Izadi.

“Romney’s Chipotle order: burrito bowl, pork, rice, black beans, guac, salsa (per pool report)” — HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel.

Important Q to Ponder: “Seriously, why the fuck are people tweeting Romney’s lunch? Who gives a shit?” — Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas.

“Per pool, Romney is having Chipotle for lunch. He and Sen. Portman both had pork burrito bowls with guacamole.” — The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball.

Depression is…

“Sort of depressing to drive around KC and see a liquor store named after Harry Truman.” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

Optimism is…“We’re ALL gonna lose in Nov no matter who wins!” — Reason mag’s Nick Gillespie.

The Observer

“Oh good. HuffPost Live will also be live-streaming debates. This brings the total number of news outlets covering the debates to everyone.” — TVNewser‘s Alex Weprin.

Pet Peeves

“People who break embargoes, that’s that shit I don’t like.” — Wired‘s Spencer Ackerman.

Necessary Tweet of the Day

“Fuck man I totally feel for a free Southwest Airline ticket voucher spambot thing on facebook fuck fuck fuck.” — InTheseTimes labor journo Mike Elk.

Convo Between Two Journos: MEOW

The Daily Caller‘s TV reporter Jeff Poor writes, “Question: Why is @BuzzFeed working so hard to get to the smoking gun in this video? You guys can’t wait until 9 pm? Go have dinner… Relax.” To which Politico‘s Shermanator (Jake Sherman) replies, “Yep, you mustve. when someone says publicly they have something that will make news, if u dont chase it, u should find a new job.”

ABC’s Walter involuntary spams followers

“Hello Tweeps. I am not DMing you about some sort of “bad stuff” written about you. It’s spam/hacking.” — ABC’s Amy Walter.

Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough criticized the NYT on his program yesterday after the paper published an extensive report on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney‘s upper-income neighborhood in San Diego. He said the story was “an embarrassment” for the publication, alleging that NYT didn’t cover Sen. John Kerry‘s (D-Mass.) wealth to the same extent when he ran for president in 2004.

Politico‘s media reporter Dylan Byers wrote a post citing an NYT rep who provided four examples of the paper’s coverage of Kerry’s wealth. In a follow-up post he quoted Scarborough (who has his own Politico blog and regular column) doubling down on his criticism and dismissing the four stories provided by the Times as follows:

“They may have a database showing how many articles they did on each candidate. I have to talk extemporaneously for three hours a day. But the general impressions of people like myself and [MSNBC contributor] Mark Halperin, that does count in the perspective that active news consumers have.”

Despite the rock-solid defense of having to talk “extemporaneously for three hours a day” and having “general impressions,” criticism of Scarborough by other journalists came flooding in.

“MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough didn’t learn much from last week’s Politico misfire on the New York Times’s alleged bias in covering presidential campaigns,” WaPo‘s media blogger Erik Wemple wrote in a post. “Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen tried to make that case and ended up getting buried. Turned out that the pair hadn’t dug deeply enough into the archives to put together an airtight argument.”

On Twitter, NYT‘s Jim Rutenberg said, “debate is healthy, but if @JoeNBC wants to stand by verifiably false assertions about our covg then not much more 2 say.”

Also on Twitter, Media Matters‘ Eric Boehlert summarized Scarborough’s defense in his own words: “Shorter Joe Scarborough: I have nothing to back up my attack…”

In another tweet, Slate‘s Dave Weigel said, “Please note: *Feeling like* some paper is biased is not actually media analysis.”

On Salon, Alex Pareene wrote: “The ‘general impressions’ of vain, blathering idiots like Joe Scarborough and Mark Halperin certainly do count, because someone gave them a TV show, for some reason.”

Scarborough’s one lukewarm defense came from Byers who tweeted to Rutenberg, “I believe his point is it’s about a general impression, your database be damned.”

Quotes of the Day

Are you there Gin? It’s me, John

“No, bottle of Hendricks, I will NOT come play with you again.” — Roll Call‘s John Stanton.

It’s 3:34 a.m. Do you know where your reporter is?

“Jerk @DCPoliceDept officer — working the wreck I-395 near Cap Hill — told friend and me in cab ‘idiots’ like us cause these accident.” — The Daily Caller‘s Alex Pappas. Pappas, who is caucasian, followed up with a comment on the race of the officer. “The white @DCPoliceDept officer working the i-395 wreck is unfortunately the reason people don’t respect law enforcement here.”

Journo must work on Memorial Day

“Anyone else have to work on Memorial Day? #nothappy” — TWT‘s Emily Miller.

Journo enjoys surprise fiddle concert

“Am being treated to an impromptu fiddle concert on the patio at Red Rocks from the guy next door and it is fabulous.” — NJ‘s Alexandra Jaffe.

Tragedy and celebration in Warrenton

“WARRENTON, Va. (AP) – Virginia State Police say 1 pilot dead, another injured after crash involving 2 planes.” — HuffPost‘s Ethan Klapper tweeted this. In happier news, Warrenton was also the site of this weekend’s nuptials between NBC “MTP” Executive Producer Betsy Fischer and Politico Senior Reporter Jonathan Martin. Congratulations to Fischmart on their wedding. We hope all the wedding planning paid off.

Did Jason Linkins kiss Jake Tapper’s ass?

