Say hello to Richard Prince, a veteran journalist who writes “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms,” a news column on diversity issues in the news media, for the website of
the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. He often, and sometimes harshly, calls journalists and publications out for not covering black journos enough and even once hilariously harped on Washington City Paper and FishbowlDC that there were no blacks among the Washington, D.C.’s “Boybanders.” It’s hard to envision a black Ezzy (WaPo‘s Ezra Klein) or Hazy (MSNBC’s Chris Hayes) but life is full of wonderful surprises. Most recently Prince won the Ida B. Wells award for his diverse reporting. Read on…He may have the best new question for the FishbowlDC Interview that we’ve seen so far.

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be?  Dr Pepper.

How often do you Google yourself?  Not as often as I should. Too many
others with the same name.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice
versa)? “Sure, I’ll be happy to take that assignment!”

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Nicholas Kristof of
the New York Times travels the world reporting on outrages that would otherwise get little attention. And he was among the first to take advantage of video. But to call him my favorite would eliminate too many friends and colleagues.

Do you have a favorite word?  Party.

Who would you rather have dinner with – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC’s
Chris Matthews or Fox News’ Megyn Kelly? Tell us why. Matthews would probably produce the most copy.

The Earth’s human population is dying out and you must save it. You
will spend a romantic evening with either Scandal’s Kerry Washington,
any of the women from FNC’s “The Five” or MSNBC’s S.E. Cupp. Who will
it be? (None is not an option.) Kerry Washington.

What swear word do you use most often? Does “damn” count?

You’ve just been told the big news: You get to have your own Sunday
morning talk show. Who will be on your roundtable? (Pick four
journalists or pundits types.) A multicultural grab bag. It would be
counterprogramming.

On a serious note for a moment, if you could have dinner with a person
who has died, who would it be? Wonder what Martin Luther King would
say about the icon he has become.

Who is your favorite Boybander and why? (Ezzy, Hazy, Weigel,
Attackerman, Beutler) Who? Cultural disconnect.

When you pig out what do you eat? Why pig out?

What is your absolute favorite item of clothing in your closet? We want the fabric, the brand, the store and the price if possible. If it’s a certain kind of underwear we don’t want to know about it. A black cotton T-shirt from Kingston, Jamaica inscribed with a map of the city. Cost $1,100 at a tourist store. In
Jamaican dollars.

Pick one: Mad Men, Scandal or Grey’s Anatomy. Mad Men.

Read more

Journos and pundits felt the sting of strangers’ words last night as they covered the debate. Such is the norm these days in online media.

As Matthew Ortega (who’s he? beats us, we’d never heard of his highness before), a hip hop aficionado and a digital director in Washington, proceeded to call us “trash”, RedState Editor and CNN Contributor Erick Erickson was also taking his online beating. “You sir are an idiot,” declared Sam Cantanzaro (i.e. @samsfoodblog).

Even The Fix, WaPo‘s politically neutral blog wasn’t immune. “Losers: you,” remarked @johnspeake. To which the blog’s proprietor, Chris Cillizza, graciously replied, “Always.”

WaPo‘s Ezra Klein lashed out more generally at all pundits, even though he often straddles a delicate line of punditry, journalism and Democratic strategy. “If pundits want to say who won politically, as opposed to on substance, they should wait for polls of actual voters,” he wrote.

Of course there’s always an element of pettiness that emerges on nights like these. “John King needs a haircut. Time pressure of a campaign must be keeping him from the barber,” wrote Ari Fleischer, a bald CNN Contributor who appeared on the network last night alongside the hairy King.

And insults are a pastime. “The fact that Chris Wallace poses as a straight news reporter is a total joke,” wrote ClearChannel’s Colby Hall, referring to the “Fox News Sunday” host “What a douche.”

During the previous debate, CNN Democratic Political Contributor Paul Begala was told to get a brain and grow some hair. This time, the brilliantly named @eatmerawson remarked, “Paul Begala, you always look like you’ve just sucked on a lemon when you speak on air. Eat some more lemons sourpuss.” Eat Me Raw tagged on a smiley face for good measure.

