It’s official. Politico says goodbye to Michael Kinsley, who’s going to work for Bloomberg View. The search is underway to find his replacement.

See the internal memo…

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Say hello to the Guardian‘s Richard Adams, who blogs on U.S. politics and culture from the publication’s Washington bureau. “I’ll just get some tea,” he says politely in his British clip when we met recently at a tea house by the White House. He carries a Financial Times under his arm — his kind of rag since he started out there “after University” covering currencies and bond markets. The Brits can claim Adams as one of their own. At the Guardian since 2001, he is officially a British citizen, though he hails from New Zealand where he was born and raised. Adams shares his name Richard Adams, author of the children’s novel Watership Down, which wrecks havoc on his self Google searches. “He’s really old, really nah-sty,” Adams quips. “He has this thing where animals are pure and good whereas people are horrible.” Adams rather likes people – some people. “I watched the Brady Bunch growing up,” he says. “Completely weird. I didn’t understand a lot.” He says he most identified with Alice, the maid.

He isn’t a huge fan of Washington. “It’s rather clean and well organized,” he says, noting his move here in 2006. “But it’s also a very transient place. It’s a one-industry town and that industry is bullshit.” But he calls it “paradise” for reporters: “It’s a good place to be a journalist. For some reason it’s a bad place to be a human being.” I ask about the Royal Wedding. “I’m not the least bit excited about it,” he says. “We think the monarchy should be abolished. [By "we" he means The Guardian.] I really don’t give a shit about the Royal Wedding.”

Moving on. What’s his daily reading diet? It’s Twitter, he says sheepishly. “I know that makes me sound like a 15-year-old.” From there he moves to the NYT, but says a person can’t escape Politico, which he claims is embarrassingly eating WaPo‘s lunch. “They mug you,” he deadpans, rolling his eyes. He dabbles in WSJ and The Economist. On Sunday he flocks to the NYT wedding section.

If you were a carbonated beverage which would you be? Beer

How often do you Google yourself? Never. There’s a novelist named Richard Adams, who wrote Watership Down, and he has the first 10,000 entries on Google. Occasionally I get sweet emails from schoolchildren saying how much they like the book.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor? I once slagged off my news editor to a colleague on the tube in London, unaware he was sitting beside us reading a newspaper. He took it rather well. The walk from the station to the office was awkward. [Translation of slag is: to be rude.]

Who is your favorite working journalist? I wish I could write like Michael Kinsley. Otherwise, Edith Zimmerman.

Who would you rather have dinner with – First Lady Michelle Obama or Bestselling Author and former V.P. candidate Sarah Palin? Sarah Palin. Of course.

What’s the name of your cell phone ring? “Alert”

What word do you routinely misspell? Washignton

What swear word do you use most often? You’re asking a British journalist?

What word or phrase do you overuse? Awesome

What’s your dream job? Six months as Editor of the Washington Post. I’d turn it around.

What TV show do you have to watch? Project Runway. It’s awesome. (He also likes The Office, 30 Rock, Law & Order UK on BBC America, Al Jazeera, and Japanese NHK.)

Where do you shop most often for your clothes? In theory, Jil Sander. In practice, J Crew.

Whom do you prefer for daytime talk, Dr. Phil, Ellen, Oprah, Tyra or the women of The View? The View. I think it’s a really clever format. [Who’s his favorite female host?] “It’s not Elizabeth Hasselbeck, he says. “Barbara Walters presides over it with a regal presence, which I quite like.”

Pick one: Leno, Letterman or Conan? They’re all rubbish.

If you were trapped on a deserted island, which public official would you want to be trapped with and why? Chris Christie. Because if things went badly wrong, I could eat him.

What’s the best advice you ever received in the course of your career? Always be nice to people over the phone, because you never know. That was from Robert Thomson, when he was at the FT.

Find out Adams’ most embarrassing moment after the jump. It involves blood…

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This morning, we brought you the news that former Atlantic writer Michael Kinsley and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough will write dueling columns for Politico.

