In this feature, we take a swim around the Fishbowl and see what our mediabistro colleagues are up to and highlight the items that jump out at us.

FishbowlLA: Actress Jane Fonda accepts an award from the LA Press Club at the Biltmore Hotel last night in downtown Los Angeles. And it comes with a cost, angry readers and backlash from Breitbart.com and The Daily Caller. Read here.

FishbowlNY: Our siblings write about Rupert Murdoch‘s non-apology apology for “Jewish owned” tweet. Somehow they’re not buying his apology. Read here.

GalleyCat: Your genre or mine? A terrible question for sure, but there’s online writing support for authors working on similar types of books. Some of the lounges include Romance, Suspense and Fantasy. Sounds like trouble. Read here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Say hello to Mother Jones‘ National Security Correspondent Adam Weinstein, who has been splitting his time between Washington, San Francisco and Tallahassee. Next month he’ll grace Washington full-time as the mag’s new Community Engagement Editor and will continue on as their National Security Correspondent and Tumblr-starter. He was previously their copy editor. Before that, he worked at the WSJ, the Village Voice, and the Tallahassee Democrat. He’s written for the NYT, New York Magazine, GQ, and Newsweek.

He has many life titles: Navy veteran, two-day Jeopardy champion and ex-political scientist. He also did a recession-fueled stint as a military contractor in Iraq. He holds an MS in Journalism from Columbia and an MA in international affairs from Florida State. Weinstein says he’s looking forward to “getting down with” the other social media folks in Washington.

Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, he says he tried his hardest to be a beach bum. “There was lots of drinking on the beach and cutting class,” he recalled. In high school he interned at the Sun Sentinel, where he says he caught the Hemingway bug and figured journalism was something he’d always end up doing. He was a copy editor at the Tallahassee Democrat and the WSJ until Rupert Murdoch laid him off. He has funny copy editing memories: “Everybody has that moment where the front page comes out and you have a 72-point headline that reads ‘Headline Goes Here.’” He says he wasn’t a very good copy editor.

Weinstein says one of the problems journalists have is remembering that the world doesn’t revolve around them.  “We all just have a tendency to assume that what we work on everyday and what comprises our world is what comprises everybody’s elses,” he says. “The best journalists are ones that can step out of that bubble and be aware of other people’s worlds.”

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be? Diet Mountain Dew. Not very classy, but irresistible, slightly Southern, and sure to make you sick in massive quantities.

How often do you Google yourself? Enough to grow hair on my iPad.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice versa)? I once told a restaurant manager I’d rather take a high colonic with a rusty chainsaw than work another minute for him. Two years later, I was writing for the Village Voice. The restaurant was out of business.

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? I can’t narrow it down. Dave Weigel is the nicest guy in the business. Mike Hastings is the most entertaining. C.J Chivers is a personal hero. I have an intellectual crush on Virginia Heffernan. But overall, right now I’d kill a man with my bare hands just to keep reading John Jeremiah Sullivan.

Do you have a favorite word? My wife and I giggle every time we say the word “backpack”, for some not-at-all-drug-related reason. When not in mixed company, I like “fuckstick.”

Who would you rather have dinner with – MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Katie Couric or ABC’s Diane Sawyer. Tell us why. Maddow, because I like to talk to PhDs. There ought to be more doctors and masters of non-journalistic shit working in journalism.

The Earth’s human population is dying out and you must save it. You will spend a romantic evening with either Helen Thomas or Joan Rivers. Who will it be? (Neither is not an option and yes, it’s possible. We’re in your imagination right now.) Joan Rivers, because I like her dirty talk.

What swear word do you use most often? “What the shit?!” I’m an ex-copy editor, so a lot of years in there, I spoke mainly in cusses. We’re the engine mechanics of the news biz.

You’ve just been told the big news: You get to have your own Sunday morning talk show. Who will be on your roundtable? (Pick four journalists or pundits types.) Skip Bayless, Woody Paige, Dana Loesch, Jonah Goldberg, and three dull machetes in the center of the table.

On a serious note for a moment, if you could have dinner with a person who has died, who would it be? I was raised in part by a lovely woman, April Rubin Bloom, an erudite, gentle union crusader who was like a third grandmother to me – Molly Ivins meets Atticus Finch. I was working on the wrong coast when she died, and we never got to share in each other’s excitement over my job at MoJo, one of her favorite magazines. Plus, she was the most talented cook ever to organize a NOW picket line for equal pay.

Does David Corn have a bad temper? No! He’s just a badass ex-hippie with great guitar licks and a sophomoric sense of humor.

Weinstein says Washington’s Boybanders “poop brown poop just like the rest of us” …

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

From the Road

“Hurriedly shove things in bags, go to next location, discover what fell out of the bags. Repeat. #travel” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

“The crowd at this Romney-McCain event feels as sleepy as us folks in the press corps.” — NBC’s Chuck Todd.

