Karin Tanabe - FishbowlDC

Tanabe’s Second Book: ‘Lots More Sex!’

Eddie Scarry — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:00:40 +0000

Karin Tanabe, formerly a reporter at Politico CLICK, just had her first novel, The List, published in February and she’s already churning out another.

Publisher’s Marketplace, a forum for publishers and authors to promote their work, just posted a synopsis for the forthcoming book titled Lot 24. It reads:

… Tanabe’s Lot 24 [is] about a hot young antique furniture specialist at Christie’s in NYC who discovers a mysterious piece of Middle Eastern pottery that sends her career and her love life into a tailspin…

Tanabe told FishbowlDC that the release date for the book is currently summer 2014. Even though the book, unlike her first one, isn’t about politics and journalism, she said it isn’t “devoid” of either. “It’s hard to totally leave what you know,” she said.

Also unlike her debut novel, which was loosely based on her former colleagues at Politico, Lot 24 will be steamier. “There’s also lots more sex!” Tanabe said. continued…

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Politico Editors Spotted Reading Tanabe’s Book

Betsy Rothstein — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:30:00 +0000

In an interview with Deborah Kalb, ex-Politico writer Karin Tanabe, who wrote The List, a novel based on her experiences working at the male-dominated, competitive publication where long hours are a given, spilled a few more details on the aftermath of writing the controversial book.

For instance, some Politico reporters have refused to read the book and shun those that do. Still, some editors couldn’t resist.

“Well, I haven’t heard anything negative except a murmur that a few reporters there refuse to read my book and chastise others for doing so! Fair enough. But I’ve also heard that two editors were spotted reading it inside the newsroom and I’ve had wonderful support from friends who are still there and friends who have gone on to other media jobs.”

Tanabe, who lives in Washington and Dubai, is working on another book about the auction industry. Her protagonist works at Christie’s in New York.

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Ex-Politico’s Karin Tanabe: ‘I was Terrified’

Eddie Scarry — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:55:20 +0000

Ex-Politico staffer Karin Tanabe revealed last night that there will be a sequel to her fictional book The List. “There’s got to be a sequel,” she said at a party celebrating the publication of her first book.

Though The List is a kind of fictional tell-all about Tanabe’s tenure at Politico, several current staffers still showed up to offer congratulations. Former employees showed up as well, including Kendra Marr Chaikind, who was fired from the publication in 2011.

“I wrote it really fast in secrecy,” Tanabe said in a short speech to the room of 70-ish attendees. She started it in the summer of 2011 while still working at Politico. “I was terrified,” she said.

Tanabe acknowledged other Politico “survivors” in the room (some of whom could be heard trading jokes about Politico) and said her book is about “paying homage” to reporters working in today’s new media environment. Of new media, she said, “It’s easier to make your career but also break your career.”

At one point, what appeared to be the cast of D.C. Housewives swooped in and had their photo snapped by the photographer. Among the women (and wearing all sorts of furs and leathers) were… continued…

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Ex-Politico Employee: ‘The Nightmare is Over’

Betsy Rothstein — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:31 +0000

A former Politico reporter related all too well to Karin Tanabe‘s newly published work of fiction, The List, in which she offers a veiled glimpse of her former workplace and coworkers. Although the book’s description is fairly tame, doesn’t name names or come close to kicking the high octane news outlet in the teeth quite like the recent stories from ex-Politico Michael Calderone, now at HuffPost, at least one former employee publicly resonated with her account.

The quote below comes from Stephanie Christensen, a media coordinator, who left Politico in July of 2011. See the lovely Playbook farewell from Mike Allen after the jump.

@karintanabe reading The List, all those old anxieties are coming right back. You nailed it! I have to remind myself the nightmare is over

— Stefanie Christensen (@skchristensen) February 8, 2013

continued…

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Fishbowl5 With Politico’s Ex-Karin Tanabe

Eddie Scarry — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:55:35 +0000

Karin Tanabe‘s novel The List, heavily based on her experience as a reporter at Politico, publishes Tuesday. She spent the last year in Dubai working for ITP Publishing, a British magazine company.

As of this week, Tanabe’s back in Washington, working on her next fictional book. Today, she completed the Fishbowl5.

1. Why write a type of kiss-and-tell book about Politico in fiction format? And how much of the main character is based on you?

I worked in journalism for a decade, but I was always a journalist who wanted to end up a fiction writer, it just took a little while. I definitely looked to my experiences at Politico for inspiration for The List but newsroom life without a heavy dose of fiction would make a bit of a dull read. Politico is an eerily quiet newsroom and I didn’t want to write a quiet book!

