Here’s the thing.

When you mention FishbowlDC in an afternoon meeting of reporters, chances are pretty high (we’ll take a stab at 80 percent) that word will boomerang back to us.

When it happens, sometimes it’s in minor passing, boring and unworthy of highlighting. Sometimes it’s more. A shocker? Sources who spoke to us for weeks and months before the meeting are likely to talk to us after, no matter your warning sirens.

Such was the case Tuesday when Daily Caller Publicist Nicole Roeberg reemphasized to staff at the afternoon meeting that they were not to talk to yours truly or FishbowlDC about sensitive matters. (This week we reported that another reporter at the publication had been fired. Roeberg did not respond to a request for comment on the story.) Read more

Nicholas Ballasy, senior video reporter at The Daily Caller, was fired last week, multiple sources tell FishbowlDC.

Ballasy hasn’t had any stories published at The DC since Thursday. That was also the last day he tweeted and posted anything to Facebook.

When video reporter Michelle Fields was fired from The DC last year, messages sent to her work email address were returned with a notice that said she no longer worked there. That is not the case for Ballasy. He did not return our request for comment via Facebook message nor email.

Update: Ballasy wrote in after this story published: “I’m flattered that FishbowlDC and the person who gave you this news tip find me more fascinating than the stories I report. While I enjoyed my time at TheDC, we have parted company. As for my future endeavors, stay tuned. Like any good story, there is more to come.” Attached to Ballasy’s email was a YouTube video of a past hit he did on FNC.

The reason for Ballasy’s firing is unclear. A look at all of his bylined stories show he was Read more

Early this morning at 7:32 a.m., The Daily Caller issued a statement on its website saying they stand by their reporting concerning the Dominican hookers.

They began, “The Washington Post falsely reported a story yesterday claiming our source had recanted her statement, without contacting The Daily Caller for comment before posting. In reality, the prostitute in the Post’s story does not appear to be one of the women we interviewed in 2012.” (Read the entire statement here.)

And yet, in WaPo piece, the reporters say they did get in touch: “Daily Caller Editor Tucker Carlson did not reply to phone calls and e-mails requesting comment.” (See that story here.)

UPDATE: Carlson lashes out at WaPo: “[Carol] Leonnig emailed me almost 40 minutes after the story went up, then added in an update that I wouldn’t comment,” Carlson told FishbowlDC this morning. “She could have saved herself a lot of embarrassment if she’d called before she filed. The Dominican affidavit the Post claims discredits us doesn’t even mention our story.”

All Daily Caller reporters have been instructed to not say anything about any of it to anyone. However, Publicist Nicole Roeberg wrote on Twitter this morning at 12:34 a.m., “WaPo called Tucker after posting the original story. By then we were busy reporting ours.” Roeberg was apparently pretty tired after arguing for hours with a reader about the whole mess. Her last tweet before she signed off at 2:31 a.m.: “True, she did. This is exhausting. I have to be at work in 6 hours and we aren’t going to convince each other. Good night!”

The Daily Caller‘s controversial Executive Editor David Martosko is leaving to be the U.S. Political Editor for the Daily Mail. He’s off to London for training. Soon he’ll open the Washington office of the largest news outlet in the world.

Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson sent word out today to staff.

Martosko has written several of the prostitute-related pieces surrounding Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) as of late. The latest of which involved a woman they called “Beth”, a woman who was interviewed in person by The Daily Caller.

While the development is a huge mark of success for Martosko, recent weeks and months haven’t been so promising for Martosko inside The Daily Caller. The staff long grumbled about his management style, which they found annoying. Interns often didn’t want to be alone with him and complained about him. No specific bad behavior was told to FishbowlDC, just a general feeling that they didn’t want to be alone with him.

Martosko, meanwhile, has been searching for a new job as management has been internally weighing possibilities of a new editor to help run the newsroom. He arrived at the paper 20 months ago with a long rap sheet and little to no journalism experience when the publication’s Executive Editor left to live abroad.

Congratulations to Martosko.

