For its White House Correspondents’ Dinner party, BuzzFeed brought its entire politics team to D.C., but one of its members was noticeably absent from the party.

Andrew Kaczynski, the prolific tweeter and Internet video resurfacer, skipped out. He was at the actual Dinner, the one BuzzFeed had failed to secure a table at. CSPAN brought him as a guest.

“It must be nice, right,” BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith told FishbowlDC that night. “He’s like our celebrity.”

Even without their own version of a celebrity in attendance, the party was packed with hundreds of people, causing long waits at the bar, but even worse: Long lines outside to even get in. Senior Press Director Ashley McCollum manned the mess outside. At one point the general guest line stretched almost 100 people-deep.

For Dorsey Shaw, BuzzFeed‘s resident TV news watcher, it was his first time down from New York since the publication celebrated the launch of it’s Washington bureau in early August last year. He told us he was disappointed that he wouldn’t have time to see the monuments and other sights but that he’d make sure to schedule them in next time he’s in town. (He ended up being able to schedule in some time to see them Sunday, we hear.)

What and who else did we see? Read more

Newark Mayor and and possible Senate hopeful Cory Booker may be popular on Twitter, but he may be a bit of a baby with the media.

In a story over the weekend, Politico‘s Maggie Haberman writes,

“Booker initially agreed to be interviewed by POLITICO, rescheduled twice, then canceled 20 minutes after a reporter asked for comment on criticisms he had received from a prominent New Jersey Democrat about how he’s handled his campaign rollout.”

Booker did appear on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” Friday night and was presumably supposed to provide a contrast to USA Today‘s Jackie Kucinich and actress Eva Longoria, who wore her hair in a bouncy high ponytail. The show isn’t the easiest, but then again Booker kept his ramblings vanilla and did nothing to make himself stand out in any way.

Haberman, meanwhile… Read more

This Friday USA Today‘s Jackie Kucinich will appear on HBO Bill Maher‘s Real Time for the first time. The other guests will be Alex Gibney, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, actress Eva Longoria and Sam Harris.

Quotes of the Day - the Oprah-Lance Armstrong edition.

From the Dept. of Bragiculture…

“WE BEAT GAWKER BY 25 MIN ON BANGS STORY!” — WaPo‘s Reliable Source on finally getting a story within spitting distance of another gossip outlet. The item concerned first lady Michelle Obama’s new hairstyle, which involves bangs.

The Media Observer

“Favorite line from inaug committee warning abt Metro: ‘You will have to stand in close proximity to several thousand people’” — NYT‘s Washington Deputy Bureau Chief Carl Hulse.

Editor wants Christian Mingle to leave him alone

“Dear Christian Mingle, stop sending me emails.” — Eboné Bell, Managing Editor of Tagg magazine, Hip Hop Cardio Instructor, & Founder of Capital Queer Prom.

Oprah’s masterful interview skills

“Oprah rules. She is REALLY good at this. Just a master interviewer.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza. Also: “Lance is the least sympathetic apologizer possible. I feel ZERO empathy with him.”

“Oprah is a hell of a good interviewer.”– CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin.

“This is as much am exercise in journalism as confession. The packages Oprahs guys are dropping in help people who are new to the story.” — NYT‘s David Carr.

“I’m not feeling Lance but I’m loving Oprah. She is a first class interviewer.” — Washingtonian Publisher Cathy Merrill Williams.

“I love Oprahshe just goes straight in! #BOOM” — Essence and theGrio columnist Sophia Nelson.

The Best of… on Oprah & Lance

“Oprah tells crowd to look under their chairs where they discover rotten vegetables to throw at Lance. That interview I would watch.” — Reuters‘ Sam Youngman.

“Every asshole should get to do an interview with Oprah.” — New York Daily News‘ Josh Greenman.

“Mike Wallace would have filleted Lance Armstrong like a fish.” — Politico‘s Roger Simon.