As for Adrienne Brown, my main character, her job as a Style reporter was very much based on mine as a CLICK reporter for Politico and her struggles between ethics and ambition were based on my experiences, but the similarities fizzle from there. When I wrote her character, I pictured a young, stylish woman coming from the glamorous world of New York fashion magazines and I thought about what working as a Washington journalist in new media would be like for her. How would she react to the power culture of D.C? Would she become one of these people who lives and breathes her job? For me, though I did go to Politico from a magazine background, I knew D.C. and the wonk culture very well, so Politico wasn’t a shock to the system.

2. Do you think your book will upset Jim VandeHei or John Harris or anyone else at Politico? What do you think the writers there will think after reading?

I don’t think it will upset VandeHei, Harris or other Politico editors and reporters, honestly. The mile-a-minute culture of Politico is not something the higher-ups have ever tried to keep a secret, nor do they attempt to fight the stereotypes about the office. I think their model works for them and if people don’t agree with it, so be it. Do they lose some good reporters and editors because they don’t fit the Politico mold? I think they have, but Politico attracts some of the brightest and hardest working journalists around and I definitely became a better writer and journalist when I worked there.

In the newsroom I present in The List, I write about sexism, favoritism and plenty of other hot button topics. Was all that inspired by Politico? I’ll leave it to readers to decide.

3. The main character thinks about sex a lot. Is she a complete freak in the sheets?… continued…

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Ex-Politico Scribe Dishes In ‘The List’

Eddie Scarry — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:27:58 +0000

If there were any doubt as to whether the stuff reported about the culture in Politico‘s newsroom were true, look no further than Karin Tanabe‘s to-be-released novel, The List.

The plot centers on a 20-something reporter who leaves a “cushy” New York magazine job for D.C.’s “hottest (and most cut-throat) political rag.” It’s well known that the fictional “political rag” is inspired by Politico, where Tanabe used to work as a “Click” gossip reporter.

FishbowlDC received an advance copy of The List, which publishes next month. Even in the first two chapters, we found relatively unflattering stories about Politico‘s newsroom. Nothing we haven’t read before, but negative, nonetheless.

Take the protagonist, Adrienne Brown, who on her first day as a style reporter at the Capitolist (a.k.a. Politico fictionalized) is treated to “awkward cake.” Last summer HuffPost‘s Michael Calderone reported about this real-life thing inside Politico, indeed referred to by staffers as “awkward cake.” In other words, the dessert presented to the newsroom to bid farewell to a staffer. (By the way, this happens in a number newsrooms around town, on birthdays as well as farewell gatherings. It’s always awkward cake.)

Another character in the book, David Bush, is clearly Mike Allen. He’s described as “a man with a safari hat stuck to his sweaty head” and “round tortoiseshell glasses.” He only removes the hat for TV appearances, which sounds more like White House scribe Glenn Thrush, until Bush is further described as “quirky” and “a genius.” His job: To write the Morning List (“It’s like the Bible, but with bullet points.”) Of course, the NYT profile of Politico in 2010 referred to Allen as “the man the White House wakes up to” and described him as “obsessively private” and “a legendary hoarder and pack rat.”

On and on it goes, making Politico sound like a wretched place to work. But there are stark differences between Tanabe, the real woman who worked for Politico, and her book’s main character, Adrienne Brown. Tanabe, who is brunette, not blonde as shown above, never previously worked for a New York magazine; rather, she was managing editor for Washington Life. She also wrote an edgy blog called NakedThanks.com, in which she sarcastically thanked people or places, such as the back seat of her boyfriend’s car.

The graph that best sums up ~~Politico~~, the fake publication… continued…

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Former D.C. Reporter Flees to Dubai, Writes Novel

Eddie Scarry — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:00:29 +0000

It wasn’t a big surprise when in January Karin Tanabe left “CLICK,” Politico‘s gossip blog. Writers have been abandoning that blog like it’s the Costa Concordia cruise ship. But for a while, it wasn’t clear what happened. Where had Tanabe gone? What was she doing?

Then BuzzFeed broke the news that Tanabe was in the process of having a novel published about her stint at Politico.

We were able to get in touch with her and she told FBDC that the book, titled “The Capitolist” is still in its early stages. “Like all fiction books, you need a full manuscript to submit,” she said, adding that the first draft had been written.

Tanabe’s not revealing details on the book just yet. But Publisher’s Market Place described Tanabe’s “The Capitolist” as follows:

“[A] 20-something journalist leaves a cushy NYC magazine job for DC’s hottest (and most cut-throat) political rag, where she uncovers a juicy scandal involving a senator that could make or break her career…”

Tanabe said she’s “very excited” to be working with Atria, which is publishing her book. Atria is an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

As for her current whereabouts, Tanabe told us she’s in Dubai working for ITP Publishing, a British magazine company.

