Another kind of ‘House’ wins vote — Patrick Gavin of Politico writes about a new Amazon.com TV series called “Alpha House” that will begin shooting this year in New York City and Washington. The show is a comedy about four Republican senators living as roommates and stars John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Mark Consuelos and Matt Mallow. The show was part of an Amazon contest that featured 14 pilots that viewers voted on to choose which ones would be made into a full season.

DOJ scandal deepens — WaPo’s Erik Wemple further examines the DOJ scandal today in a piece on Fox News host Shepard Smith’s statement that the Justice Department gained access to the news organization’s servers and took information from them. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement that DOJ is not identifying the “news organization or the reporter involved in the Stephen Kim investigation.”

Reporter’s computer compromised — Also on Politico today, Dylan Byers reports CBS News investigative reporter Sheryl Attkisson’s computer was compromised. Attkisson said she’s been looking into the intrusion for months but is “not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today.” The reporter said suspicious activity was first seen in Feb. 2011 while she was reporting on the Fast and Furious scandal and the White House’s green energy spending.

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WaPo reports on the rambling editorial, which seems to make the argument that American media is both too restricted and too free. While it seems to be a generalization of ALL of American media, two reporters get glowing reviews from The Dear Leader.

Who are Kim Jong-Un’s approved reporters? continued…

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He writes,

“Kurtz, who began the show with an apology for his misdeeds, looked absolutely miserable as he found himself on the other end of the questions. But he did what he absolutely had to do if he was going to dig himself out of his predicament and preserve any credibility as a media commentator.”

Reider is full of compliments. He also gives a nod to the two reporters who grilled Kurtz, writing, “It should be said that the questioners, media reporters David Folkenflik of NPR and Dylan Byers of Politico, did a good job of pressing Kurtz.”

He concludes by declaring Kurtz gave himself “breathing room” by agreeing to CNN’s decision to grill him on his own show. But really, did he have a choice?

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The longtime media critic’s most recent blunder involved Jason Collins, an NBA player who announced that he’s gay. But Kurtz was also forced to answer for other mistakes he has made, including writing that he’d spoken to a congressman when he had spoken to his aide. Even when he learned the truth, he waited months to divulge his error. Another instance involved attributing a quote to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi that had her criticizing President Obama‘s messaging. Only problem was it wasn’t hers. As for Collins, Kurtz insisted in a story last week for The Daily Beast that the NBA player had not mentioned that he had once been engaged to a woman, even though he had told Sports Illustrated as much. Kurtz downplayed his error. Worse, he cracked jokes about Collins in a video with Daily Download Editor-in-Chief Lauren Ashburn. As bad luck would have it, the mistake happened on the day before Newsweek-Daily Beast‘s Tina Brown canned him as Washington Bureau Chief, which Kurtz explained was unfortunate timing. In his own defense, he said the “amicable divorce” had been in the works.

But more unfortunate for Kurtz was the fact that 15 minutes of his own Sunday show would be devoted to NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik (below right) and Politico media blogger Dylan Byers (below left) firebombing him with questions about his mistakes. It was the equivalent of parents siding with the teacher, who, in this case, were right to do so.

And still, it was tough to watch. As we witnessed Folkenflik and Byers gnaw away at Kurtz’s bony corpse, we wondered, how do they feel being cast in the roles of media police and how do they think Kurtz did? Up close, did he appear sincerely remorseful? Are they satisfied with his responses?

“He certainly appeared to me to be visibly contrite,” Folkenflik told FishbowlDC in a phone interview Monday. “I think his audience will have to reasonably think about what they saw and heard and figure out how to absorb what they’ve learned, to incorporate what seemed to be a contrite presentation and evaluate what they think about him going forward.

“It was a very human and humbled moment for him. It’s very difficult to have been in the room with him and asking him these very direct questions without getting the feeling that he was genuinely contrite about the circumstances that created that exchange.”

Byers, no less sharp-tongued than Folkenflik in his questioning of Kurtz, was far less forthcoming about his thoughts about the interview, but we may learn more from him at a later date. Still, we’re eternally grateful he came up with this bold and admirable quote. “CNN made a bold and admirable decision by inviting reporters from outside the network to interview Howie on his own show, and I’m grateful to Howie for allowing that to happen,” he told FBDC.

Meanwhile, NPR’s forthcoming and frank Folkenflik told us he noticed… continued…

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On his CNN media news program “Reliable Sources,” Kurtz offered his side of the story on what led to the mea culpa in the first place: Deadline pressure and his own lack of due diligence were to blame for his erroneous report last week that NBA player Jason Collins, who had just come out as gay, didn’t disclose that Collins his prior engagement to a woman. Collins had, in fact, been open about the engagement, mentioning it in a column for Sports Illustrated.

