Weekend understatement: “A Saturday free of news crises. #priceless” — USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.

WHCD Prom Week begins with wrenching choice

“Okay I have two options for the WHCA dinner this Saturday and not one gown in hand. Oh No! I hope to have the one today. cross fingers.” — American Urban Radio’s Washington Correspondent April Ryan.

In a word: disturbing

“My mother is drunk texting me. So I guess I’m at the stage of life where that happens.” — Townhall Managing Editor Kevin Glass. Just out of curiosity, who else out there is in this “stage” with his or her mother?

The Eavesdropper

“Haha guy on this awful date literally just said ‘I love sandwiches.’” — BuzzFeed‘s Kate Nocera.

Driver splits from motorcade in Jerusalem

“We have the worst motorcade driver in recorded history here in Jerusalem. We are actually no longer in the motorcade.” — NBC News cameraman Jim Long, who was in Tel Aviv this weekend on travel with Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel.

Parents advised to avoid press

“Were told Boston suspects’ parents would give us an interview. Then they canceled, saying were ‘advised’ not talk to press for a few days.” — ABC News Moscow correspondent Kirit Radia.

Important Q to Ponder:  “Would WaPo’s Boston coverage be as good if Brauchli was still in charge?” — D.C. resident and avid tweeter Kevin Reiss, referring to Blanched Marcus Brauchli, WaPo‘s previous Executive Editor. The current executive editor is Marty Baron, former editor of The Boston Globe.

Online brawling

“Your right. I should delete you, asshole.” — Seattle’s Scott Omli to Townhall‘s Derek Hunter, who replied, “It’s you’re and you blocked me, so why are you still tweeting me?”

Tagg feels pinch of sequestration

“Waiting in an airplane at Logan. Captain said FAA said we have to wait an extra hour to leave because of sequestration. It begins.” — Tagg Romney, son of Mitt.

Words of wisdom from a TV journo’s obviously religious wife and a journo tries to put herself in shoes of the Suspect #2… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“You really shouldn’t sleep this week. Professionally, it’s unadvisable.” — Matt Spence of The Times of London.

Kudos to Boston Globe

“Great work all night by #bostonglobe team covering Watertown/MIT mayhem.” — WaPo Executive Editor Marty Baron, who has to be kicking himself right now for leaving the Boston Globe late last year to come to Washington.

A Social Media editor learns lessons

“I think I learned my lesson to wait for confirmation about what network/cable reporters say their ‘sources’ tell them.” — Reuters Social Media Editor Anthony De Rosa.

Huh?

“‘I don’t know if that’s a fashion statement or what.’–guy on CNN, inspecting sunglasses on face of Boston suspect.#seriously” — HuffPost‘s Jennifer Bendery.

Up all night with Jake Tapper

“When Jake Tapper is at the helm at CNN, CNN is what it’s supposed to be.” — Former White House Speechwriter Jon Lovett.

“God love @jaketapper: Almost everything he says begins with ‘Here’s what we don’t know…’ #JohnKingLesson” — Don Van Natta Jr., Senior Writer for ESPN.

“Hmm. @Jaketapper is really good in this sort of situation. Calm solid presence.” — Daily Caller columnist Mickey Kaus.

Network redemption plan

“CNN took ton of heat earlier, but props tonite-only news net going live w nu photo+MIT shooting. Isn’t that what news net is supposed to do?“– NYT TV Industry reporter Bill Carter.

“CNN should replay the interview with Dr. David Schoenfeld for laughs. Every A: “I can’t tell you that.” WHY ARE YOU ON THE PHONE W/CNN?” — Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who also wrote this morning: “It’s too bad Suspect #1 won’t be able to be legalized by Marco Rubio, now.”

A word of advice: “I don’t actually recommend going back to sleep, just did it, had bad nightmares.” — Dave Stroup, digital director for Aneesh Chopra for Va. Lt. Gov. 

The Observers

“One thing I learned serving in Lebanon is that young men & boys  with guns/bombs can be deadliest as they’ve yet to appreciate value of life.” — Peter Daou, political blogger and advisor.

“If these two are actually foreign trained terrorists, then this is the event we’ve been fearing; small-scale attacks on the softest targets.” — The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg.

In awe of NBC’s Pete Williams (who broke the names of the Boston Bombing suspects)

“Pete Williams is a machine.” — BuzzFeed‘s Rosie Gray.

“Journalism professors take note: @PeteWilliamsNBC has put on a free journalism clinic all week.” — Chris Donovan, producer, NBC News/”MTP.”

“Pete Williams is dominating all the “social media experts” on Twitter by… reporting.” — Andrew Golis, Boston-based director of digital and senior editor at PBS’s “Frontline.”

“Yay Pete.” — PBS’ Gwen Ifill. She later added, “FYI for all new @PeteWilliamsNBC fans, he’s been on this beat for bout 20 years #ExperienceMatters”

“How does @PeteWilliamsNC not have 100K Twitter followers? (Hint, Peter, start tweeting).” — Justin Green, contributor to The Daily Beast.