(Fake Oprah Question): “Did you ever have sex with a dead wizard’s body for magical powers?” “Yes” — The Guardian and Salon freelancer Jim Newell during the “yes or no” only portion of the interview.

“For the judging media, remember the ‘culture’ that allows for enhancements that help your job (whisky, Adderoll, whisky).” — FNC’s Greg Gutfeld.

“I read his book, I supported LiveStrong- so awful to watch him tonight – he seems mostly sorry he got caught!” — NBC4′s  Doreen Gentzler.

“So Lance’s drug use was real and Manti’s gf was fake. Got it.” — USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich.

“I feel like this is a public therapy session.” — CNN AC360′s Devna Shuka.

“If I’ve learned anything from this Lance Armstrong interview, it’s he’s a high school girl. Stab you in the back without breaking a sweat.” — Social Media Editor for NBC Washington Cheryl Thompson.

“If Lance Armstrong cared about ratings, he would have done interview on 60 Min. Not a cable network nobody watches.” — Alex Conant, U.S. GOP Sen. Marco Rubio‘s press secretary.

“You did not just make a fat joke to Oprah.” — Lizzie O’Leary, whose Twitter bio says simply, “apsiring Hildy Johnson.”

“When does Oprah roll out the wagon of fat?” — ClearChannel‘s Colby Hall. Also: “First clue that I am not on one of my regular viewing channels: seeing ads referencing transvaginal mesh.”

“Fun continuity game: watch water levels in Lance & Oprah water glasses for edit jumping. Straws are an odd touch, too.” — Politico‘s Steve Friess.

Daily Caller reporter takes nasty swipe at CNN’s Piers Morgan...

Read more

Quotes of the Day

From USA TODAY‘s Jackie Kucinich, who writes, “Good to know…”

Travel Taunting: “Shockingly large number of air travel rookies today. Guy from Bloomberg: ‘Do I have to take my laptop out?’” — National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg. Wino Watch: “Dulles bar near gate to Tampa uncorking vino already. Here comes the press!” — Washington Examiner “Washington Secrets” writer Paul Bedard.

Ana off the wagon?

“@ananavarro: In my mathematic formula: Should always pack more shoes than days for a convention. Same holds for bottles of wine.”#approve — The Guardian‘s Ana Marie Cox. Ana Navarro is a Republican pundit for CNN.

Deep Travel Thoughts: “Try to not point out flaws in stupid shit on airplanes right after boarding if you want your flight to take off on time. Or at all.” — House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa‘s (R-Calif.) Press Sec. Becca Glover Watkins. And from Sen. Orrin Hatch‘s (R-Utah) Comm Dir. and Senior Advisor Antonia Ferrier: “Airports on little sleep is a bad idea.”

“A quad of talent in Tampa.” — NBC Audio OP Steve Mitnick. The photograph includes NBC Correspondents Chuck Todd, Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News Senate Producer Libby Leist and NBC Producer Doug Adams.

Tampa Hair and the fight against humidity

“Getting hair and makeup done for @CNN with @crowleyCNN in an hour. Artists putting up a valiant fight against humidity.” — WaPo‘s Karen Tumulty.

“Uh oh forgot my flat iron. There is going to be some serious crazy Zito hair going on in Tampa.” — Pittsburgh Tribune-Review‘s Salena Zito.

Speaking of a good blowdry…

“I can probably put down blowdrying rain-soaked shoes as one of the few things I will not miss about living in this city.” — Former TWT White House reporter Kara Rowland, a gradate student at the London School of Economics.

What could possibly go wrong? “Renting a car for the next two weeks. Haven’t driven in something like 3 years.” — Ashley McCollum, press manager for BuzzFeed.

Tampa-wear: What should she wear?

“Packing for Tampa. Help me out, tweeps: What does one wear to a hurricane?” — BuzzFeed‘s newest scribe Rebecca Berg.

From L to R: Benjy Sarlin, Sara Libby and Evan McMorris-Santoro. “Good morning Team @TPM! #travel buddies.” — Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner.