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Politico CLICK Runs Year Old Item

Betsy Rothstein — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:00:48 +0000

Dear Politico CLICK,

Guess what? It’s 2012. And last year it was 2011.

On March 3, 2011, Karin Tanabe, who no longer works at Politico, wrote an item on Kate Upton, now infamous bikini-clad niece of Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a tiny red bathing suit. Tanabe explained in some detail Kate’s Washington connection — which is that her uncle is a congressman. See the headline in bold above.

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day 2012. CLICK Editor Caitlin McDevitt writes another item explaining Kate’s unusual Washington connection. She writes, “Kate Upton, the buxom blonde on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, has a Washington connection.” See yesterday’s headline above.

Yoo hoo, VandeHarris, anyone out there?

Sincerely, FishbowlDC

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The ‘C’ in Politico CLICK Stands for Caitlin

Betsy Rothstein — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:41:01 +0000

And then there was one.

Politico‘s Karin Tanabe has left CLICK, rumored to take a job elsewhere. Her Facebook page is filled with wishes of “good luck” from colleagues.

So that just leaves Caitlin McDevitt (pictured at right) holding down the fort. People who have left under Caitlin’s tenure: Kiki Ryan, Amie Parnes, Patrick Gavin, Natasha Lennard, and now Karin. Not the most impressive managerial resume. Before CLICK, McDevitt worked at Slate’s spinoff The Big Money. She also interned at Washingtonpost.com and Newsweek. She graduated from Georgetown.

We attempted to reach Tanabe, but her email address no longer works.

Take a hint, Jim & John?

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Anatomy of a Drudge Hit Gone Wrong

Eddie Scarry — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:15:54 +0000

Politico got a Drudge hit Monday morning. That’s always a good thing. But there are three odd things surrounding the story about rapper Snoop Dogg encouraging President Obama to legalize marijuana in a D.C-based radio interview:

The story was more than a month old.
The story had been written on Politico CLICK already (last month).
Even then, it wasn’t an original story to the site.

So, what happened? Let’s look at the timeline of this Drudge hit train wreck.

Way back on Dec. 7, a lesser-known D.C social scene blog called Glittarazzi wrote up a story on Snoop Dogg’s radio interview. They didn’t get a Drudge link. The next day (half a month in Politico time), CLICK’s Karin Tanabe aggregated the story, giving proper credit to Glittarazzi for originally writing it. CLICK didn’t get a Drudge hit either.

Here’s where it gets weird. On Jan. 8, Jezebel, a site owned by Gawker Media, aggregated the month-old story, giving credit to Glittarazzi. No Drudge hit for Jezebel. The next day, Patrick Gavin writes the story again for Politico, except this time on the front page. BINGO. He gets the coveted Drudge link.

Even weirder: Gavin’s story linked to CLICK’s original blog post of the story from December. What?!

Politico might have just re-posted Tabanbe’s story on the front. It would have certainly saved an editor time; in this case, an editor who didn’t bother to read it carefully anyway.

We wrote the original writers of each story and the editors at Politico to find out what happened. Glittarazzi‘s Kelly Ann Collins told us she wasn’t aware of the Drudge link train wreck.

“This does happen in this business,” she said. “Maybe the second reporter (Gavin) didn’t realize or something like that. I’m sure Toby at 99.5 would like his link, too! He did the audio (from the interview with Snoop Dogg).” She continued, “We are the little guys and the big guys sometimes trample us. But that’s OK. In 2012 we’ll dominate.”

Cassie Murdoch, who wrote up the piece for Jezebel, said she doesn’t “really have any thoughts on why it was picked up by Drudge,” but she said it’s possible the story only became relevant now because Snoop Dogg was arrested on marijuana charges this weekend.

That still doesn’t account for Politico publishing the story twice. None of the writers or editors have responded to us about it.

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Why Washington D.C. Gossip Sucks

Piranhamous — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:00:21 +0000

You don’t want to know what’s in a hotdog, but a major chunk of it is called “filler.” Same thing for the Slim Jim and Taco Bell beef. And sometimes, for news.

Sara Libby, Politico’s deputy politics editor, tweeted, “Rick Santorum, on Wolf Blitzer now, is affirming our earlier groundbreaking report” with a link to a Politico story on Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum’s so-called love of vests and turtlenecks. Groundbreaking indeed.

Now, it doesn’t matter how Libby promoted the story, she has to shill whatever Politico produces, no matter how bland. The real question is why Politico would bother writing the story in the first place.