Now we have the internal memo. In it, VandeHarris explain what they were thinking adding opinion journalism to the publication. In a lengthy memo to staff this morning, they lay out reasons for such “cool news” as they refer to it. The editors, John Harris and Jim VandeHei, point out that Kinsley and Scarborough will not work in a “classic point/counterpoint format” such as (“Mike, you ignorant slut”) they will look for ways to engage each other in conversation from time to time.”

The duel begins Oct. 1.

Read the full memo after the jump…

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Here it is – NYT‘s Jeremy Peters scoop on Politico’s hiring of The Atlantic‘s Michael Kinsley and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to be dueling columnists. Scarborough will stay with MSNBC; Kinsley is now at Politico.

For now, columns will appear once a week. That is expected to evolve into dueling coverage of larger events such as State of the Union.

In his piece, Peters discusses the brewing battleground between Politico Vs. The Atlantic Media Company’s NJ. NJ has recently lured less known reporters like Tim Alberta, Coral Davenport, who sources say was well-liked but not a good fit for Politico, and Josh Kraushaar away from Politico. Politico, too, has snagged talent away from NJ – first Rich Cohen and now, Kinsley. NJ recently landed a big hire in Fox News’s Major Garrett and other prominent D.C. names such as AP‘s Ron Fournier in June to be Editor-in-Chief and more recently, WSJ’s Susan Davis.

An excerpt from the NYT piece:

Mr. Scarborough, who will remain with MSNBC, said he did not intend to write a column so ideologically rigid it became predictable. Readers have tired of that model, he said. “There are some columns, even at the great papers, that I just skim because I know how they’re going to end even before I read the first sentence,” he said. “The last thing I’m going to do is get in an ideological corner and preach to the choir.”

Mr. Kinsley, who will leave The Atlantic, could not be reached for comment. His departure will be a blow to the Atlantic Media Company, which has been establishing a stable of journalistic talent in an effort to broaden its reach in Washington. The company owns National Journal, which has hired away journalists from places like The Wall Street Journal and Politico as it prepares to redesign its magazine and start a breaking news and political analysis Web site that will compete directly with Politico.

Linda Douglass, V.P., Head of Corporate and Strategic Communications for Atlantic Media Company, had this to say on Kinsley leaving The Atlantic: “Mike is a terrific talent and we wish him well.”

Atlantic Media has stopped work on its business-news Web site, the site that Editor Michael Kinsley was supposed to edit, until he took himself off the project, FishbowlDC has confirmed through a spokesperson. Adam Pasick, the editor left in charge of the project, has left to take a job with New York magazine.

Atlantic Media President Justin Smith commented on the situation to DailyFinance.com in a story late Wednesday, saying: “Yes, it’s on hold for now but we are still committed to doing it, possibly pushing it to next year,” Smith told the publication via e-mail. “The honest reason is that a lot of management bandwidth (me, David Bradley) has been eaten up by the upcoming relaunch of our National Journal brand, so we’ve put it on the back burner for now.”

Good morning FishbowlDC! Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line.

What we know and what we’re reading this rainy Thursday morning…

NEWSPAPERS | TV | ONLINE | MAGAZINES | NEWS NOTES | WEST WING REPORTAGE | AWARDS & EVENTS | IN MEMORIAM

NEWSPAPERS

WSJ has taken the top spot among daily newspapers, taking over USA Today.

NYT has decided not to sell the Boston Globe.

Tom Brokaw‘s op-ed in today’s WaPo: “A Peace Prize to Share.”

TV

On his radio show yesterday, MSNBC’s Joe Scarbourgh ribbed on Chuck Todd with ABC’s Jake Tapper. Scarborough: “I expect he’s going to have a Billy Ray Cyrus mullet soon” and “His body odor has gotten worse over the past ten years.” To which Tapper responded: “There’s so much body odor in the [White House] press area, I can’t tell who’s who.”

More on “Goatee Gamble” on FBDC later today.