At 11:22 p.m. Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation came unglued and… Read more

The Daily Caller has been running some interesting slideshows as of late. On Sunday night, they prepared everyone for the looming work week by showing sexy women and Donald Trump licking ice cream cones. We don’t know how Trump got lumped in with sexy women, but so be it. The slideshow bore the byline Scoops Delacroix, which has belonged to a variety of reporters at the publication.

Two days earlier, Features Editor Taylor Bigler ran pictures of “The Most Punchable Faces in Media.” And on Saturday they ran “The Most Punchable Faces in Media Part II.” Some journos who made the hit lists: WaPo‘s Ezra Klein, Politico‘s Dylan Byers, Keith Olbermann, BuzzFeed‘s Ben Smith and their own Tucker Carlson and more…

See the shows here and here and here.

Quotes of the Day: The Food Edition

Convo Between Fmr. Flack and Reporter

Politico‘s John Bresnahan: “Love Derek Jeter #TheBestEver”

Quinn & Gillespie’s Jim Manley, former Senate flack: “Love ya-but you are as obnoxious on the tweeter as you are as a reporter. Jeter sucks.”

Destroying their own bread and butter

“Howie, why do the people at home need you and me to tell them what to think?” — The Daily Download‘s Lauren Ashburn in a nerdy video clip with her always nerdy colleague Howard Kurtz. Here she makes a case why no one should listen to pundit types like herself and Howie. HUH?! Watch here.

Travel Complaint Desk

“[obligatory enraged tweet about AMTRAK wi-fi]” — Yahoo! News‘ Olivier Knox.

Quintessential HuffPost story: “11 favorite foods to wrap in bacon”

Awe…

“Speaking at colleges makes me unbearably nostalgic for college.” — WaPo‘s Democratic advisor Ezra Klein. FYI readers, our Ezzy graduated from UCLA, where he earned a B.A. in political science.

Thoughts on cookie dough with righty editor and CNN pundit

“We can’t be the only family in America that makes cookies and eats most of the dough before it goes in the oven.” — CNN and RedState.com’s Erick Erickson.

Necessary Tweet of the Day

“Migraines are so demoralizing.” — TWT arts and entertainment writer and Doublethink fiction editor Kelly Jane Torrance.

Deep Thought to Ponder: “Twitter has driven a number of writers I like and admire totally bananas.” — National Review Online‘s Reihan Salam, who admits to watching a lot of TV’s Full House as a child. Favorite line in his bio: “Despite his controversial eyebrows, he has appeared on CNN, ABC, PBS, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, BBC, CBC, TVO, AJE, RT, HBO, and a number of other television networks that may or may not exist outside of his imagination.”

1. Tucker, bow-ties, page views and the NYT — On Sunday NYT media writer Brian Stelter had a story that’s likely to creep under the skin of some in Washington media. It’s an extremely favorable yarn about The Daily Caller‘s success with a news peg on last week’s 2007 video of President Obama, which some dismissed as over-hyped. The piece states that traffic-wise the outlet has surpassed The Hill and is gaining on The Washington Times. They regard WaPo as among their chief competitors. Memorable line: Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson — “It took me 20 years to realize that wearing a bow tie is like wearing a middle finger around your neck.”

2. Rich Man Poor Man — WaPo, for all its digital irritations, has a great infographic out this morning detailing members of Congress and their wealth. With the click of a mouse, we can see a lawmaker’s net worth and how, for better and worse, they handle their finances. We’re hardly nerds but we could play with this for at least an hour. See here.

3. Our Ezzy turns heads –  Columbia Journalism Review has an absolutely glowing profile out on WaPo‘s Ezra Klein. Via the Politico Playbook, we learn that author Matt Welch writes that Ez is “handsome enough to make the ladies turn their heads, and affable enough that their boyfriends compete for his attentions, too.” The headline on the story by Matt Welch is perfection: “The Boy in the Bubble.” We particularly love that Welch unleashes a Boybander explosion in the second graph and quotes one of Klein’s best buds: “He is just a good explanatory reporter and writer,” says David Weigel of Slate. But this is peculiar: There is one small graph on Klein’s JournoList, which Welch says Ez still defends though he doesn’t offer any quotes from him on it. “If anything, his professional rise has only accelerated in the wake of this kerfuffle,” writes Welch, unable to contain his unstoppable admiration for his story subject.