Hurricane Watch: “Hurricane, meet Hurricane. Speaker Newt ‘I will be the nominee” Gingrich on my plane to Tampa.’” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Poor Howie! Alone with a bagel.

“The sad sight of Howard Kurtz eating a bagel alone in a Holiday Inn at 7am.” — The Guardian‘s Richard Adams. Meanwhile, Howiella is en route to Tampa. “On a flight to Tampa with @BobCusack and @thehill Editor-in-Chief Hugo Gurdon.#partytime” — The Hill‘s gossip scribe Judy Kurtz (a.k.a. Howiella, Howlma, Howeesha, etc..)

Huh, really?  

“If you are a political reporter, Tampa is the place to be this week. #protip” — Newsweek‘s Eli Lake.

Corn lost, pissed without MSNBC

“And this damn hotel doesn’t have MSNBC. Just Fox and CNN. Figures. We’re blowing the joint this AM.” — Mother Jones D.C. Bureau Chief and MSNBC Contributor David Corn.

WORLDS COLLIDE

“Sitting next to @BretBaier on flight to Tampa. A very nice guy. By the way, live @CNNSitRoom 6PM ET today. He’s not live today.” — CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Hallelujah! TBD Twitter account officially sinks. Who cares that it happened two weeks after its death?

Radio host is all ears

“I talk on the radio but most impt thing I do is listen, esp on matters of Race. And if you listen carefully you even hear what’s left unsaid.” — NPR’s Michele Norris.

The admission: “Going on CNN’s ‘Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz’ this morning to say regrettable things I will certainly try to weasel out of.” — Politico‘s Roger Simon.

Journo needs The Weather Channel

“Seems to be getting windy in Tampa this morning. What’s that about?” — CNBC and NYT‘s John Harwood.

A new airport game: Spot the Reporter

“ON WAY TO TAMPA: 20-something girls near me in airport were briefly playing ‘spot the reporter.’ Guess lack of ‘press’ hat disguised me?” — CNN’s Lisa Desjardins.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

By Eddie Scarry and Betsy Rothstein

HBO’s drama Newsroom debuted Sunday night. The series tells the story of an easily agitated cable news anchor played by Jeff Daniels who has a public meltdown at Northwestern University resulting in a mass exodus of his staff. What’s a newsroom without a resident alcoholic, a wonk and a love triangle? Sam Waterston plays the drunken president of ACN who tells Daniels privately that he loved the meltdown. Dev Patel plays a perfect wonk. Who wouldn’t love to have him on their news team? A former love interest played by Emily Mortimer takes over his program as executive producer with plans to shake up the newscast for better or worse. And the love triangle: Daniels’ assistant played by Alison Pill is seeing an arrogant ass of a reporter (Thomas Sadoski) in the newsroom who doesn’t want to get too serious. Will she shack up with the new guy played by John Gallagher (check him out below)? Stay tuned…

Gawker published a favorable review by broadcasting legend Dan Rather. If subsequent episodes are as good as the first, he wrote, “then [Newsroom creator] Aaron Sorkin has a winner.”

ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper was less kind. In TNR, he called the show “sadly disappointing.” Similarly negative reviews were published in the NYT, WaPo and The New Yorker magazine.

We asked around to see what Washington’s media thought about the show. Sadly the viewing community, minus Slate‘s Dave Weigel, wasn’t large. And among those who watched, most abhorred it while a small minority of journalists are on the fence and plan to keep watching.

