Good Morning Washington. I really doubt you’re going to guess what local trail the above picture was taken on, but knock yourselves out.

Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line or let us know in the tips box below.

We’ve got your morning mix of media Muesli after the jump…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) appears to have taken a new approach to getting some good ink for his causes: old-fashioned bribery.

Historically, the politicians are the ones who are accused of taking bribes. Reid changed it up on Monday, though, when he interrupted a reporter from National Public Radio — a man who clearly just wanted to ask a question about war funding.

“Public radio — I won’t tell you how much I sent in, but I sent some money in,” Reid said, proving himself by then rattling off the phone number to WAMU 88.5 FM.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

]]> Patrick http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/reid-loves-wamu_b9297#disqus_thread http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/reid-loves-wamu_b9297 http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/reid-loves-wamu_b9297 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:53:46 +0000 Vice President Cheney and his trip to Chicago takes center stage in this pool round-up. We can hardly think of a funnier sight than Cheney mobbed by little girls in the American Girl store.
• “VPOTUS rode into Chicago in a 16-vehicle motorcade accompanied by more than a half-dozen police motorcycles. In traffic en route to the city, the motorcade passed a white van filled with school kids giggling and gesturing. ‘I Farted,’ said the hand-scribbled sign one held up to the window.” — Peter Baker, Washington Post

• “It appeared, though, that for all the tough lines, VPOTUS took out a few of the toughest. An advance text of prepared remarks given to your pool ahead of time had him saying that “the new Democratic majority resembles nothing so much as the McGovernite Party of the early 1970s.” As delivered, though he still compared them to George McGovern, he dropped the words ‘McGovernite Party’ and said “that old party” instead. Likewise, the prepared text had VPOTUS mocking Sen. Harry Reid for claiming the American people supported the Democrats’ war supplemental. ‘Harry Reid may be the only man in America who thinks we need to spend millions of dollars fighting crickets in Nevada in order to win a war in Iraq,’ said the text. But VPOTUS skipped that in the actual speech.” — Baker

• “Afterward, VPOTUS and Liz Cheney made an OTR stop at the American Girl Place around the corner to pick up a gift for her daughter’s seventh birthday party tomorrow. The place was jammed with mothers and daughters hunting for the latest American Girl dolls, clothes and storybooks. At first, many in the intense mob didn’t even recognize VPOTUS. But then a few noticed and began to swarm him. ‘The vice president’s here!’ someone called out. ‘Say, ‘Hi, Mr. Vice President,” another mother instructed her daughter. VPOTUS played blocking back, distracting the crowd by posing for photographs with little girls, two and three at a time, while Liz made her selections.” — Baker

• “VPOTUS, reserved as ever in a crowd, nonetheless took on all comers, agreeably shaking hands and sometimes even smiling for the cameras. He had a wary look in his eye whenever an adult approached, almost as if wondering whether someone would confront him. But none did and everyone seemed excited or at least intrigued to see a famous person up close.” — Baker

• “As the two emerged onto the street, several hundred people were waiting to watch. Some in the crowd pointed excitedly and scattered applause broke out. But a few protesters were on hand as well, holding up signs such as ‘Cheney War Profiteer,’ ‘Cheney War Criminal’ and ‘You Suck, Dick.’ (Another good reason granddaughters should not be reading pool reports.)” — Baker

• “A couple little newslets: Vice President Cheney’s plane hit a bird as it was landing here in Chicago this morning, but Air Force Two touched down safely and no one aboard even noticed, according to Lea Ann McBride. ‘The landing was safe,’ McBride said. ‘The VP was notified immediately after his speech.’ Mechanics are now checking the plane to make sure it will be safe to fly back. No word on the condition of the bird.” — Baker

  New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  ]]> Patrick http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/this-week-in-pool-reports-41_b6543#disqus_thread http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/this-week-in-pool-reports-41_b6543 http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/this-week-in-pool-reports-41_b6543 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:52:13 +0000
• Picking the next president is easier than picking the NCAA College Basketball Champ.

• “NPR Files For Streaming-Royalty Rehearing”

• Michael Murphy joins Fox News Channel’s Washington bureau as the Senior Manager of Media Relations. He was formerly an account supervisor at Ketchum Public Relations in DC.