Quotes of the Day – The Debate Edition

“Is Jim Lehrer sleeping zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?” – GOP Consultant Roger Stone.

“Is that Jim Lehrer’s heart rate monitor on the bottom of the CNN screen?” — Comedian Chris Rock parody account. He also commented on the first lady’s attire, saying, “Michelle Obama is wearing sleeves. This is serious.”

Advice for Lehrer: “I think Jim Lehrer just needs to start randomly yelling “get off my lawn” when he wants to move to the next topic.” — CNN Contributor and RedState‘s Erick Erickson.

And another thing…“Jim Lehrer looks confused, almost fearful. And pale. Awfully pale.” — Bloomberglp’s Dir. of Social Media Jared Keller. And another thing…“Q: Did Jim Lehrer ask to be made up to look like Burgess Meredith?” — Author Eric Metaxas. And another thing…“We’re deep enough into this to say that Jim Lehrer is blowing this as a moderator.” — MetroWeekly‘s Co-Publisher Sean Bugg.

The Word Police

“Obama uses the term ‘ironically’ to mean unfortunately. It drives me crazy when people do that.” — TWT Opinion Writer Emily Miller.

The Observer

“Journalists posting screengrabs of their TV hits is this election’s worst development.” – Politico‘s Patrick Gavin.

Ragging on the Prez

• “Not to pile on, but there is no overstating how irritated Obama looks and sounds tonight. Not a good look for him.” — National Journal “The Hotline Senior Editor Tim Alberta.

• “Pres Obama has really a developed a penchant for talking ….. at considerable length.” — NYT Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Carl Hulse.

• “Obama says it is never mind.. Obama is lost, all he can he do is lie.” — WaPo‘s right-wing blogger Jennifer Rubin.

• “Slowly the left is starting to acknowledge that Obama is losing this debate.” — WaPo‘s Aaron Blake.

• “Obama has many talents as a politician, but debating is not one of them.” — The New Yorker staff writer David Grann.

• “Romney more lively, O has case of slowskis – yet much of debate a ref on Mitt’s econ plan.” — Politico‘s Jonathan Martin.

• “Obama needs some of Romney’s 5-Hour Energy.” — National Journal Deputy Editor James Oliphant.

• “Obama’s use of a boring accent is a pander to boring people.” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

• “Visuals matter. Mute your TV and what do you see? Smiling Romney and peeved, smirking Obama” — National Journal Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier.

Question to Ponder: “Why is Obama looking down so much?” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza.

Something else to Ponder: “Ok, I promise I’m listening and not just focusing on the flag pins, but what is that mark on Romney’s pin?” — Washingtonian‘s Fashion Editor Kate Bennett.

Journo prefers Honey Boo Boo

“Obama, Romney, for your sakes, I hope Honey Boo Boo isn’t on. Because this is getting pretty wonky.” — National Journal’s Elahe Izadi.

A compliment for Romney from the left: “Romney’s been natural and unusually funny in this debate. It’s a very strong performance.” — WaPo‘s left-wing wonk writer Ezra Klein.

Debate Downers

“I’m not picturing the senior citizens of Boca West understanding this debate so far.” — The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg.

“We need to minimize the maximifications of the absolute level of mumbojumbery. Or else, fiscal cliff up the ying yang!” — Reason magazine’s Nick Gillespie.

Ivanka is proud of her dad

“Wow! How many times are the candidates going to mention my father this debate?!? What an honor!” — Ivanka Trump.

What, no bathroom breaks?

“Sometimes I wish I had a catheter.” — Elizabeth Lauten, a.k.a. DCGOPGirl, who reported for CNN during the summer conventions. She added, “Seriously, they ought to have one bathroom break in the middle or something. It’s otherwise inhumane.” (Elizabeth, your catheter for the next debate is in the mail.) 