“@dceiver i have to say, strip away the fun snark, sounds like you liked the show! (Ssshh. I wont tell anyone)” — ABC’s Jake Tapper, who hosted “This Week” on Sunday, referencing HuffPost‘s Jason Linkins, who writes up the Sunday shows. After getting through as much of Linkins’ Sunday roundup as we could bear, yes, he does suck up to Tapper about how smart he is throughout. But he also inexplicably runs a tweet by Salon‘s extraordinary Alex Pareene twice. God knows why. We just hope Pareene still sports his porn star mustache.

Howard Fineman attends Brown mixer

“Great time last night with my wonderful @BrownUniversity alumna wife at Campus Dance. 1000s of alums on The Green: an open-air re-mixer.” — HuffPost‘s Howard Fineman. Is anyone as disturbed as us that Fineman attended an open-air school dance?

TV reporter claims victory, albeit a shady one

“Finally, first tennis victory of summer. ok… opponent doubled over with stomach cramps, but a ‘W’ is a ‘W’!” — ABC7′s Stephen Tschida. Congratulations Tschida! Cramps doesn’t detract from your win whatsoever.

TV reporter celebrates wedding anniversary

“10 years ago today, Maureen said ‘yes.’ We celebrated by going to the pool with Declan, Evelyn and Hugh, who are the result!” — CNBC’s Eamon Javers.

Touching moment amidst girls giggling at ‘bosom’

“Just passed Joyce Kilmer rest stop & read Trees to daughters. Touching reaction though they laughed to hear ‘bosom’ aloud.” — NPR’s Scott Simon.

Spotted: A relaxed Neda Semnani, of Roll Call‘s HOH, coming out of SweetGreen in Logan Circle on Memorial Day.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

In an odd post earlier this week, right-wing blogger and former TWT editor Robert Stacy McCain accused Salon‘s Alex Pareene of being a bigot based on a piece Pareene wrote expressly admonishing bigotry.

In response to a Tennessee state legislator who wants to ban public elementary and junior high schools from addressing homosexuality, Pareene wrote that supporters of the bill are “numskulls and bigots.” In state legislatures, he said, “where the national press seldom ventures…these morons are basically able to pass any fool idea.”

McCain didn’t like this. He called the article an audition for a “front-page gig at DailyKos” and said he understands that “Pareene hates him some Republicans. And loves him some gayness.” He also took issue with the Salon story’s last graph, where Pareene jokingly wondered, “Why a man named Stacey [note: the Tennessee legislator's first name is weirdly also Stacey] would want to make it more difficult to help children who are victims of homophobic bullying.” McCain said he had been “gay-baited.”

Conclusions: So, Pareene doesn’t want to ban talking about homosexuality in public schools, criticizes those who do, and is a “bigot” for doing so. McCain, meanwhile, advocates for the re-institution of “corporal punishment” in the form of paddling to stop bullying. Sounds like Stacy might need that paddling.

What does it take to make a dead journo joke these days? Oh, not much. Slate‘s Christopher Beam threw a seemingly innocent question into the online universe Monday and what does he get? Left-leaning journalist and ardent “Juicebox Mafia” member Matt Yglesias of the Center for American Progress, who took this as an opportunity to bizarrely mention WaPo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning David Broder, who has been dead all of three and a half weeks.

Beam: What happened to @DCJourno?

Yglesias: That was David Broder’s twitter handle.

The fake Twitter account, @DCJourno, which was featured in the NYT and on this site, has been mute as of late. Yglesias is not alone and it’s no secret that he and his liberal cohorts didn’t agree with Broder’s centrist beliefs. Two weeks earlier, when Broder had been gone a week, Salon‘s Alex Pareene and Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan also made off-color Broder jokes, with Pareene saying he only wished he had come up with Nolan’s joke. Read “Two journos with zero taste” here.

The Interwebz are abuzz with news that the Daily Caller has hired Ginni Thomas.  The Tea Party activist, anti-health care reform lobbyist, and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will serve as a special correspondent for the Caller.

In a Business Wire story this morning, Daily Caller publisher Neil Patel said, “Ginni is always upbeat, she has an unbelievable amount of energy and enthusiasm and she knows our political system as well as anyone in Washington. We could not imagine a better person to take on this role.”

But others are wondering if all that energy is really enough to work as a journalist. And most are coming to the conclusion that no, it probably isn’t.

Slate‘s Dave Weigel writes about Ginni Thomas’ “misadventures” and career changes over the past year or so and says “she prefers to ignore requests and then snipe [journalists] from some safe vantage point about how unfair they are to her.”

Jennifer Epstein and Ken Vogel at Politico report: “Thomas comes to the Daily Caller job without any journalism experience, though in a speech last year she did encourage supporters to stop following traditional media and to instead turn to cable news, the Internet and her own website to find information. Blasting people with ‘an extreme point of view’ who have ‘burrowed into the media, our churches, schools and publishing houses,’ she suggested listening to conservative talkers Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin instead.” Vogel wondered on Twitter: “Given her difficulty holding a job, how long before Ginni Thomas quits @DailyCaller” before linking to Weigel’s piece.

Salon‘s Alex Pareene headlines his post: “Tucker Carlson hires Ginni Thomas to interview people, for some reason” and refers to Thomas as a “paranoid conservative activist.” Pareene’s “not convinced she can string together coherent sentences. She’s a paranoid weirdo who seems more than slightly dumb.” No mincing of words there.

The Daily Beast joked that “even detractors are greeting her hire with an admission that she’s willing to make the tough phone calls, a skill that should hold her in good stead in journalism,” referring to an odd phone call Thomas made to Anita Hill in October, requesting an apology for sexual abuse allegations Hill made about Clarence Thomas during his Senate confirmation hearings more than 20 years ago.