UPDATE from Martosko: “I’m truly excited about joining The Daily Mail. It’s the biggest newspaper website in the world, and every click is hard-earned and well-deserved. That said, I’ll miss The Daily Caller. It’s bursting with first-rate talent, and Tucker Carlson has been a fantastic guy to work with. I highly recommend a career at The Daily Caller, but only for journalists who don’t have many sacred cows, don’t take themselves too seriously, and don’t mind an occasional hail of arrows fom the cheap seats outside our newsroom.”

UPDATE #2: Despite numerous and persistent reports to the contrary over the course of the past month from inside The Daily Caller, Publicist Nicole Roeberg has insisted that we add a statement she sent late in the day. See it after the jump.

See the internal memo…a lovely sendoff from Carlson… Read more

This is uncomfortable.

Ginni Thomas, a contributor at The Daily Caller, was grouped with other conservative “clowns” yesterday in a daily morning tip sheet written by The DC Senior Editor Jamie Weinstein.

The item by Weinstein linked to a story by his colleague Will Rahn involving a letter drafted by several movement conservatives defending the conservative Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell. Republican consultant Jonathan Collegio reportedly referred to Bozell as a “hater” on a local D.C. radio program this week. To that, other conservatives along with radio host Mark Levin and Thomas drafted a letter calling for Collegio to be fired from his job at the American Crossroads Super PAC.

Weinstein called it “a clown letter that embarrasses clowns.” More from his tip sheet… Read more

Quotes of the Day: Hurricane-Cyclone Sandy Edition

“DC, take it from Coco Pebbles Chanel: it never hurts to be prepared.” — The Hill’s Howlma Kurtz, a.k.a. Judy Kurtz with accompanying picture.

Mixed feelings: “TWIITTER, I HATE YOU…. OK, I LOVE YOU” — HuffPost‘s Sam Stein. NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman was less confused: “TV seems dull compared to Twitter. Reading my feed I eagerly turned on cable and … Meh.” And Assoc. Editor of The Atlantic Brian Fung slammed the medium: “Glad to know that even in the midst of a hurricane, the Internet is still capable of kicking up monstrously dumb debates. Whew.”

Dork in the Storm

“My wife just remembered we had a bunch of small airline-style bottles of booze squirreled away. #yesplease.” — MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Morally outraged.

“Protip: Tweets that make political jokes about storm that’s killed at least five people are maybe not worth sending.” — Politico‘s Maggie Haberman.

“Twitter is great and all but it’s proving tonight why journalism with real reporting and sourcing is essential.” — The Hill‘s White House Correspondent and resident Michelle Obama Fan Club Prez Amie Parnes.

“My wife gave birth to our three children at NYU. Horrifying to think of what’s going on there now. Horrifying.” — Conservative writer and professional Twitter fighter John Podhoretz, affectionately known as PodWhore.

“Has the storm past DC and we are through the worst of it? Swear I can’t tell from the coverage.” — CNN Democratic Analyst Hilary Rosen.

“Sandy has taken down Buzzfeed AND Huffington Post! The horror!” — The Times of London‘s Matt Spence. Reacting to the news, Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte remarked sarcastically, “That’s a shame.”

Powerless.

“Lights out here in McLean, Virginia” — The Daily Mail’s Toby Harnden, who will join the UK Sunday Times in January. He posted the accompanying photo.

“NoVa storm update: Power out. Water in basement. Reading Cat in the Hat to 3-year-old by flashlight.” — The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball.

“Feeling stir crazy so went to neighborhood Izakaya place. Returned home to find cable + Internet down.” — The Atlantic‘s Garance Franke-Ruta.

“First electricity flicker. 4:32 p.m.” — HotAir‘s Mary Katharine Ham.

“Afraid for your power? Both the Gtown and West End Ritzs are offering $229 ‘Sandy’ rates for locals. Beats a night in the cold dark!” — Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff, who likes to appreciate the finer things in life such as Scotch and beautiful hotels.

“And my power just went out here in North Bethesda Maryland. It was a good run folks.” — The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle.