“Hey, Cindy McCain in the house. #happieronthesidelines.” — PBS’s Gwen Ifill.

Eeks. ‘Smells like burning’

“Gingrich press bus is running power to a small city of laptops through one single cigarette lighter. Look out NH! #FITN” — Yahoo! News’s Chris Moody, who later added this minor detail: “Cig lighter being used to power entire bus of laptops on Newt Express smells like burning. Unplugging bc we don’t want to die. #FITN”

“The traveling press is rigging an elaborate series of converters, extension cords and power strips to get power on the bus #rovingfirehazard.” –Politico national reporter Ginger Gibson.

Whoa! Really?

“Fact: I now have Internet in my home.” — Roll Call‘s HOH writer Neda Semnani.

Breitbart’s impassioned plea to Rupert

“Hi, @rupertmurdoch! I’m over here! Notice me, please! I like you. You are smart! You have made great decisions! Hi, it’s me Andrew! I clean pools, too, @rupertmurdoch. I can drive. Well, even! Love to fly in helis! [That's what people who have helicopters call them!]” — BigGov Founder Andrew Brietbart to media mogul  Rupert Murdoch. And this is the Murdoch.

Writer has cold weather fashion advice

“If you’re walking around DC, and not wearing long underwear, you are losing badly.” — Marcus J. Moore, music journo for BBC and Washington City Paper.

Dear Twitter, it’s me, Eli

“Hi @twitter. It’s me, Eli. Let’s try to make Thursday a day where we start to dial back some of the put down humor.” — Newsweek‘s Eli Lake.

Dear Google, it’s me, Derek

“Dear @google, if I was interested in Gmail’s ‘new look’ I would have chosen it. Give us a permanent choice or stop screwing up your shit.” — Townhall.com and BigGov columnist Derek Hunter.

With an eye for fashion

“Fashion disaster on CNN – Rick Santorum in a bright red shirt and black sweater vest.” — TWT Senior Opinion writer Emily Miller. And Daily Kos and Congress Matters Contributing Editor David Waldman writes, “Can’t wait to have a President who’ll sit around the White House wearing a sweater vest, and fretting about the sex people might be having.”

The Media Critic

“Ed Schultz’s insults are strange. ‘…an endorsement from ‘Mr. Excitement’ John McCain,’ he says, rolling his eyes. Huh?” — Gawker Political Editor Jim Newell.

The inevitable Rob Corddry joke

“I got no problem w/recess appts. But for a guy from The Daily Show? I just don’t see that.” — TPM’s Editor Josh Marshall in reference to President Obama appointing Richard Cordray as Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director.

Punishing shoveler

“Every time it snows, I shovel sidewalk for every house on my block except the one at the corner owned by people my age, who never shovel.” — WCP Managing Editor Mike Madden.

Journo has outburst of sorts

“My laughter outburst just violated by own Quiet Car orthodoxy. Devil made me do it. By which I mean @louisck” — The Takeaway’s Congressional Radio Correspondent Todd Zwillich.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

It’s not only the Yeas & Nays gossip column that’s guilty of having makeout sessions with FNC all over town, it’s now the editorial page, which has an even deeper love for the network that parallels all the great loves — Heidi and Spencer, Tina and Ike, Michaele and Tareq, Whitney and Bobby.

The op-ed celebrates FNC’s 15th anniversary and is so raw and gushing that it’s embarrassing. They say people have lost faith in journalism and journalists. But not in foxy Fox News. A sampling of their sweet nothings: 1. “If television news survives long into the future, it will largely be as a result of Fox News.” 2. Citing a WaPo quote, they explain that FNC anchor Bret Baier goes into his morning office meeting and does what most people who call themselves journalists do. That is to say he – gasp! – determines what’s news in a “balanced” manner. They write, “Baier’s claim makes sense to Washington Examiner editors and reporters who worked with him and other Fox journalists in preparing for the Iowa Republican presidential debate in August that was co-sponsored by our two new organizations.” 3. But the best line is saved for last. “If other news organizations refuse to heed the lessons of Fox News’ success, they will be even further behind the next time Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes pop the bubbly in an anniversary celebration.”

Did Fox News write this for them?

To be sure, FNC has returned the love. FNC Managing Editor Bill Sammon used to work at the Examiner as did FNC Digital Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“I’m not giving any interviews tonight, sorry,” he said. We tried one more time, but he didn’t budge: “No, I’m sorry.” Murdoch was polite enough, but would it have killed him to just say “Mila Kunis“?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Anderson House, off Dupont Circle

Lionel Barber, Sen. Gillibrand, Jonathan Gillibrand and Richard McGregor

From Moet pink champagne to pink marshmallows dipped in coconut to lush bouquets of cherry blossoms, the Anderson House sparkled in the evening light. The pink was to remind guests of the salmon-hue of the Financial Times.