On Friday we questioned whether Kurtz would cover his own ass by covering his own ass on the show. He did. And for the occasion, CNN brought in NPR’s David Folkenflik and Politico‘s Dylan Byers to probe him.

There was plenty of in-house love for Kurtz. In a separate segment on the show, attorney Lisa Bloom was on to discuss coverage of the Jodi Arias case. Before offering her legal analysis, she said she would take a second to “go off script.” She praised Kurtz for “raising the bar” for journalistic accountability (while rattling off her own media resume).

“Kudos to Howard Kurtz,” tweeted Kurtz’s CNN colleague Piers Morgan. “He took his Jason Collins-clanger on the chin today like a Mike Tyson right hook.”

The compliments also poured in from elsewhere. FNC anchor Greta Van Susteren wrote on her Gretawire blog that everyone should “stop slapping Howie Kurtz.”

“Not one of us is perfect.  We all make mistakes,” Van Susteren wrote. At the start of the year, Kurtz had to offer a separate apology for wrongly attributing a quote to Van Susteren about then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

At TVNewser, our sister site, Gail Shister wrote after the apology that she hopes CNN head Jeff Zucker will continue to support Kurtz.

On the other side of the fence… continued…

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Washington Bureau Chief Howard Kurtz is parting ways with The Daily Beast.

As of Thursday, Kurtz no longer works there, according to Politico. But wait. Will Kurtz address the issue that led up to this fallout on his Sunday CNN show “Reliable Sources”?

It was a massive blunder the longtime media critic made Wednesday when he wrote in The Beast that NBA player Jason Collins, who recently came out as gay, failed to disclose he was once engaged to a woman. Kurtz said the same thing in a video for The Daily Download, though Collins did, in fact, make clear in a Sports Illustrated story that he had been engaged to a woman.

The good news for Kurtz, though, is that he can cover his ass by covering his own ass. On “Reliable Sources” Kurtz can redeem himself in the eyes of at least himself if not Gawker, Salon, BuzzFeed and Politico.

The show has a “Media Monitor” segment in which Kurtz notes the debatable issues of the day, like whether a reporter’s erroneous column was appropriately amended. We’ve reached out to Kurtz and one of show’s producers to find out if he’ll be addressing the matter. But in the highly unlikely event that he decides not to cover his own bungle, we’re going to preempt Kurtz’s media monitoring and do it ourselves.

To review… continued…

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“The convenience of the location played a big part,” Chief Operating Officer Sloan Eddleston told FishbowlDC. The office, which sits over the International Spy Museum, features a newsroom with some 30 computers, a library for reporters seeking a quiet respite and a spacious roof deck with a view of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (another selling point).

Eddleston said the space was renovated before the TNR crew could move in and that changes to the office were paid for by the owners of the building. He said TNR has signed a multi-year lease, but declined to say how many years.

Notably, most of the computers in the office are desktop PCs with only two or three Macs. Asked if any of the staffers gripe over who uses which computer, TNR Editor-in-Chief Franklin Foer said no. Actually, most of the computers go unused. “I think you find that most people have laptops,” Foer said, “and they’re working off Macs.”

Foer said it’s “very sweet to be in a place that is our home and will be our home for a long time.” Previously, TNR was taking up shelter in an office sublet by the American Grain Council.

The party featured two fully-stocked open bars and another bar where attendees could sample different liquors. WaPo‘s media reporter Erik Wemple was spotted taking a shot of something dark before heading out onto the deck. Catering included copious amounts of humus and cheese, veggie spreads and an assortment of chips.

Throughout the early evening, Chris Hughes, publisher of TNR, was seen… continued…

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Not so, according to one female NYT staffer who attended The New Republic‘s oparty Friday, which celebrated the opening of its new office space in Chinatown.

Byers’ piece recounted a recent tiff between Abramson and Baquet inside the the NYT newsroom that ended with Baquet slamming his hand against a wall in frustration and then storming out of the office.

“I don’t think he’s an angry man,” said the staffer at TNR‘s party directly to Byers, who was also in attendance. “He’s more passive aggressive.”

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Attention is swirling around Politico media writer Dylan Byers‘ story about the New York Times newsroom and how you’re a little too brusque for some tastes. The piece paints Dean Baquet as a perfectly charming managing editor who punches walls when angry. Who doesn’t like an editor who punches his fist through walls? We all want to see this at least a few times in our journalistic lifetimes, don’t we?