NBC and CBS News Presidents Steve Capus and Sean McManus commented on comments their reporters Richard Engel and Lara Logan have made on the war in Afghanistan.

PBS’ Jim Lehrer seems to have an affinity for rap, or at least one of his producers does. An economist was apparently bumped from “Newshour” for a rapping economist. We don’t blame you, “Newshour.”

ONLINE

Arianna Huffington calls for Vice President Joe Biden to resign.

New venture: Michael Kinsley is launching a business site for Atlantic.

MAGAZINES

Rolling Stone‘s Obama cover won an ASME prize.

NEWS NOTES

The US military in eastern Afghanistan recently changed its media embed rules to ban pictures of troops killed in the war. (Photo District News)

And on a lighter note, Rush Limbaugh apparently isn’t going to get to buy the St. Louis Rams.

WEST WING REPORTAGE

After an appearance on CNN this weekend in which she called Fox News “a wing of the Republican party,” White House communications director Anita Dunn is on the cover of WaPo‘s Style section today.

Most interesting: “A source inside the White House, who was not authorized to speak about strategy meetings, said Dunn went out front against Fox first and foremost because it was her job, but also because it potentially gave the administration the opportunity to distance itself from the flap with the Roger Ailes-led news channel once she leaves the communications job.”

Mike Allen also fact-checks the piece in this morning’s Playbook… “UM, NO: “She advised President Bill Clinton.” Anita never worked for Bill Clinton.”

And more on Fox News vs. the White House.

AWARDS & EVENTS

Politico‘s David Rogers, Politics Daily “Capitolist” Patricia Murphy, The Hill‘s Susan Crabtree, Time‘s Jay Newton-Small, CQ‘s Greg Giroux, Cook Political Report’s Jennifer Duffy and Center for Responsive Politic’s Sheila Krumholz will be featured on panels at NPC’s Political Writing Workshop this weekend.

IN MEMORIAM

In memoriam: Nan Robertson, Pulitzer Prize-winning NYT reporter and “The Girls in the Balcony” author.

HAT TIPS: mediabistro, TVNewser, Politico, NJ‘s Wake-Up Call and Last Call!

FBDC has learned this morning that Michael Kinsley will join The Atlantic as a media columnist and as the editor-in-chief of a new website launching in 2010.

Kinsley was the founding editor of Slate and has been editor of TNR and Harper’s, and editor of LAT‘s opinion pages. Among other things, he was also co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire.”

In a release, Atlantic Consumer Media President Justin Smith said: “As both an editor and a columnist, Michael has long been at the vanguard of publishingÂ’s digital transformation” and, “We are thrilled to welcome him and his considerable talents to the Atlantic Media family.”

Atlantic media chief David Bradley‘s memo obtained by mediabistro is after the jump…

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Invitations for the “First Draft of History,” a Newseum event sponsored by The Atlantic and the Aspen Institute are being extended today. The invite-only, all on-the-record event will include interviews and panel discussions with folks like Larry Summers, Janet Napolitano, Michael Bloomberg, David Petraeus, Lindsey Graham and Eric Schmitt.

The October 1-2 event will also feature media heavy hitters as interviewers. Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, David Gregory, Chris Matthews, Maria Bartiromo, Chuck Todd, Chris Wallace and Jim Lehrer will represent the broadcast side. Print journos include James Bennet, David Brooks, Howard Fineman, Gene Robinson, Ron Brownstein, E.J. Dionne, Jeffrey Goldberg, James Fallows and Michael Kinsley.

For more details, click here.

Good morning Washington. One year ago we said goodbye to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and AP said hello (again) to Ron Fournier. It’s the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, Jessica Biel and, yes, me, which is the closest I’ll ever get to the lovely Biel. And to answer your questions: 1.) No, I don’t feel older, 2.) I was sick of my 20s anyway and 3.) A flat screen tv would be great, thanks.

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Good morning Washington. It’s the birthday of Ralph Nader and Chelsea Clinton.

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