The Thursday night fest welcomed FT’s new Washington Bureau Chief Richard McGregor to town. A grand welcome it was. FT brass and staff jetted in from New York and London to put on an opulent gathering that included known Washington faces like former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and wife, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, WaPo’s Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and husband, Jonathan. FT hosts included Editor Lionel Barber and U.S. Managing Editor Gillian Tett. Cocktail party circuit loyalists worked the room as usual, trading business cards and small talk and enjoying the booze.

But this was no ordinary Washington party in any other sense. It was a step above.  Even the hors d’oeurvres – gorgeous lobster rolls placed on fava beans, bites of marinated New York sirloin, or tuna tartare in small boutique sesame ice cream cones on a bed of coffee grounds – reflected it. FT has that sort of air – refined, upscale, impeccable — and isn’t a place terribly welcoming of anyone talking out of turn.

“The FT is very gentlemanly,” agreed Gary Silverman, FT‘s  U.S. News Editor who came in for the party from New York, who was spotted chatting with NYT’s Sabrina Tevernise and later with MSNBC Commentator and The Daily Beast’s Richard Wolffe.

Which is why, when toward the party’s end that Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist came to say goodnight to McGregor, that his parting note was jarring. “I’m going home to beat the kids,” Norquist said with a wide smile. McGregor, unfazed, bid him farewell.

The new bureau chief has a confident quietness. He’s neither the life of the party nor the wallflower. He isn’t full of thick Washington conceit, but he isn’t confused by what he was sent here to do. “Just get everybody facing in the right direction and let them go,” he says in his native Australian accent.

Radical change is not on his spoken agenda. “I’m building on the good legacy that [already exists],” he says. “No big changes.” Like Norquist, McGregor has a trick phrase up his sleeve. “I don’t have to come here and boot people up the bum,” he says.  A quick translation: “I don’t have to come here and push.”

Asked about the newspaper being a perceived pink, McGregor remarked, “I think of it as salmon.”

Born in Sydney, Australia, he worked for The Australian, the International Herald Tribune, the BBC and Far Eastern Economic Review and has spent much of the last decade in China as FT‘s Bureau Chief.  Washington is three months new, but so is America. “I have wanted to come to the states all my life,” he says. He’s living in Chinatown while he house hunts.

MSNBC’s Richard Wolffe and FT’s Gary Silverman

Lionel Barber, Andrea Mitchell, Alan Greenspan and Sally Quinn

Photo Credit: Sam Hurd

Find out who else was at the party…

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So soon?

Though it launched in early February, Nieman’s Joshua Benton is on a  mission to use publicly available data to try to understand The Daily‘s readership. He readily admits that it’s tough to measure audience size with news organization apps on smart phones and other portable devices due to a lack of hard data.

Benton says the problem is that with an outlet like Rupert Murdoch‘s The Daily, only available on the iPad, traffic numbers aren’t available. Rankings of popular apps change from day to day. Plus, The Daily‘s publisher won’t say anything about traffic except that the app has been downloaded “hundred of thousands” of times.

Benton examines Twitter sharing, and finds that…

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Jon Ward

Rubin responds to a weekend story by Ward, who wrote about the “argument” of many social conservatives: that fiscal and social conservatism are linked because economic problems stem from moral issues. This argument is “something of a change from the past,” he says, when social conservatives believed America’s success or failure depended on following God.

But Rubin says the connection between fiscal and social conservatism isn’t an “argument,” it’s fact. She bashes Ward in the process, saying he’s “unfortunately already put aside his considerable reporting skills in favor of serving up…standard liberal canards.” She says “Ward’s spin…simply isn’t true” and that it’s “too bad” that history, polling and commentary “must be shoved aside so that the liberal media doesn’t burden their readers with, you know, facts.”

Tough words for someone whose recent employers have included Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, and TWT. When Ward was named one of The Hill’s 50 most beautiful people last summer, he would only say he was a “Registered Democrat” (with quotes) while most others listed simply said Democrat or Republican.

UPDATE: Ward responded to the piece on Twitter: “surprised @jrubinblogger is critiquing my work based on ad hominem motive judgement & ignoring facts…comparing Reagan to Vander Plaats (quoted in my story) is like comparing Barbour or Pawlenty to Jerry Falwell…but more disappointing is baseless suggestion that change of venue means I’ve abandoned journalistic integrity #fail

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Frank Luntz

An e-mail release says Luntz is making public for the first time “the list of the ‘secret’ words and phrases from my two decades of public opinion research that I have used for presidents, prime ministers, CEOs and those in the public spotlight.”