• Congrats to The Hill for scoring some front-page love on last night’s Colbert Report.

• “Crawling through commercials at MSNBC”

• Dear Author.com reports that Sterling Publishing’s Union Square Press imprint will be putting out a book titled “The United States v. I. Lewis Libby” in April. “The book will be edited by investigative journalist Murray Waas of the National Journal.”

• Sometimes you just can’t win…First, they’re a “GOP Shrill” then “It’s Unanimous: All Dem-Friendly Stories This Morning at The Politico.”

• From a tipster: “Just noticing that ABC has item about 1984 ad, something reported in the Washington Times a week ago.”

• Huh? What is this website all about?

• Howard Kurtz reports, “Fifteen percent of stories on the network evening news in each of the last two years were reported by minorities, an all-time high that is more than double the level of 1990.” Women reported 28 percent of the pieces, just under the high-water mark of 29 percent set in 2002.

• Is washingtonpost.com “spraying bullets“?

• From a tipster: “There’s a new Jeff on K Street. Patch beats Birnbaum to the (same) story … by six days. Who’s editing In The Loop?! “Retailers, Banks Duke It Out Over Transaction Fees” – Jeff Patch, The Politico (March 14, 2007) “Retailers, Credit Card Companies Quibble Over Footing The Bill” – Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, The Washington Post (March 20, 2007) )”

• The AP reports that “about one-third of the people living in the national’s capital are functionally illiterate, compared with about one-fifth nationally, according to a report on the District of Columbia.”

• Cathy Seipp’s daughter, Maia, informs Seipp’s blog readers of her current condition.

• “CBS Leans On Sources & ‘Our Partners At Politico.com’ To Say Gonzales Is A Goner”

• Roll Call made its own March Madness fun, matching each school in the NCAA tourney with its Representative. They will fill in the winners as the tournament progresses.

• Wolf Blitzer drives himself to work!

• E&P reports that despite the toll the Iraq War is taking on papers, “top news outfits, from The New York Times to Associated Press, remain committed to covering the war, with no immediate plans for cutbacks.”

• “If FNC & CBC Partner For Debates… Will We See A ‘Massive Grass-Roots Backlash?‘”

• The AP has a piece on NBC and ABC Iraq correspondents Richard Engel and Terry McCarthy, both of whom have been covering the war since the beginning. “This week their respective networks will be showcasing their work, which has included dodging bullets and escaping carjackings while trying to hold onto a personal life at home.” (via Eat the Press)

• Over the weekend, Slate points out that The Post apparently isn’t much fond of firearms. In a recent piece by Paul Duggan on the overturned ban on handguns, there are phrases like “lawsuit that gutted the District’s tough gun-control statute,” “recruited a group of strangers to sue the city and bankrolled their successful litigation” and even the headline refers to the “lawyer who wiped out [the] D.C. gun ban.”

• Who will win the “I’m Not A Political Genius But I Play One On TV” award?

• Washington Whispers reports that Scott McClellan “is shopping a book proposal around and hopes to land a deal this month.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is also writing a book on his roots and his start in Washington. And… former Sen. Fred Thompson is planning more fundraisers for convicted perjurer Lewis “Scooter” Libby. “Friends say it will help him show conservatives that he not only believes in the Bush team but is not a fair-weather friend.”

• National Journal’s Andrew Noyes reports that C-SPAN “recently decided after some haranguing to expand access to its repository of footage from congressional hearings, federal agency briefings, and White House events.”

• Washington Whispers also reports, “White House spokesman Tony Snow, takes a center-stage role in PBS’s two-hour special, The Boomer Century 1946–2046, on March 28. It will show three pics of Snow: as a kid, playing his rock flute, and dressed up as the prez’s spokesman.”

• In DCist’s opinion, 94.7 “the Globe” is “not half bad.”

• Acorn Media Group, “a leading independent global media company,” announced in a release that Miguel Penella is taking over as the new Chief Executive Officer effective April 1.

• TVNewser reports that David Bloom’s wife, Melanie Bloom, spoke to MSNBC’s Chip Reid yesterday about her husband’s work and his untimely death.