And I’m actually being serious.

What I like about Byers’ story is it takes you into the underbelly of a newsroom and gives you a slice of what employees really say and think. These stories are rare and entertaining reads because the weirdest, most spectacular stuff happens in newsrooms. What I hate about it is that it implies that editors and reporters need to be perfectly well-behaved human beings who are never supposed to “blow up” in a meeting. They must work out the tone of their voice. They must anticipate how each person feels. As Byers describes it, your attitude leaves employees feeling “demoralized” and as though you don’t care. Your absence makes them feel forgotten, rudderless. Do NYT staffers need office teddy bears? If the end result of Byers’ story is that you start being nice to everyone, I’m really going to well, punch a fist through my living room wall.

I find it humorous that you went all Miranda Priestly on the photographer and told him you didn’t like a picture on the homepage and then said, “I don’t know why you’re still here. If I were you, I’d leave now and change the photo.” It’s like yeah, get out of my face and fix it. I’m no feminist, but this stuff makes my blood start bubbling. If Baquet had said this, he’d be funny, charming. But you? You’re a shrew. So what if you’re “condescending” and “stubborn?” They’ll live. Unless they feel like doing your job, which is infinitely harder, more time consuming and irritating than theirs, you get to act that way. And by the way, f–k their feelings. Oh, they don’t like you speaking to them like that? Change careers.

Journalism isn’t about feelings or settling for a mediocre product. If that results in blunt talk in a newsroom, so be it. Do we really want our newsrooms to be well-behaved sanctuaries where no one ever gets pissed off or airs grievances in the worst ways imaginable? Do we want editors to be people who only politely tell us that our writing is sometimes sh-t?

I’ve had a few editors over the years who didn’t really care for me (don’t be so shocked). In one case, I didn’t want him reading my stories — he was a crappy editor (they’re out there) and there was another I preferred because he cleaned up my clutter like a surgeon, slicing out words and graphs without losing my voice. Just to be an a–hole, Editor #1 kept the file open so that Preferred Editor #2 couldn’t open it. In another instance, an editor nearly stroked out in the newsroom because again, I had a preferred editor who I wanted to look at my copy. Yes, I’m exaggerating his physical state. But he was old and his face turned fire-engine red as he stood and screamed at me at the top of his lungs about the inappropriateness of me going over his head. Sure, he was “stubborn and condescending,” and his wife gave me dirty looks at office parties. But would I have wanted it any other way or for him not to flip out? Hell no. Flip out more, please. The entertainment value is high and it’s a scene I’ll never forget.

Flatulence and fingernails in the keyboards are also hard memories to destroy. continued…

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(A sprinkling of things we think you ought to know…)

Byers’ NYT story faces Twitter backlash– Politico media reporter Dylan Byers‘ piece on NYT Executive Editor Jill Abramson sparked a debate Wednesday on whether the story was sexist in nature. HuffPost‘s Jack Mirkinson wrote a story rounding up some of the negative reaction to it headlined, “Jill Abramson: ‘Very Unpopular’ Or Just Doing Her Job?” Byers’ story includes an insider account wherein Abramson snapped at an editor to leave in the middle of a meeting and change a photo that was on NYT‘s website. Editor-in-Chief of Guardian U.S. Janine Gibson mocked it. “Spent the first hour of the day apologising to [staff writer] Maraithe Thomas for that time I asked her to change the front page pic a bit brusquely,” she tweeted. “This is the most non-story, story I’ve read in a while,” tweeted CQ Roll Call‘s Emily Cahn, linking to Byers’ story. “People at any major, large company will complain about leader. If it affected quality, it’s a story. NYT won 4 Pulitzers…”

A Koch’d Los Angeles Times, isn’t necessarily a conservative Los Angeles Times– There’s buzz circulating that the conservative Koch brothers are considering purchasing several newspapers around the country, including the Los Angeles Times. Naturally, it has some journalists suspicious, including WaPo‘s Harold Meyerson, that the Times and the others will become out of control right-wing publications. Not so fast, says The Atlantic‘s Garance Franke-Ruta. “There are several reasons regional newspapers are an awkward fit for anyone looking to counter-program what they see as liberal bias in the news media,” she writes. “The main reason is that all major U.S. newspapers are based in cities.” Franke-Ruta argues that big newspapers are subject to the culture of the cities they’re based in. People who live in cities tend to be progressive, or at least comfortable with with the concept, and the papers, by geographical necessity, have to hire those people. The readers who buy the papers in those cities are no different. If the Times is suddenly an overtly conservative paper, will Los Angeles residents continue to buy it?