On his list of secret phrases that work:

• “Imagine,” which Luntz calls “the most powerful word in the English language” because of how inspiring it is.
• “Believe in better,” which Luntz says was originated by Newscorp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch.
• “You decide,” which Luntz says is “not paying homage to Fox News. Instead: “The lesson of 2010 is that Americans want control of their lives back and they don’t want Washington or Wall Street making their decisions for them.”
• “You deserve”: Luntz says this comes from DNC Chairman Tim Kaine.

Fun fact: Luntz was once called America’s “hottest pollster” by The Boston Globe. You decide.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Kalb declared himself a NYT fan who respected the publication as a leader in the news business. But you wouldn’t know it from the tone of the interview. Early on, he pressed Keller on the number of features in the Times, some of which appear on the front page. Kalb said he was “of the sort” who believes only hard news belongs on the front page. Keller defended features, saying they were important for telling stories, and had news value. Kalb wasn’t persuaded.

Asked about competition, Keller said that though WaPo and WSJ are still major competitors, online media have also been competitive, not just for traffic but for reporting and editing talent. He named Politico, HuffPost, and The Daily Beast, and says he reads them daily. Or, as he explained,”somebody looks at them and tells me.”

Kalb and Keller also clashed over commentary and analysis in news pieces. Kalb said there “should be a wall between the two.” Keller disagreed. “I don’t mind analysis in the news pages. In fact, I encourage it…It’s what readers want,” he said.

Kalb seemed pissed…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Say hello to Politico‘s media writer Keach Hagey, a native of Evansville, Ind. She came to Washington from The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi, where she was covering the business of media in the Middle East. Previously she wrote for CBS.com and the Village Voice. We wouldn’t have guessed this, but she prefers the cuss word, “motherfucker” as well as the word, “pork.” Well done. Read on.

If you were a carbonated beverage which would you be? Ginger beer

How often do you Google yourself? Occasionally.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor (or vice versa) “I can’t cover that zoning board meeting tonight because I have band practice.”

Who is your favorite working journalist? William T. Vollman

Do you have a favorite word? Pork. I don’t eat it, but I like to say it. I just think it’s a well-constructed group of letters, in the same way that Drew Barrymore’s character in “Donnie Darko” likes the words “cellar door.”

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

What’s the name of your cell phone ring? The fake old timey phone sound that comes on the Blackberry.

When did you last cry and why? Three days ago, while watching “Out of Africa” for the first time. So embarrassing.

What word do you routinely misspell? Across.

What swear word do you use most often? Motherfucker.

What word or phrase do you overuse? See above.

What TV show do you have to watch? True Blood.

Where do you shop most often for your clothes? Beacon’s Closet.

Whom do you prefer for daytime talk, Dr. Phil, Ellen, Oprah, Tyra or the women of The View? The View. Barbara Walters has no peer.

Pick one: Leno, Letterman or Conan? Letterman.

If you were trapped on a deserted island, which public official would you want to be trapped with and why? Haley Barbour, assuming he brings his whiskey.

Who is your mentor? Wayne Barrett, Dave Blum, Michelle Johnson

What’s the best advice you ever received in the course of your career? Don’t take no for an answer.

Read more about Keach after the jump…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Membership will hold a hearing on the “Role of Immigration in Strengthening America’s Economy” featuring New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fox owner and Rupert Murdoch. The media magnate and immigrant was born in Australia. The pair created a coalition earlier this year to push immigration reform.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

AP Justice Department reporter Devlin Barrett leaving to take job with WSJ. Will do DC-based reporting as part of Rupert Murdoch‘s expanded coverage of New York. “Huge coup for WSJ,” our tipster opines.

Barrett chats with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

While Vice President Joe Biden may describe this media mogul as a BFD, Rupert Murdoch doesn’t let his power get to his head.

“I don’t let it get to me – I don’t really believe it,” said Murdoch, at The George Washington University’s Kalb Report Tuesday night at the National Press Club.

Murdoch spoke about his path to creating a media empire, what he considers content, and of his morning reading list.
Laughs erupted from the audience when Murdoch admitted that his morning news lineup consisted of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

“But you own those two,” reminded Marvin Kalb, host of the program, which is produced by GW’s Global Media Institute, the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University, and the National Press Club.

Murdoch, who owns one of the coveted Apple iPads, describes it as “a wonderful thing” and that it “brought together all forms of media – music, books, newspapers.”

Unlike critics of the iPad and Amazon Kindle who think that these technologies will destroy the future of the newspaper, Murdoch believes that it may actually save the newspaper industry.

“If you have less newspapers and more of these, that’s ok,” said Murdoch of the iPad. “It’s more economic. It may well be the saving of the newspaper industry.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.