• A reader offers his take on the hot (or lack there of) D.C. journos:
  That’s somewhat ridiculous! There are literally thousands of working journalists in the D.C. area. To assume that not one of them — I’m referring to girls here, since that’s my particular focus — isn’t “hot” is just a ridiculous generalization. The short answer is “yes.” In fact, there are “hot,” or attractive, women at small local papers in the suburbs, at papers in the Baltimore area, at papers, radio stations, television stations and internet sites throughout the D.C. area, and at many of the bureaus of the larger national publications in those offices at the National Press Building. There are attractive women at newsletters, publishers, p.r. firms, lobbying firms, marketing firms, and whatever else type of journalism office you can name. All you need to do is head out to social events (not even the high-end glitzy ones — those are bogus) such as happy hours, get-togethers, parties and Press Club functions, and you’ll see that there are literally plenty of attractive single women in journalism throughout the Baltimore and D.C. metropolitan areas.

• Gawker’s “ThemTube: Spinning Tucker’s Bow Tie”

• In addition to losing some comics from the Post, DCist reports, “There’ll be a few other changes, too, including the removal of some panel cartoons in favor of others and the tossing-in of six-days-a-week Scrabble Gram and Stickelers puzzles.”

• DCeiver exposes the Washington Post’s sports bias.

  New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  ]]> Patrick http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/taking-out-the-trash-03-20-07_b6078#disqus_thread http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/taking-out-the-trash-03-20-07_b6078 http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/taking-out-the-trash-03-20-07_b6078 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:53:27 +0000
• Bolo tie wins. Just goes to show there is a difference between should wear and will wear.

• Jack Shafer on words journalists should not use.

• “Cheney, media to take stand in Libby perjury case”

• An ABC release announced that Charles Gibson will anchor ABC’s coverage of the State of the Union from Capitol Hill. “He will be joined by George Stephanopoulos, Martha Raddatz, Jake Tapper, and Kate Snow in Washington and Dan Harris in Baghdad.” Gibson will also interview Sen. Barack Obama after the Democratic response.

• Washingtonian remembers Art Buchwald, by showcasing a column of his he wrote for publication over 40 years ago.

• Washington Post’s Deborah Howell highlights readers’ concerns about recent “omissions” in throughout the publication.

• Elizabeth Vargas is on today’s Oprah Show discussing her “excruciating decision” between her job and her child.

• Washington Business Journal reported that the Washington Post Co. added Thomas Gayner, the executive vice president and chief investment officer of Markel Corp., to its board.

• Julie Mason blogs about President Bush‘s preferred nickname for USA Today’s David Jackson: “Action Jackson”

• New York Times’ Neil Lewis explores the effects of the Scooter Libby trial on the relationship reporters have with government officials and how “news organizations reconsider the pledges their journalists may make.”

• Wonkette discusses David Bradley’s feelings for Andrew Sullivan. Somebody sounds smitten.

• A reader asks, “What is with the National Press Club and the luncheons and speeches it sponsors. Seems as if they are sponsoring only liberal democrats which only gives fodder to those crazed charges of a liberal media from Rush Limbaugh and his like.” The first few weeks of January included George McGovern, Sens. Ted Kennedy and Harry Reid, and Reps. Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi.

• Finally, a real list of Washington area happy hours.

• The Des Moines Register offers a local look at the C-SPAN Campaign 2008 bus which launched in Des Moines.

• Eric Boehlert on “the media’s Clinton-Obama obsession.”

• “NPR News will offer a live broadcast and audio streaming of President Bush’s State of the Union Address and the Democratic response on Tuesday, January 23 starting at 9pm ET. Michele Norris, host of All Things Considered, anchors the special news coverage with NPR correspondents, political analysts and members of Congress providing analysis of a number of key themes in the President’s address. This will be the first State of the Union Address to a Democratic Congress in 12 years. The following morning, Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition will offer additional coverage with post-address analysis and up-to-the-minute news generating from the nation’s Capitol. In addition to offering a live audio stream of NPR’s complete coverage, www.NPR.org will also provide a comprehensive look at the President’s address, analysis and reaction from key members of Congress, and additional audio clips.”

  New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  ]]> Patrick http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/taking-out-the-trash-01-23-07_b5144#disqus_thread http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/taking-out-the-trash-01-23-07_b5144 http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/taking-out-the-trash-01-23-07_b5144 Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:56:51 +0000