Does Fox News have a “new” anchor you’ve never heard of?– WaPo‘s Aaron Blake wrote an item Wednesday about an interview on Fox Business featuring Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The anchor of the segment was identified as “New Cavuto.” Who? Must be a new host. But a review of the clip shows it was actually longtime anchor Neil Cavuto. That’s unfortunate. A new, and perhaps improved, Cavuto may be just the thing the fledgling Fox Business channel needs. Maybe a “Neat Cavuto.” Or a “Notable Cavuto.” A “Noble Cavuto”? Just Neil for now.

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“I think I can call you Joe now that you’re not in the Congress anymore.” — Bloomberg View columnist Jonathan Alter on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir‘s program Monday while arguing with former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-N.Y.). “Yeah, yeah,” the former lawmaker replied, unruffled by Alter’s obvious disdain for him. Walsh spent two years in Congress with his term ending in 2013.

Politico reporter will no longer read New York Post

“No joke, I’m sort of unwilling to read anything in the New York Post after last week. That may not pass.” — Politico‘s Dylan Byers. GASP! Will they go out of business as a result? Last week NYP falsely reported that 12 people at the Boston Marathon had been killed when only three had died. They also ran a photograph of two men with the headline “Bag Men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon” but they weren’t the right guys. In yet another report, they wrote that a Saudi national was a suspect. Boston police later denied the report.

Au de Metro: “Someone on this Metro train smells intensely of moth balls.” — Josh Lederman, White House reporter for the AP.

Eavesdrop Cafe with Washingtonian‘s Fashion Editor

“I’m sorry, I don’t usually do this, but there is a first date happening next to me at this bar that is a soundbite festival of goodness.” — Washingtonian Fashion Editor Kate Bennett. “Here’s a snippet: ‘I mean, I don’t sweat a lot, but when I do it’s pretty bad.’ …’When I do go to a potluck, I always bring something. Always.’”

Goldberg gets hate mail over story on Hagel

“The hate mail I get for saying that Chuck Hagel is friendly to Israel is very hatey. Here’s what they’re reacting to.” — The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg, who links to this Bloomberg View story he wrote with the headline: “Israel Welcomes Hagel, a Friend Bearing Gifts.”

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

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But last night Twitter was a curious place to be as we watched clusters of journalists needle one another and, in some cases, go for the throat without real just cause. Sharpened nerves. An inability to piece together what happened. Heightened tensions in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

They were primed to fight. For example, since when do retweets really mean endorsements? Really never, except for last night when anything could spark a feud.

So much for the wise and largely unheeded advice from Ruth Graham, contributing writer to The Boston Globe‘s ideas section; freelancer for Slate and The Atlantic: “Guys, if you see a tweet that pisses you off today because it’s rude or dumb or political, maybe consider just ignoring it?”

What, and ignore the chance to take your frayed nerves out on someone else like a rabid dog? We’re vaguely reminded of Glenn Close in the bloody bathtub scene of “Fatal Attraction” and her chilling remark, “I mean, I’m not going to be ignored, Dan.”

Among the two big clusters of brawls was another “Glenn.” This one, Politico‘s Glenn Thrush, who attempted to school CNN’s Chris Cuomo on proper bomb coverage. Cuomo wrote, 1. “#Boston – latest. Two bombs exploded. A 3rd pkg was blown up by auth’s. As many as 3 other possible devices being investigated.” 2. “#Boston authorities still searching. Two crude bombs with ball bearings or shrapnel went off. Other pkgs found may have been non-explosive.” 3. “Being told at this point not ruling out one actor theory.”

Thrush lashed out. “Wait–so how did one guy plant the 8 bombs u told us about earlier? …Not being a wise ass — asking u to think before u press send,” Thrush wrote to Cuomo. The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg promptly backed Thrush: “Now on Twitter, Glenn Thrush is teaching Chris Cuomo about journalism. …Just to be clear, I was complimenting Glenn Thrush for teaching Chris Cuomo about the dangers of spreading unconfirmed information.” Cuomo ignored his critics and didn’t respond to any of them.

The other snarl was Politico‘s Dylan Byers versus ClearChannel‘s Colby Hall and BuzzFeed‘s Andrew Kaczynski. Byers, who’s usually pretty mild-mannered on Twitter, and Kaczynski, who occasionally enjoys subtle antagonizing, eventually seemed to warm back up to each other, but not without a few blistering moments when BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief and Twitter father figure Ben Smith, who at different points hired them both, dove in to effectively say, ‘You’re both right.’ Come on Ben, in a good Twitter fight, opposing sides are never both right! But this morning he declared to some involved parties: “No haters.” But life on Twitter is not always so civilized.