Journo upset about stew and other random complainers

“Sandy is whistling here in my neighborhood. Not as loud as a train coming through the alley or dump truck moving down the street. But loud!” — Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile.

“Afraid the storm-related low pressure is causing my stew to tenderize freakishly slowly.” — Slate economics reporter Matt Yglesias.

“Suddenly, insisting on having a top floor apartment seems like a bad idea. Sounds like debris is hitting my roof!” — The Daily Caller‘s Publicist Nicole Roeberg.

Storm Chasers

“The wind outside my window has very quickly gone from interesting to extremely troubling.” — MetroWeekly‘s Randy Shulman.

“Flying debris now showing like a fast-motion movie through my back window.” — WaPo‘s Erik Wemple.

Comic relief

“El Chucko de Schumer esta hoggingo el microphoño! Que learno to shareo!” — Miguel Bloombito, expressing the media whore tendencies of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).  If you’re not following him, you must: @ElBloombito.

“Anderson Cooper is doing a phoner on CNN so I have no idea how tight his shirt is. Therefore I have no idea how bad things are.” — NBC News’ Shawna Thomas, who later claimed to borrow a variation of a joke from SNL’s Seth Meyers.

“Sexual CNN Headlines.” — NYT comm asst. Jordan Cohen with accompanying picture.

“Oh thank God, David Corn is about to give us his perspective on Sandy on Hardball. Storm coverage is complete now.” — TownHall‘s Derek Hunter.

“Watching CNN coverage of Sandy giving me PTSD. Just put on my CNN windbreaker and started interviewing neighbors w/a plastic microphone.” — former CNN anchor Miles O’Brien.

See which blogger feared the storm might make her pregnant and what advice could MSNBC Contributor Meghan McCain possibly have?

Read more

Quotes of the Day

“Dear Florida: For the sake of our mental health, please remain a swing state. Sincerely, political reporters everywhere.” — NPR White House Correspondent Ari Shapiro.

“I particularly want to apologize to Chris Matthews.  (Laughter.)  Four years ago, I gave him a thrill up his leg — (laughter) — this time around I gave him a stroke.  (Laughter.)” — President Obama at last night’s Alfred E. Smith dinner at the Waldorf Towers in Manhattan.

Sometimes journos speak in sounds

HufPost‘s Eilot Nelson: “ughhhhhhhhh”

BuzzFeed’s John Stanton: “Nuh na na na”

National Journal Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier: “!!!!!!!”

Daily Kos‘s Markos Moulitsas: “Ha ha ha ha ha! #Yankees”

Stirring the Pot

“Breitbart News will publish piece on ‘not optimal.’ Hope Dave Weigel doesn’t say something bad about us in JournOlist 2: Electric Boogaloo.” — Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte.

See more Morning Chatter and find out what’s getting Slate‘s Dave Weigel‘s goat and what has National Journal‘s Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier yearning for happier times… Also, see who is running FishbowlDC’s Fan Club this week! Read more

What was initially thought to be a special appearance by David Martosko‘s personal secretary at last night’s Daily Caller book launch party ended up being nothing of the sort.

To the left is a photo of Nandi, who works with Emperor Vodka, which sponsored the soiree. “I’m just here for pictures,” she said, graciously posing for cameras. Nandi, whose arms are reminiscent of Angela Bassett‘s What’s Love Got to Do with It, said this was her first time working with Emperor. Fun first day on the job!

The Daily Caller hosted the party in its Farragut Square newsroom celebrating The Lizard King, an ebook written by their own Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn.

“I have no good answer,” said Rahn when asked who should read his book. “It’s a transformative book,” he said (“transformational” also works). He compared it to reading the Bible. “Is this off the record?” Rahn asked at the conclusion of our interview.

Weinstein was a little more willing to talk about the book, though we get the impression he thought he was on TV. “Truth-seekers will like it,” Weinstein said. He emphasized that the book is actually a manuscript provided by a White House insider and that he and Rahn are simply the vessels through which the book is being delivered. “Once in a while, history falls upon you and I think it happened to us,” he said, adding that it “may be one of the most important books since [Fox News host] Sean Hannity’s book.”