From the Dept. of Bragiculture 

“Finally hit the big time: Just got an interview request from a Danish high school paper. Some of you will be lucky to say you knew me when.” — The Daily Caller‘s Taylor Bigler.

1. Media bias at a glance: Is WaPo‘s Ezra Klein angling for a job at Breitbart.com? No, not so much. But late Monday afternoon, he published a post with a headline sure to at least initially draw the ire of his conservative compatriots: “The media is biased and so are you.” The story addresses the idea that reporters have great incentive to keep campaign stories provocative enough to keep the reader coming back for more. He writes that there’s a certain natural propensity to root for the underdog candidate. He even has a study to prove it. Read here.

2. A special blend of “news”: From special panda Twitter updates to murder to great horse trails to explore, Washingtonian has it all.

3. The Charmer: Just before 2 a.m. this morning, The Atlantic‘s James Fallows published a quick post on the media that won’t disrupt your already nonexistent attention span. He uses a WaPo headline to explain a complex point regarding the “ongoing struggles of the journalism biz to convey what reporters think is actually happening while trying not to seem opinionated.” Fallows’ headline: “Forgive me for finding this charming.”

Would you wear one of these Ezra Klein?

The Media Research Center is giving out these little ditties today at the Family Research Council’s annual Value Voters Summit at the Omni hotel. No, it’s not a pack of tissues– it’s a T-shirt with an Uncle Sam graphic that shrieks “Don’t believe the liberal media!”

It was handed to us by a cautious staffer working the MRC booth. “It’s a small, but you can have it,” he said. Thanks, I think.

A list of  MRC products and their prices is on the back of the package. This shirt typically sells for $18.75. Other items sold by the MRC:

• Notable Quotables: “A bi-weekly compliation of the most outrageous quotes in the liberal media;” twelve issues for $30 (FBDC tip: you can find these on Twitter for free);
• Flash: “A monthly newsletter full of interesting bits of bias, photos, campaign updates and much more; twelve issues for $25;
• MRC book How to Identify, Expose and Correct Liberal Media Bias; $22.75 per copy.

Both President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney have had their say on the Libya incident, in which a U.S. ambassador was killed Tuesday. Now several bloggers have loaded their guns and are pointing them at the news media.

Romney was widely criticized for his comments on the Obama administration’s handling of the attacks. He said the administration’s own response to the attacks was an “apology” for America.

NYT editorialized that Romney “showed an extraordinary lack of presidential character by using the murders of the Americans in Libya as an excuse … to attack Mr. Obama…” WaPo called Romney’s critique of Obama’s foreign policies “crude.” USA Today said Romney “erred in moving so quickly to make political hay of an unfolding tragedy.”

In a post today, RedState‘s Erick Erickson argues that the media, led by “group think,” wanted the “focus on Romney” rather than what he saw as the president’s own shortcomings on foreign policy. He took names:

“I get that Chuck Todd is a former Democrat hill staffer. I get that the Politico is riddled with Democrats, some former activists and a former staffer for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I get that Michael Scherer from Time magazine is a left wing reporter for Mother Jones and Salon.com turned respectable, “objective” journalist. I get that Ben Smith, leading up Buzz Feed, is a left wing journalist paraded about as if he is some sort of objective reporter at a trendy site full of cat photos. [Editor's Note: Totally forgot to include Journolist and have updated to include it] I get that precious Ezra Klein started Journolist so reporters and political operatives could collaborate on the news and narrative and now he sits at the Washington Post and gets trotted out as a fact checker.”

Erickson, however, does credit Slate‘s Dave Weigel for writing that Romney’s comment wasn’t a gaffe, but a consistent view on foreign policy.