After pointing out Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s love of pantsuits, GOP Presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman’s affinity for denim jackets and President Obama’s affection for expensive Hart Schaffner Marx suits, Politico lumped in Santorum. And yes, he wears those strange pieces of clothing sometimes worn by men known as sweater vests and turtlenecks. You can purchase them at Macy’s.

The reporter writes, “Now, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is making his fashion mark with sweater vests and turtlenecks.” To be fair, WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza, who typically covers the harder news of political reporting, also affirms that Santorum is an avid sweater vest wearer.

Did you know the President likes suits? Ever heard of them? Are you aware of who Huntsman is? Polls would suggest no. Hillary and the pantsuits…OK, everyone knows that. But who do you think will be remember that Santorum wore sweater vests and turtlenecks in three months? Or three weeks? No one, that’s who.

The only thing “groundbreaking” about this Politico story is the “thud” with which their creativity for gossip hit the floor.

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Journos Turned Away from Packed Aniston Event

Betsy Rothstein — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:32:53 +0000

The volume of media requests was so high at the Jennifer Aniston Lifetime TV event last night, that included appearances from Dr. Jill Biden, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), that some outlets were turned away. We’re told those who got the brush off included blogger types and smaller print outlets.

Details on where Aniston was staying were kept close to the vest — like many movie stars she has followers sometimes known as stalkers. Sources said she hadn’t visited Washington in a decade.

The red carpet line began swarming an hour before Aniston was set to arrive. But it was civilized. No fights, pushing, shoving or tense words. Even when the People photog abandoned his assigned spot and partygoers sipping champagne stepped into his space, the scene remained polite.

Media who showed up to the Ronald Reagan Building for the reception, red carpet and screening of FIVE, which Aniston directed, included videographers Elizabeth Glover and Dawne Langford, who were shooting for Insight News and Feature. A slew of photographers and reporters showed up from pubs and outlets such as TIME, People, EXTRA, ABC, NBC News, WJLA, The Hill, Roll Call, Getty Images, AP, SIPA, Retna, Polaris, Wire Image. Inside Edition was a no-show. The usual suspects — Politico‘s Karin Tanabe, WaPo‘s Amy Argetsinger and Washington Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab — were also there along with a new Examiner photographer, a New Zealander, Graeme Jennings. He’s been a photographer for 10 years but getting details out of him is rough — he has private clients he’s worked for that he won’t name and that’s about as much as he wanted to say about anything.

Moving on to the fare. The spread came miniature sized and included fancy cheesecakes in a variety of flavors such as pumpkin and grasshopper (i.e. mint), Cuban sandwiches, and hamburgers.

Notables at the reception included Debbie Dingell, wife of Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Self Magazine’s Washington Editor Marc Adelman and Brandlink’s Barbara Martin and Jayne Sandman. Others spotted in the crowd: CBS and former FBDCer Christine Delargy, Susan G. Komen’s Kiki Ryan and Tim Burger.

Adelman took pride in attending a Lifetime event. “I am a man who’s proud to love Lifetime,” he gushed. More seriously he added, “I do think people feel that breast cancer has been taken care of, but I think statistics tell a different story. Getting Jennifer Aniston to Washington and Dr. Jill Biden, it’s a substantive, compelling D.C. evening.”

More photographs…

continued…

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Sen. Lieberman’s Sexy Sabbath

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:10:09 +0000

We now unfortunately know that Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) is bringing sexy back. And how we wish we could go back in time, cover our ears, shield our eyes and douse ourselves in holy water to spiritually protect ourselves from the scarring news.

Not all reporters treated the news equally.

Late last week Political Wire‘s Taegan Goddard spiced things up on his blog on Friday by reporting that Sen. Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, uses the Sabbath, in part, to make whoopee with Hadassa. Eeks. Did we have to have that visual? Politico CLICK’s Karin Tanabe, meanwhile, apparently had a spice allergy. She wrote a lengthy post on Lieberman’s new tome, The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath, and reported at the odd hour of 4 a.m. Thursday that Lieberman sees the logistical value of being able to have sex with your spouse during the Sabbath. She holds out on the topic until paragraph 14.

WaPo‘s piece by Justin Moyer on Friday, meanwhile, sexes up the review by mentioning getting busy in the first graph, the second graph and the third graph. Total number of graphs in the story: 3.

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Good Morning FishbowlDC Readers

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:00:24 +0000

QUOTES of the DAY – The Gossip Edition

Seriously Striped: TIME’s Joe Klein showing off a bold look on NBC’s Chris Matthews Show on Sunday morning.

Gossip reporter employs interesting gossipy lingo

“JLo & Marc Anthony are done-zo. This is divorce #3 for Lopez, and she’s only 42. How do you say “oy vey” in Spanish?” — The Hill‘s Howiella (a.k.a. gossip columnist and daughter to Howie K. Judy Kurtz) in a Friday tweet.

Scribe sees God in her hangover

“Hangover on a gorgeous day w a long car/boat ride w my family makes me believe 1) in God 2) we have the same sense of humor 3) vengeance is His.” — Roll Call‘s HOH writer Neda Semnani in a weekend tweet. On an entirely different matter, she wrote on Saturday, “HuffPo reporting that Rep. Pete Sessions is separating from his wife. (Did everyone already know this?)”

More on Lopez/Anthony split

“J-Lo and Marc follow the PR tactic of releasing divorce news late on a Friday so as to minimize coverage. Er, as if.” — WaPo‘s The Reliable Source co-writer Amy Argetsinger in a weekend tweet. She links here.

Spotted: A fashion-conscious Weigel on the Metro

“Ended up on the same train as your guy Weigel this morning. And I’ve got three words for the bag he was carrying: Fab.U.Lous.” — A FishbowlDC informant, who surreptitiously got a picture of the bag (yes, that blue blob with the words “Aspen Ideas Festival” pictured at left). The spy explained, “I tried getting a picture of his actual face but he was positioned in the weirdest way, facing the doors opposite of the doors that actually opened at Union…then he got off.” We couldn’t be more proud. This is what community journalism is all about. UPDATE: As some Fishbowlers may recall, Weigel recently had his iPad, which was in his messenger bag, stolen. The Aspen Ideas Festival bag was temporary. “While I was waiting for a replacement to show up I used the Aspen Ideas swag bag, which was as functional as it was turquoise,” our new friend told us.

Bio of the Day: Politico‘s CLICK reporter Karin Tanabe. “She once worked for the king of Belgium, is fluent in French and is adept at ordering a sandwich in Flemish. Tanabe, a graduate of Vassar College, has traveled to 45 countries.” Added detail: She runs 50-mile races for fun.

A Convo Between Two Journos

Today’s conversation is between The Hill’s White House Correspondent Sam Youngman and Slate’s Dave Weigel. To give some context, after endorsing Hamlet 2, Youngman took some flack for it.

Sam Youngman: Tough room today.

Dave Weigel: Not as tough as trying to watch “Hamlet 2.”

Sam Youngman: @daveweigel you make up with Betsy and pick a fight with me? How dare you? I shall defend Hamlet 2 until my last breath.

Stanton tries his hand at fashion reporting

“For the fashion conscious, the First Lady was wearing a sleaveless a dark purple dress, Malia wore what your pooler has been told was a lilac dress, while Sasha rocked a green dress. They entered St Johns at 1028.” — Roll Call‘s John Stanton on Pool Duty Sunday at the White House.

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Politico’s Jonathan Martin Gets in Touch With Feminine Side

Betsy Rothstein — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:18:38 +0000

Politico‘s Jonathan Martin only seems like an alpha male with his hard news ways. In reality, he’s a man about town with girlfriend Betsy Fischer, Executive Producer of NBC’s MTP. The proof is in the lotions: He attends skin bar openings.

Martin, along with a number of journalists, spent at least a portion of Tuesday night with Fischer at Nectar Skin Bar in Georgetown at a VIP gathering. We’re told he arrived toward the end of the night and was spotted eying the Billy Jealousy products. Our spies say they don’t think he purchased anything. Jealousy is for truly masculine men only. His website describes his products as “sharply tailored” toward today’s “bad boy” to ensure a look that is “effortless yet edgy, playful but still polished.” We suspect VandeHarris wouldn’t take issue with this.

Journos spotted in the crowd include The Hill‘s Kate Oczypok, the Washington Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab, Politico‘s Karin Tanabe, as well as Fischer and Martin. On the political side there was V.P. Biden’s Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba and his apparently “gorgeous” wife, fabulously named Abeer, Tom Daren (head of Brad Pitt‘s Make It Right Foundation, in from New Orleans), Self Magazine’s Mark Adelman and Dina Powell.

Guests received spectacular Goodie bags, which included products from Comfort Zone (an allegedly “amazing Italian line of skincare that they have here exclusively”), plus products from Darphin, Oribe haircare and Spa Ritual and 25 percent off cards for both Nectar Skin Bar and their sister hair salon just a few doors down, Ipsa Hair.

Photo Credit: Mark Silva (From L to R: Betsy Fischer, Amy Little Thomas and Abeer Al Otaiba)

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