“Among the many excellent things about @PeteWilliamsNBC this week: Very clear about what he doesn’t know, or is unsure of.”– The Hill‘s Niall Stanage.

“NBC’s Pete Williams proving that reporters don’t always have to be on the ground to get all the scoops and get them right.” — ThinkProgress‘ Igor Volsky.

Meanwhile, Oversharing Sherri goes to Boot Camp

“Going 2 my 2nd #bootcamp session-anything called “bootcamp” scares me to death, but I must put fear of going over the fear of dying #health” — ABC “The View’s” Sherri Shepherd at 7:30 a.m. this morning as news of the bombers dominated the news cycle.

And NBC Matt Lauer’s bad luck streak continues…

“Meanwhile Matt Lauer is shown live in West, Texas – doesn’t look very happy.” – Washington Examiner‘s Charlie Spiering.

Howard Kurtz’s brilliant morning sentiment

“Wish I hadn’t gone to sleep and missed all the action in Boston. Hope that manhunt ends soon.” — CNN, The Daily Beast-Newsweek‘s Howard Kurtz. (Photo credit: Politico)

At least Weingarten was joking: “You people really should have woken me up last night.” — WaPo’s Gene Weingarten. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“[CIO and VP Shaliesh] Prakash thinks these are ‘inefficiencies’ –  that is the exact word he uses for human beings who are not useful according to him,” said a source who spoke only on condition of anonymity. “Get rid of experienced people to save money, under the garb of streamlining is the new trend inside the Post.”

The news comes on the heels of the NYT, which recently offered buyout packages to 30 employees. That target number wasn’t reached; it isn’t clear how many employees were let go.

Jacobs’ LinkedIn profile describes her as a “senior-level executive with over 20 years experience in the in marketing, business development, product management and operations in the digital media and mobile sectors.” Before WaPo, she was VP of Mobile Business Development at AOL. She earned degrees from Bucknell and NYU Business School. She has been employed at WaPo for two and a half years.

Dodelin, meanwhile, is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Like Jacobs, he previously worked in Mobile Business Development at AOL. He earned three degrees — a JD and MBA from from the University of North Carolina and a B.S. in psychology from the College of William & Mary. He has worked at WaPo for nearly two years.

We reached out to a WaPo publicist Kris Coratti, who had no comment at this time. We also sent requests for comment to Jacobs and Dodelin. The emails, sent to the usual WaPo configuration, came back with failed delivery notices.

See the internal memo from Prakash. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WaPo

“Kevin is a journalist of remarkable accomplishment, with a record of strong leadership. During his 20 years at The Post, he has covered Congress and presidential campaigns, as well as stories that called upon his great strengths as a long-form feature writer. He has cultivated a talented staff on the National desk, and he has won the admiration and affection of his colleagues. I’m delighted to have him leading coverage across the entire newsroom,” said Marty Baron, Executive Editor for The Washington Post, in a statement.

More personal info on Merida… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Today WaPo today launches its prototype of “Truth Teller,” a news app that promises to fact check speeches in “near real” time. The model is made possible through Knight Foundation’s Prototype Fund. They say it’s a step toward creating an app that can be used during live speeches and discussions. For instance, the current focus is on the looming debate over tax reform. “Users can play videos from President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner and other politicians and instantly see which statements are true, false or misleading,” says a release.

The origins of Truth Teller involve Politics Editor Steven Ginsberg, who heard a politician give a stump speech filled with errors. “He wondered if there could ever be a way to instantly verify what a politician says. Live fact-checking can provide incredible insight to journalists and audiences alike, and we are excited to start the process of creating something as unique and valuable as Truth Teller,” said Cory Haik, WaPo‘s Executive Producer of Digital News, in a statement.

Our first attempt to visit Truth Teller turned up an almost entirely blank screen with an apology. Uh oh. “Oops! Google Chrome could not find www.truthteller.washingtonpost.com.” But nothing a little cutting and pasting couldn’t handle. Explore Truth Teller here.

Of course, the prototype is not without its technical difficulties… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

And yet, guess which hometown publication had NOTHING on it? If you guessed WaPo, you’d be right. So much for local news. Right, Marty Baron, who is apparently crazy for local news, doesn’t start until January 2, 2013.

The order of reportage is as follows: The news first broke on a Cleveland Park listserv and was then reported by Popville, which covers D.C., on Dec. 14 at 3:50 p.m. Washington City Paper ran a story that same day at 7 p.m. but gave no credit to Popville. A site known as Nibletz also ran something that day — no specific time stamp. NBC Washington waited until that following Monday, a gargantuan three days after Popville, to run anything. They, too, gave no credit to the previous publications that had stories.

Why the lack of coverage by WaPo? continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.