“Didn’t watch… don’t plan to… why do I want to spend my down time watching a fictionalized account of what I supposedly do for a living?” — NBC’s Chuck Todd

“So badly do I but I don’t get HBO despite trying to get it specifically so I could watch this show. I need someone to rent me a living room with HBO next weekend so I can check it out.” — RCP’s Erin McPike

“Going into the show I was highly skeptical, but you know I was entertained. Was it the west wing? No.  True to life? no (I’ve never seen a bottle of whiskey in my newsroom) but a quality first outing. I think it got the energy of a newsroom right. I’ll watch next week.One knock, but its kind of part of the Sorkin playbook…it got a touch preachy. I do wish the newsroom had a breaking news siren or something. — ABC7′s Kris Van Cleave

“Not sure I feel one way or another about it yet. I did identify with some of the situations, the environment and some of the characters, but I wasn’t fully convinced. Plus, the best part was the on-stage meltdown. It slowed considerably after that. Enjoyable but not addictive – at least not yet.” — CNN’s Matt Dornic

“I got rid of cable when I was watching too many “real” housewives. When I found myself wasting my time watching Kimmie’s wig pulled off on the streets of Atlanta – and my kids glued to Cartoon Network – cable had to go … Leaves me more time to read Fishbowl.” — ABC7′s Rebecca Cooper

“If the point of The Newsroom was to leave West Wing fans feeling a bit embarrassed, Sorkin succeeded. However, I am excited to share this experience with Twitter until the show ends.” — The Heritage Foundation’s Director of Communications Rory Cooper

“Didn’t watch. Think I’ll wait then tackle three or four episodes in one sitting.”– Politico‘s Dylan Byers

“Didn’t watch, though did enjoy Sorkin’s A Few Good Men on (I think) TNT Saturday”– Politico‘s Alex Burns

“I did, largely because 1) the negative reviews/profiles were so succulent and 2) I needed to procrastinate. Maybe Dan Rather is right, and people in print media just don’t understand whether or not this feels REAL. (When I do MSNBC, I’m sort of an in-and-out guest in the newsrooms and studios, so I have not seen a newsroom burst into action to chase down BP statements.) That said… seriously, they broke the BP story wide open because they ran with the new guy’s two sources? Isn’t that how the Paris correspondent gets in trouble in “The Imperfectionists”?”– Slate’s Weigel.

“I am probably the only person in D.C. whose job it is to write about entertainment and did not tune in. I’ll watch it when I get home tonight, but from all of the scathing reviews I have pretty low expectations, which is disappointing because I love a good walk and talk. I have “Sports Night” queued up on Netflix in case I need to cleanse my palette afterward.”– The Daily Caller‘s Taylor Bigler

“I turned off HBO after True Blood, the Newsroom’s plot just seemed too dark and twisted.” — USA Today‘s Jackie Kucinich

“Tedious.” — The Daily Caller‘s TV Reporter Jeff Poor

“No, didn’t watch watch it and won’t watch it.. I work in a newsroom. Why in god’s name would I then go home and watch a show about working in a newsroom? Give me an episode of Game of Thrones!” — NBC’s Andy Gross

“I thought it was mostly fun, albeit pretty melodramatic with the various speeches, especially the ones delivered by the Brit woman. Plenty of news organizations are “popular” without pandering to one audience or another. Thought Jeff Daniels was great as a cynical, beaten-down new sguy who could have been a print or digital person as well as a TV one.” — BusinessWeek‘s Bryan Gruley

“I didn’t watch. I’m lame.” — NYT‘s Mark Leibovich

“Sorry, In ATL this week for a conference. Didn’t see it.” — HuffPost‘s Christina Wilkie

See more responses from Washington journos…

Read more

Wednesday night was the 4th annual Congressional Women’s Softball game. It’s one of the official kickoffs of summer for D.C. and it pits a gathering of female journos against a bi-partisan collection of female politicians. The journos were led by team captains Amy Walter from ABC News, Abby Livingston from Roll Call and Brianna Keilar from CNN. The captains for the Congressional team were Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).

The announcers for the game were Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. Klobuchar acknowledged early in the game that she might have problems with all the baseball terms since she had spent “all day debating catfish and the farm bill.”

The journos, who call themselves “The Bad News Babes,” got off to an early start with AP’s Kasie Hunt getting a base hit to start the game. The cheering section for the members of Congress was mostly made up of staffers, although Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor made appearances.