Over at WaPo‘s Right Turn blog, Jennifer Rubin largely made the same argument as Erickson: The collective media didn’t concentrate on the real issue at hand, the death of an ambassador, a delayed response from the White House. “What [Romney] said was valid then, as it remains valid in retrospect…” Rubin wrote today. In a separate post Rubin took another swipe at the media, arguing that conservatives have not turned against Romney as some have suggested. “The mainstream media… decided that Romney was ‘isolated’ or in trouble with Republicans,” she wrote. “Perhaps the media don’t know very many conservatives. Or perhaps they thought a few moldy Beltway insiders were representative of the party at large. … If the media are going to rally to Obama, then, by gosh, conservatives are going to rally to Romney.”

Rubin’s liberal counterpart, Greg Sargent … Read more

Quotes of the Day

LOCKED OUT: WaPo’s Dana Milbank: Mayhem at #dnc2012. Hundreds of delegates, journalists locked out of arena.

Penis sighting

“So yeah. Definitely just walked in on some dude in the bathroom with his pants around his ankles staring in the mirror #dnc2012” — BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton.

WTF Mars Mention of the Evening: “I always figured if Bill Clinton landed on Mars, he would know how to do it. He would know how to reproduce. He would know everything. He’d just instinctively know how to talk to people…the martians.” — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews at 12:53 a.m. opining on Clinton’s vast reproduction knowledge that extends beyond our solar system. Please, someone put Matthews to bed (no pun intended).

Bill Clinton Speech Fallout

“A significant part of this is off prompter. He is using it as notes.” — TIME‘s Michael Scherer.

“The prompter has stopped rolling as Clinton goes off book.” — BuzzFeed‘s Zeke Miller.

“Take away the TelePrompTer, bite his ankle, throw a rat down his trousers, it only raises his game.” — Editor of The New Republic Franklin Foer.

“Bill Clinton is totally ghost ridin’ the script right now.” — Jamelle Bouie, writer for The American Prospect and fellow at the Nation Institute.

“The constant camera flashes in here are going to send Bubba into a seizure #dnc2012″ — Stanton.

“Bubba’s hands are shaking.” — HuffPost‘s Jen Bendery.

“I think Bill Clinton is the gun you bring to a knife fight.” — Metro Weekly Co-publisher Sean Bugg.

“Bill Clinton looks great. @peta may be right about the benefits of a vegan diet.” — HuffPost Deputy Editor Erin Ruberry.

“Man, Clinton is happier than a pig in Arkansas you know what.” — James Oliphant, Deputy Editor, National Journal magazine.

“Clinton is the master. He makes a speech to an enormous crowd feel like a personal talk.” — LAT‘s David Horsey.

“I really don’t understand reporters who think this is too long for a politician to be trying to talk to voters about policy.” — WaPo‘s Ezra Klein.

“This speech was killing it at 15 mins. Now, it’s bordering on a hostage situation.” — Co-host of MSNBC’s The Cycle S.E. Cupp.

“This is moving from ‘greatest speech ever’ to gong territory pretty fast.” — BuzzFeed Political Editor Ben Smith.

“They’re going to need a crowbar to pry Bill away from that podium.” — NYT Op-ed Columnist Charles Blow.

“There’s no way Rahm Emanuel actually thought ‘a broken clock is right twice a day’ was that funny.” — National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg.

“This is like watching a good lawyer defending a guilty man.” — Former Clinton pollster Dick Morris.

“Poor fact checkers, now they gotta spend the night studying 52 years of employment data” — Craig Crawford.

“Same R bloggers who were touting Clinton as the ‘good’ Dem for weeks suddenly talking about sex scandal and perjury again.” — WaPo‘s Greg Sargent.

The Name Dropper

“Caroline Kennedy just walked into our booth. Interview w @DavidMuir #abcworldnews” — ABC News’ Rick Klein.

Dirty jokester

“PLEASE tell me that Sandra Fluke isn’t wearing a blue Gap dress tonight.” — NRA News’ Cameron Gray in a tweet on the night former Prez Bill Clinton is to speak.

INTO THE POOL: “Oops! A wet former treasury secretary Bob Rubin after falling into a pool at a fancy cocktail party in Charlotte.” — Politico‘s Lois Romano with accompanying photograph.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report. Above black and white photograph by Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner.