This afternoon we learn via Twitter that Rebecca Berg is leaving BuzzFeed. She broke the news herself.

Some bittersweet personal news: Today is my last day with BuzzFeed.

— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) April 17, 2013

I’m grateful to @dcbigjohn and @buzzfeedben for tapping me to report on Capitol Hill. Stay tuned for details on what’s next.

— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) April 17, 2013

Her relatively new colleague, Evan McMorris-Santoro, who replaced Zeke Miller, now at TIME, remarked on Twitter,  “Good luck and Godspeed.”

Quotes of the Day

Rome unveils a new Pope

“CNBC seems unprepared for #pope coverage. They don’t have anyone translating what he’s saying.” — WSJ‘s Victoria McGrane.

“Remember when we were all watching the chimney and waiting for the reveal of the new pope? #nostaliga” — Politico‘s David Chalian.

“So, another Pope who thinks contraceptives are evil. Good luck with that.” — Blogger and pundit Craig Crawford.

“How did the Pope name himself so fast? Do all cardinals have a papal name short list ready?” — TNR‘s Julia Ioffe.

“The House Science subcommittee hearing on energy subsidies has now been delayed for 45 minutes. I blame the Vatican.” — SNL Energy power and policy reporter Corbin Hiar.

“For the record, I yelled ‘POPE SMOKE’ in my newsroom < 1 minute before we saw the smoke. So, yeah, I’ve got some powers. – NJ‘s Elahe Izadi.

“With the pope jokes winding down, Twitter will return to its bread and butter of poop jokes.” Yahoo! Sports Big League Stew Contributor Dave Brown.

Steak: It’s what’s for dinner at midnight

“It’s absolutely silly to grill steaks at midnight, said no smart person ever.” — The Daily Caller‘s soon to be Daily Mail‘s David Martosko. (Except maybe a cardiologist?)

Reporter hopes Kissinger yells at her

“So, last time I spoke to Henry Kissinger he yelled at me. Fingers crossed tonight will be two for two #dreams.” — Roll Call‘s Neda Semnani who had an encounter with him at the Nixon Centennial a few months back.

Journo Love

The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball: “I hope everyone appreciates the greatness of @sarahlyall. Everything she writes is fantastic.”

NYT‘s London-based correspondent Sarah Lyall: “What an extremely nice thing to say! Thank you.”

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 7:23 a.m.

Erick Erickson trash talks MSNBC

“MSNBC shocked the new Pope is Catholic.” — FNC Contributor and RedState Editor Erick Erickson.

Quote Taken Way Out of Context

“Everything is terrible.” — BuzzFeed‘s Rebecca Berg.

Important Q to Ponder: Can we ever get enough of Marty Rudolph? Read more

Asked to describe the idea behind “BuzzFeed Brews,” John Stanton says, “It’s like a first date. Get them a little drunk and relaxed so they can talk about things people don’t normally hear them talk about.”

Stanton is the Washington Bureau Chief for BuzzFeed and last night was the launch of the website’s new series wherein newsmakers are invited to sit before an audience and answer questions. And there’s free beer.

It’s essentially the same thing as Politico‘s Playbook Breakfast, “minus the stale bagels, plus the beer,” cracked BuzzFeed‘s Politics Editor McKay Coppins to FishbowlDC. (The site’s publicist Ashley McCollum boasts that she came up with that description.)

The first guest: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). For roughly 45 minutes Rubio answered questions from BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith about immigration, gay marriage and the future of the Republican Party. Of course, lengthy segments here and there were spent on why Rubio prefers Tupac over Biggie Smalls (“His lyrics are more insightful in my opinion.”) and whether he had to “think long and hard” before letting his son play recreational football. Stanton said that’s another thing distinguishing the Brews series from Playbook Breakfast, whose audience may not be interested in those things. Read more

Quotes of the Day — Happy New Year!

Travel Bitches

“If an airplane itself could have influenza, I’m on it.” — Politico‘s Dave Levinthal.

“Guy behind me on plane whacks me w/ suitcase as putting it in overhead. ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you.’ Cuz I’m REALLY tiny #HappyNewYear.” — Joanne Bamberger, mommy blogger, former news anchor and author of “Mothers of Intention.”

And a travel apology…“Off to Paris for a bit. Nice to see you again, turkish air. Please carry me safely to my destination and sorry for any anxiety exhibited.” — Seyward Darby, freelancer, former online editor at TNR.

Press aide tells everyone to calm down

“Folks out there w/ crazy theories about what’s going on in House. All ridiculous. Just figuring out best path forward. Stay calm, carry on.” — House Maj. Leader Eric Cantor aide Rory Cooper during fiscal cliff negotiations.

For a gay old time…

“Two tickets for @GayPimp‘s #GayestWeekendOfAllTime this March in Florida? Yes, please.” — Syndicated columnist and Bullfight Strategies’ Karl Frisch.

Loesch takes a breather from laptop

“I’ve not opened my laptop since December 21st. Rare. Christmas vacation was lovely, but am ready to roll up the sleeves again.” — Ex-Breitbart.com’s Dana Loesch, who is now suing her former employer. Considering the backlash she received after the Sandy Hook shootings, in which she accused President Obama of playing politics with the deaths of children, this may have been a welcome relief.

Breitbart newbie on first-name basis with U.S. leaders

“In case anyone didn’t notice, we have now officially jumped off the fiscal cliff. Thanks John , Barry and Harry!” — Breitbart.com‘s Matthew Boyle, who hopes to one day fill the shoes of the late Andrew Breitbart.

A rare nod to CNN

“CNN is the only big cable news network doing fiscal cliff coverage right now. (I mean, if you’re a geek.)” — The Daily Caller and The Week‘s Matt Lewis on New Year’s Day.

And now, a New Year’s Eve observation on facial hair: “Back on CNN with the bearded ones–Wolf Blitzer and Robert Reich–at 8:30. All agree. No taxation of facial hair.” — Americans for Tax Reform Prez Grover Norquist.

The Self-Appointed Media Critic…

Read more

Quotes of the Day

CAT LOVER: HuffPost Blog Managing Editor Erin Ruberry — “Just got home from work. Someone really wants some TLC.”

No News Alert!

“Sorry folks, a woman leaving the hospital is not breaking news, even if that woman is the Duchess of Cambridge.” — Marketing writer and consultant Deborah Brody.

Jakes knew jack about call

“POTUS and Boehner spoke today. No further information being provided.” — Politico‘s Jake Sherman.

“POTUS + Speaker Boehner spoke on the phone this afternoon. *End of Transmission*” – ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper.

Analysis: “Never a good sign when it’s actually news that the president and House speaker spoke on the phone.” — HuffPost‘s Ethan Klapper.

Awe!!!

“Today was my last day at HuffPost; I’m leaving to focus on a new accountability journalism project. More deets later.” — HuffPost‘s Dan Froomkin.

Mining for Gold

“Gossip Girl reference in a Club For Growth email. Drink, day’s over, etc.” — BuzzFeed‘s Rebecca Berg.

Dumbass Pitches

“Somehow I don’t think you’re personally following up with me, PR person promoting tap dancing kitchen appliances.” — TPM‘s Benjy Sarlin.

Convo Between Two Journos

Hunter Walker of the New York Observer: Bill de Blasio’s wife met her first female lover when they bonded over wishing they had a joint as college freshmen

Feliz Salmon of Reuters: Hunter, genuinely interested: what did your parents think of this article?

Party time.

“My office is full of Christmas music and Twinkies. It’s a good afternoon.” — Jimmy LaSalvia, founder GOProud. Oh, did he mean the snack cake or something else?

What, no one punched him in the nose?

“In 1967 I fought off muggers 35 stitches. Since then, no crimes. Today, my bike was stolen. I’ll hunt it down.” — FNC’s Geraldo Rivera.

Convo Between Two Egomaniacs With Hair Issues

Mediate founder Dan Abrams: I did say you are widely covered b/c you understand media as well as anyone, but it wasn’t really a compliment.

Abrams: So regardless of whether I agree with you, I do appreciate how well stories on you do on my site and elsewhere.

Donald Trump: Dan, of course stories on me do well. Glad you have found a medium you can actual do well on. TV was not your forte.

Claiming an infringement on its trademark rights, NYT had a parody Twitter account suspended this morning.

NYTOnIt, known for mocking needlessly in-depth stories produced by NYT, was reactivated shortly after its creator Benjamin Kabok made an appeal to Twitter. But in the brief time that the account disappeared, there was an outpouring of tweets by journalists bemoaning the loss:

• “Noooo!”– CBS News producer Sarah Boxer
• “Noooooooo.”– HuffPost‘s Elise Foley
• “We didn’t want the NYT to be THIS on it “– BuzzFeed‘s Rebecca Berg.
• “Guys, corporate media lawyers have no sense of humor and the Times is on it!”– Mother Jones Senior Editor Dave Gilson
• “I love that it took NYT several months to get angry about @NYTOnIt.”– HuffPost‘s Ryan Grim

NYT Spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told Poynter that NYT did request Twitter disable the account. She said the company wanted to ensure its trademark “T” logo was protected. When the parody account account was reactivated, the profile image was removed.

Kabok is now hosting a contest for followers to design and submit an original logo, but is it really necessary?

To the left are both logos side by side. The one with the white background and ink smudge at the top of the “T” was the one used by NYTOnIt.

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute lays out the definition of trademark infringement: “Trademark law protects a trademark owner’s exclusive right to use a trademark when use of the mark by another would be likely to cause consumer confusion as to the source or origin of goods.”

It’s possible the parody account’s “T,” written with the same font as NYT‘s trademark, could cause confusion among some media incompetent fool. Also, the parody account does almost exclusively link to NYT material, which might lead some to think the two are interrelated. So we ask you: Should NYTOnIt be forced to change its profile image?

Answer our Fish Poll. We’ll post the results tomorrow. Read more

Quotes of the Day – Election Banter

“Holy. Cow. The magic wall… Is ON THE FLOOR” — The Atlantic Associate Editor Brian Fung.

Green Eggs and Ham — why not?

“Mic check guy just read ‘Green Eggs & Ham,’ in its entirety, at Obama election night HQ. Now reading the Constitution.” — HuffPost‘s Jennifer Bendery.

All in a day’s work

“2 stories & 2,600 words already written today, the last 1,000 drunk will be tougher.” — InTheseTimes labor journo Mike Elk.

5:51 p.m. Famous Last Words

“CONFIDENCE: Romney tells the traveling press he FEELS like a win is coming. He’s written only one speech so far: a victory speech.” — NBC News’ Garrett Haake.

Foreshadowing….5:51 p.m.

“Some rare, non spin on twitter –> RT @jmartpolitico: A senior GOPer w close ties to Romneyland emails a single word: ‘worried.’” — HuffPost‘s Sam Stein.

In response to that… “So people in Romney camp sending out nervous messages to liberal reporters? Really? Wonder how big the camp is.” — Commentary‘s PodWhore (a.k.a. John Podhoretz.)

Reporters and Romney staff clap: the end is near

“Applause on Romney plane — from reporters and staff — as we land in Boston. Final flight of Romney 2012 campaign is over.” — AP‘s Steve Peoples.

Oops! Flack gets ahead of herself: 6:03 p.m.

“I’m not saying this to get ahead of myself, but is Obama capable of giving a graceful concession speech? I’m not sure.” — Amanda Carpenter, speechwriter for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Channeling Carville

“Carville (paraphrase): If Romney loses Virginia he’s in more trouble than a three-legged, cross-eyed gator on a freeway. #election2012″ — National Journal mag Deputy Editor James Oliphant on Democratic pundit James Carville.

And another thing on Carville…“For god’s sake someone either tighten Carville’s tie or unbutton his top button.” — TPM‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro. And this…“On CNN, James Carville is so excited he seems to have removed his exoskeleton.” — Vanity Fair.

Unraveling…7:17 p.m.

“It’s 7:20 and my nerves are already shot. #ElectionDay2012 #TeamRomney” — MSNBC and The Daily Beast‘s Meghan McCain.

Watch your words around the kiddies, journo warns

“Careful y’all: Your kids are learning a lot about how to win and lose graciously by how you act today.” — Politico‘s Patrick Gavin.

Attack on Trump minus his name

“Is there anyone who punches further below their weight than rich guys who dabble in politics?” — BuzzFeed Political Editor Ben Smith.

From the Road…“AT THIS POINT: crowd at Dem HQ is ready to cheer for nearly anything. Just screamed like Obama being up in Minnesota is 1980 gold. #openbar” — CNN’s Lisa Desjardins.

 ’Saucy’ Meghan Kelly

“Meghan Kelly is serving #curlytopsaucy tonight on Fox.” — Bravo’s Andy Cohen.

Politico reporters: Relax? Forget it!

“To all the road-weary reporters who just want a break: Congrats! You’ll be sitting in the Senate press gallery for the next 9 months.” — Fake Jim VandeHei, faux Twitter account to Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei.

Important, Embarrassing Question to Ponder: “So Megyn Kelly had to get white men in suits to confirm that Obama would go to Ohio. (Because her audience wouldn’t believe her?)” — Reuter‘s Megan McCarthy.

 In praise of Nate Silver’s ass

“I think Nate Silver deserves a ‘tell me how my ass tastes’ moment, right?” — HuffPost‘s Jason Linkins.

Journos react to FNC Karl Rove’s TV breakdown

• “Karl Rove looks like a kid who just learned there’s no Santa Claus.” — TPM‘s Sahil Kapur.

• “Fox is gone full bananaspants.” — The Guardian‘s Ana Marie Cox.

• “Barone explaining to Rove why Obama gonna win OH like watching someone explain to little kid that his dog died.” — Bloomberg‘s Joshua Green, referencing The Washington Examiner‘s Michael Barone.

•  ”Email from big GOP donor: ‘Karl looks like a fool.’” — Politico‘s Ken Vogel.

• “Bret Baier is now trying to figure out how to balance Karl Rove’s petulance and the FNC ‘decision desk.’ Train wreck.” — ClearChannel’s Colby Hall.

• “Rove has basically bullied the Fox hosts into backing off from their call of the election. Amazing TV.” — The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza.

• “Fox thinks it’s up to them who wins. It’s not up to them. It’s over guys. (But please keep this up, this is amazing TV.” — HuffPost‘s Ryan Grim.

And Greta tries to inject a dollop of sanity…

“Fox News says President Obama re-elected.” — FNC anchor Greta Van Susteren at 11:34 p.m.

Speaking of delusional…“I’m neither naive nor optimistic. Just saying I refuse to give up. R some of u telling me ur going to throw in the towel? I don’t think so.” — David Limbaugh, author and brother to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, after Obama won Ohio.

Depression is…

“Gay marriage, pot, an elated media, and Obama… Yeah, I’ve had better nights.” — Breitbart.com editor John Nolte.

Plouffe Daddy!

“Congrats on a ground game well-played, Plouffe Daddy.” — Freelance video journo for Wonkette and other outlets Liz Glover, referencing Obama campaign advisor David Plouffe.

Uh oh…where’s Romney? 12:11 a.m. 

“Danger for Romney is that if he delays concession too long he’ll look like a sore loser.12:11 still no concession.” — The Daily Mail‘s Toby Harnden, nearly one hour after NBC called the race for Obama.

Outside the White House: 12:33 a.m.

“People are climbing the trees outside of the White House. Total mayhem.” — BuzzFeed’s Rebecca Berg.

Find some inspiration with ex-Love Connection host Chuck Woolery and take notice of a few R’s who handled the loss with maturity…. Read more

Quotes of the Day

What are you, STUPID?

“Surprised I have to explain this: the President declaring NY+NJ ‘major disasters’ enables those states to expedited federal aid.” — ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper.

Ali Velshi drys out

“OK, got a few hours of sleep & largely dried out. Back on CNN w/ latest from Sandy 7aET” — CNN’s Ali Velshi, who has been receiving widespread concern and criticism for all the time spent in the rising waters of the storm. Today some of his followers appear to be worried for him, asking him when he sleeps and telling him not to tweet while driving.

Deep Thoughts With Nate Silver

“Media reporters are often the very best or very worst journalists at their outfits.” — FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver. To which FakeJimVandeHei RT and CC’d HuffPost‘s Michael Calderone and Politico‘s Dylan Byers.

From the Road…“Campaign life is watching a friend try to walk up to the McDonalds drive thru window at 1 AM. #7 Days” — Politico‘s Juana Summers.

See Journo Hate Mail, and an apology for Sandy mishap… 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

Looks like BuzzFeed has some new Republican fans.

Mitt Romney‘s traveling flack Rick Gorka tells BuzzFeed newbie Rebecca Berg that the campaign is headed back from Indianapolis early so they can attend the zippy outlet’s party tonight at the Florida Aquarium.

Advantage: BuzzFeed. This should tweak the souls over at Breitbart.com, who think BuzzFeed and particularly its fearless leader, Ben Smith, is consistently in the tank for President Obama.