It wasn’t long before relentless attention whore Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took over the microphone to help call the game. He said that Gillibrand, who was pitching the the Congressional team, reminded him of “a young Whitey Ford.” This prompted Mitchell to tell the senator it was time for him to “go back to the stands.” Other notables in the crowd included the recently-announced D.C. Bureau Chief for Buzzfeed, John Stanton, Sec. of Labor, Hilda Solis and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) with his wife, Elizabeth. It’s worth noting that the congressman was on the Bad News Babes side of the field to cheer on his daughter, Jackie Kucinich of USA Today.

Wednesday was the official start of summer and, right on cue, it was hot as hell. So, we can hardly fault John Harwood for guzzling one of the free purple Gatorades being handed out at the game. Also spotted was MSNBC’s Luke Russert sporting this loud pink T-shirt and a backwards Buffalo Bills hat. His buddy, Politico’s Jake Sherman, dressed himself with a little more sanity.

The Bad News Babes poured on the offense for most of the game until House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi arrived late in the game. That’s about the time that the Congressional bats opened up and made the game competitive again. In the end, the press was too much for Congress and they won 13-10. We asked Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner, who went 3-3 in the game what the key to the win was. She says, “Other than the innate killer instincts of reporting applied gracefully to a baseball diamond? My biased analysis is that we out-classed and out-sassed the other side, led by our three tireless captains, Abby, Amy and Bri. My former sports reporting analysis says the key to our win was what I like to call sports amnesia–forgetting the last play or inning and coming back stronger. I was especially impressed by Abby and our third baseman/relief pitcher Gregory Simmons, who even in times of softball duress both showed the mental grit we needed to win.”

Congratulations to the Babes on their win. The event raised awareness for breast cancer and benefited the Young Survivors Network, a group that assists women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

One of the most entertaining stories we’ve read  lately was published this week by Roll Call’s John Stanton about tattoos in the U.S. Congress. Stanton let us know which members of Congress are sporting ink under their buttoned up suits. Some have small reminders of time in the service or of their heritage. Others, like Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) have half-sleeves that cover their upper arms. Stanton reports:

“So if, as lawmakers are so fond of saying, Congress is indeed a reflection of America, it would follow that some 60 Members of the House and 16 Senators have found themselves at least once under the gun, so to speak.”

Stanton revealed that he has ink of his own. He has a total of eight tattoos and he tells FBDC that his “right sleeve is almost done and my upper left arm is almost done. I have an ink well and quill tattoo, a tattoo of a harp carved from bog wood that my great grandmother brought from Ireland, among others.” Stanton’s stature combined with his well-known tattoos sparked plenty of instant reaction via Twitter on Tuesday.

Christina Bellantoni of PBS’ NewsHour says, “I’ve been waiting for this story for 2 years.” Mike Madden of Washington City Paper says, “File under ‘write what you know.’” USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich tweets, “It is pure poetry that @bigjohnrc wrote this story about lawmakers with ink.”

Yahoo’s Chris Moody wrote his own take on the Stanton’s piece and including that “he’s pretty much the perfect reporter to write the story.”

Say what you will about the competitive nature of journalism, we lost count of how many retweets and kind words were spread around the internet. It reached a feverish breaking point to where NY Mag’s obviously cantankerous Assoc. Editor Dan Amira snapped, “Ok, we get it Roll Call, you have an article on tattoos.”

While Stanton “outed” several members of Congress for having tattoos, it’s interesting to note that none of the lawmakers who admitted to having the ink would pose for a picture showcasing their body art. So, while these politicians will talk freely about their tats, they clearly still feel that there is a stigma attached to coming clean with their body art.

Quotes of the Day

Campaign trail transport: the golf buggy

“Oh my. Have arrived for Gingrich rally at The Villages. It’s a retirement town, main mode of transport: the golf buggy.” — The Times of London‘s Nico Hines with the accompanying photograph.

Ron Paul doesn’t want granny naked at airport

“It’s a bureaucratic monster…prodding and probing without permission. They trap us into it. There’s no way you can travel if you don’t do it. When you look at some of these pictures of probing groin areas and breast areas and old women having to take their clothes off, it doesn’t make us safe, it undermines our liberties. That is totally unacceptable in my viewpoint.” — GOP Presidential hopeful Ron Paul to CNN’s Candy Crowley Sunday.