The Daily Caller‘s bar was stocked with wine, soda, alcohol and a beer tap that poured Pabst Blue Ribbon. Edibles (vegetables and a few hors d’oeurves) were a little on the slim side.

As guests trickled in, a couple faces stood out in the crowd: Politico‘s Byron Tau and Tim Mak. The DC and Politico have been known to publicly quibble in the past. One Daily Caller staffer said the relationship between the two publications “on paper” is often not the case between individual reporters. He said there are several Politico employees he regularly drinks with. Both Tau and Mak chatted with The DC‘s Alex Pappas for a while, as well.

In the crowd we also spotted a distinguished gentleman with a badass eye patch. It turned out to be Will Rahn’s father, ex-husband to WSJ‘s Peggy Noonan.

The DC‘s editor Tucker Carlson was seen talking with RollCall‘s Jonathan Strong, a former Daily Caller reporter. Strong said work for him has been slow and “a little boring,” given he covers Congress, which is currently out of session.

Notables: The Daily Caller‘s Alex Treadway, Sarah Hoffman, Taylor Bigler, Jeff Poor, Caroline May, Brian Danza, Chris Bedford, Neil Munro, Pat McMahon, Nicole Roeberg, and Vince Coglianese; The Free Beacon‘s Adam Kredo and CJ Ciaramella; RollCall HOH‘s Neda Semani and Warren Rojas; Fox News contributor Jim Pinkerton; WaPo‘s Alexandra Petri; U.S. News‘ Steven Nelson; The Daily Beast‘s Eli Lake; and Donald Rumsfeld‘s former chief of staff Keith Urbahn. Conspicuously absent were Matthew Boyle and Martosko, who had kid duty. We rode the elevator with him down to the garage. He puffed away on what may have been an illegal cigar the whole way down and said Rahn and Weinstein would know he was there “in spirit.”

Quotable:

• “He’s a bit of a self promoter.”– Keith Urbahn on his former boss Donald Rumsfeld, who was Defense Secretary under former Prez George W. Bush. Urbahn spilled that Rummy is currently working on a new book. UPDATE: Urbahn writes in to tell us he was talking about his other former boss, The Daily Beast‘s David Frum.

• Asked about former and recently fired Daily Caller reporter Michelle Fields, Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson said, “I haven’t seen her much on TV lately. That ended for some reason.” Fields was not in attendance.

• “I don’t want to be written about.”– Steven Nelson, after FishbowlDC inquired about his job at U.S. News, which he only recently started.

• “I’m holding out for the chance that Matthew Boyle shows up.”– FBDC’s Peter Ogburn.

Emails sent to Michelle Fields‘ Daily Caller address receive an automatic reply saying the video reporter is no longer with the publication. “Thank you for your email. I am no longer working with The Daily Caller,” the email says, followed by her personal email address.

The Daily Caller‘s Editor-In-Chief Tucker Carlson would not comment on the record and Nicole Roeberg, publicist for The DC, did not immediately respond to an email. Fields also did not respond by email or Facebook message.

FBDC received a tip Monday evening that Fields had been fired for a lack of productivity. We reported at the start of the month that The DC‘s Executive Editor David Martosko had a recent meeting with Fields to encourage her to do more reporting for the site. Over the course of the last month, Fields has just nine bylines on The DC, two of which appear to be aggregated stories broken by other news outlets. Meanwhile, Fields made at least six separate appearances on FNC to offer political commentary. She appeared on Hannity tonight.

Fields’ Twitter profile has also been changed. Whereas it once indicated she was associated with The DC, it now only says she is located in Washington, D.C.

The Daily Caller‘s spokeswoman Nicole Roeberg wrote just moments ago to say that the site is now “fully functional” sans XXX porn. Actually, she doesn’t mention the porn but says, “Google has done it’s thing and there are no more error messages received when visiting the site.”

Early this morning, the site had a banner that left nothing to the imagination involving a naked blond woman and a rugged balding date.

Want a refresher on this morning’s fiasco? See here.