Some more spiritual healing ignored by all: “A crisis depletes your emotions,” wrote megachurch pastor Rick Warren, whose popularly isn’t exactly soaring in the gay community. “You must intentionally replenish them. Make a list of what restores you and do those things.”

Restore? How about a brawl on what the real meaning of “retweet” is. Is it a ringing endorsement or sharing facts or innocently presenting a contrasting viewpoint? If you’re Politico‘s Byers, it’s the latter as he shared a diary piece from the conservative RedState; if you’re ClearChannel‘s Hall it’s the former and it appeared to seriously piss him off. And then Byers used profanity and the whole thing got U.G.L.Y.

Colby Hall: “Why promote some random wacko consipiracy [sic] theory?”

Dylan Byers: “Because it’s indicative of what some on far-right are thinking. will matter later.”

Colby Hall: “Or you are just promoting the acceptance of a half-baked theory that is better left ignored.”

Dylan Byers: “Or you are full of shit.”

Colby Hall: “Whoa!”

Dylan Byers: “I’m not promoting anything. I’m showing parameters of conversation.”

Colby Hall: “Now who’s full of shit?”

Dylan Byers: “You think I’m endorsing fringe speculation because I take note of it? I doubt that.”

Colby Hall: But you didn’t just “take note of it”…you brought attention to it by linking to it. so yeah, you promoted it.

Dylan Byers: “Providing link to an article you don’t necessarily agree with is not promoting it. It’s referencing it.”

Colby Hall: “But editorial judgment isn’t just what you link — it’s what you chose not to link to.”

This is about when Andrew Kaczynski jumped into the fray: continued…

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“Former White House communicators enjoy communicating; use newfangled social medias,” Greg Greene, a Democratic operative, tweeted sarcastically with a link to Byers’ piece and a “stop the presses” hashtag. On the other hand, Rick Wilson, a Republican media strategist, called the story “terrific.”

The thing with Byers’ piece — a look at the Twitter activity of former Obama administration officials and aides — is that it doesn’t contain any news. It doesn’t even draw any conclusions. The selling point seems to be that the headline labels the gang of Democrats as “trash-talkers.” And that this trash talking takes place in public via Twitter.

The story notes former Obama adviser David Plouffe who “frequently attacks Karl Rove” on Twitter. Attacking Rove isn’t exactly new. Even Fox News has done that.

And who doesn’t air out criticism on Twitter? And in what way is partisan trash-talking new? It’s not. President Obama‘s team has always talked this way, even before they left the White House or the campaign trail. And they didn’t need Twitter to do it. It’s otherwise known as “campaign politics,” which takes place on TV, radio and at rallies. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney‘s surrogates did it as well (Republican New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu is unforgettable).

The story seems to observe this supposedly new phenomenon where the campaign never ends. continued…

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MSNBC Host Pities the Fool

“April 1: A.K.A. Amateur Night at the Twitter-prov” – Chuck Todd

Gotcha

“Already tricked twice today. And it’s only 8:45. Happy April Fools Day everyone” – NYT‘s Brian Stelter

Dylan Judges You

You guys are supposed to be reporters. Stop effing about with fake news stories, holiday be damned.” – Politico‘s Dylan Byers

Sourpuss

“April Fools’ Day is stupid.” – HuffPost‘s Amanda Terkel

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Politico‘s Dylan Byers shoved a cryptic punch into the last few lines of a post on Schultz: “Sources at MSNBC told POLITICO that that was a very generous interpretation of events. Schultz was pushed out to make way for new talent, they said.” Byers wrote that Schultz would no longer host the weekday program as of April. As stated above, his final weekday show was last night.

“I understand that Politico wrote something about the fact that I’m going to a relatively no mans land for cable news programming,” Schultz said snidely at the close of his show. “Really? Well I guess I wouldn’t want it any other way, because we’re going to build those hours to the best hours in cable. This is what The Ed Show has always been about. This is what The Ed Show is always going to be about. The people on the road, the stories, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, those middle class Americans who are fighting for a fair share, their piece of the pie of this great country. That’s what I want to do, that’s what I’m going to do and I’m looking forward to it.”

Schultz’s farewell, which included an emotional tribute to his wife, Wendy, went so long that he was cut off before he could finish. No doubt he’ll have more to say in his brand new 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekend slot.

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