Journo spots dusty child at museum

“Dear @airandspace museum, please vacuum under Skylab. A 3-yr-old got covered in dust crawling underneath.” — The Guardian‘s Richard Anderson.

Scribe inundated by Jon Ward

“Every time my phone blinks with new email, I momentarily think it’s a person before discovering again that it’s just a new @jonward11 story.” — Roll Call‘s Meredith Shiner in reference to HuffPost‘s Jon Ward.

Goofy humor

“Gingrich says insinuating he isn’t a true conservative is ‘goofy’ – breaking: Goofy asks Gingrich to apologize #disneyjokesbcweareinorlando.” — USA Today‘s Jackie Kucinich.

Hazy has spoken.

“Every time there is an allegation of rape or sexual assault in the press, I am further convinced that the media has no idea how handle it.” — D.C. -turned N.Y. Boybander and MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Campaign reporter promises to glitter bomb himself

“Some people call you pornbots. I call you my base #nearing5000followers.” — Reuters‘ Sam Youngman. And then: “Just passed 5K. Gonna glitter bomb myself. Thanks much, y’all. We’re just getting started.”

From the Road

“There don’t seem to be any chick fil a’s on the Florida Turnpike. #dashedlunchplans” — The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza, who later appeared to be lost when he wrote, “May have taken a wrong turn.” The accompanying picture had the big sparkling sign that read: Disney World. (The aforementioned quote is dedicated to CNN’s Matt Dornic.)

Quotes of the Day

Mediabistro hosted a party at Science Club Tuesday night. Reporters, PR types, freelancers and more showed up and packed the bar. Discussion centered on the usual meet, greet and what’s your day job kind of banter. But a certain male of Germanic roots was overheard asking what a jock strap was. A lengthy (amusing) explanation from a friend followed with an even longer explanation of what the friend did for a living — something pertaining to eBay, perfume and advertising. Spotted mingling in the crowd were Drake Lundell, Assoc. Editor of The Kiplinger Letter, Federal News Radio Producer Jamie Blanco and Laureate’s Randy Serrano. American Enterprise Institute’s Stu James was there serving as a spy and Mediaite White House Correspondent’s Tommy Christopher‘s bodyguard should one be needed. He was sitting in a booth dressed in flannel. The above trio (from L to R): Veronica Santa, Maryam Sabbagh and Alfonso Pernia.

Photograph in Statuary Hall by Cox Radio’s Jamie Dupree: “PLEASE STAND BY: Back in a little while from the State of the Union Mosh Pit in Statuary Hall.” 

Jake and Luke to tie the knot?

“With all these media types in stat hall now might be the time to poll em on what to give @jakesherman and @lukerussert for their wedding” — the Henry Clay Statue, of the U.S. Capitol, during last night’s State of the Union. He (we assume it’s a “he”) was referring to fast friends NBC’s Luke Russert and Politico‘s Jake Sherman. Clay also got feisty with ABC News White House Correspondent Jake Tapper, who remarked, “Statuary Hall/ Next to Brigham Young statue/ State of my Union #SOTUHaiku.” Clay cracked, “Ooooh, you’re too good for me are you?” But it turns out Clay might be trouble. He also remarked, “True story, at last year’s #SOTU I caught [FNC's] Chad Pergram eating mushrooms behind the Andrew Jackson statue. Tripped his ass off.” He also remarked, menacingly, “I’m watching you [USA Today's] Jackie Kucinich!”

SOTU Observer

“Huge, drawn-out yawn from the gentle lady sitting in the third row center of the chamber. #sotu” — Yahoo! News’s Chris Moody.

Insight is…

“DC has been a relatively quiet place in recent weeks but it feels like all eyes are on Washington for the SOTU tonight.” — The Hill‘s White House Correspondent Amie Parnes.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.