Say hello to Richard Prince, a veteran journalist who writes “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms,” a news column on diversity issues in the news media, for the website of
the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. He often, and sometimes harshly, calls journalists and publications out for not covering black journos enough and even once hilariously harped on Washington City Paper and FishbowlDC that there were no blacks among the Washington, D.C.’s “Boybanders.” It’s hard to envision a black Ezzy (WaPo‘s Ezra Klein) or Hazy (MSNBC’s Chris Hayes) but life is full of wonderful surprises. Most recently Prince won the Ida B. Wells award for his diverse reporting. Read on…He may have the best new question for the FishbowlDC Interview that we’ve seen so far.

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be?  Dr Pepper.

How often do you Google yourself?  Not as often as I should. Too many
others with the same name.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice
versa)? “Sure, I’ll be happy to take that assignment!”

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Nicholas Kristof of
the New York Times travels the world reporting on outrages that would otherwise get little attention. And he was among the first to take advantage of video. But to call him my favorite would eliminate too many friends and colleagues.

Do you have a favorite word?  Party.

Who would you rather have dinner with – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC’s
Chris Matthews or Fox News’ Megyn Kelly? Tell us why. Matthews would probably produce the most copy.

The Earth’s human population is dying out and you must save it. You
will spend a romantic evening with either Scandal’s Kerry Washington,
any of the women from FNC’s “The Five” or MSNBC’s S.E. Cupp. Who will
it be? (None is not an option.) Kerry Washington.

What swear word do you use most often? Does “damn” count?

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.) A multicultural grab bag. It would be
counterprogramming.

On a serious note for a moment, if you could have dinner with a person
who has died, who would it be? Wonder what Martin Luther King would
say about the icon he has become.

Who is your favorite Boybander and why? (Ezzy, Hazy, Weigel,
Attackerman, Beutler) Who? Cultural disconnect.

When you pig out what do you eat? Why pig out?

What is your absolute favorite item of clothing in your closet? We want the fabric, the brand, the store and the price if possible. If it’s a certain kind of underwear we don’t want to know about it. A black cotton T-shirt from Kingston, Jamaica inscribed with a map of the city. Cost $1,100 at a tourist store. In
Jamaican dollars.

Pick one: Mad Men, Scandal or Grey’s Anatomy. Mad Men.

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Walking into the Breitbart Embassy last night was sort of what one imagines walking into Michael Jackson‘s old home: Stationed in the living room was an ice cream stand with the Good Humor man. Outside was a petting zoo with ducks, bunnies, an alpaca and a tiny horse. And walking around the whole house was Nancy Leonard, an accordionist dressed in traditional Swiss clothing, who prides herself on being able to walk and play music at the same time.

“Do you know what the difference between an accordionist and an entertainer is?” Leonard asked FishbowlDC. “An entertainer can walk and play. Most accordionists have to sit and read the music.”

Leonard is a former breast implant specialist for the FDA. “I helped all kinds of people,” she said. “I helped men, women, transvestites… anybody.”

Also roaming around the zoo was former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.).

The Embassy was hosting a party for FNC The Five‘s Greg Gutfeld who has a book coming out next month. Gutfeld’s book, The Joy of Hate, is dedicated to the late Andrew Breitbart. It’s a commentary on the knee-jerk reaction people have to cry foul at anything and everything. Gutfeld said young and old people as well as “people that are not young or old” should read the book.

Party invitations inexplicably featured an old ’90s TV screenshot of Gutfeld from when he worked for Men’s Health. In the photograph, a buff Gutfeld is in a tank top and has a high-top haircut. “How dare you,” he said when we brought it up.

More Gutfeld and pictures…

Read more

Politico‘s Patrick Gavin subjected MSNBC The Cycle Co-host S.E. Cupp to his standard interview and learned that she’s not as calm, cool and collected as she comes across on TV.

In fact, a lot annoys her.

Q: Describe a few pet peeves of yours. A few? Try 15.

“There are alarmingly many. I hate mouth noises of all kinds — chewing, swallowing, gum smacking, heavy breathing. Spelling and grammatical errors make my stomach churn. Especially if I’ve made any. Golf umbrellas on Manhattan sidewalks are infuriating, as are slow or aimless walkers. Loud talkers annoy me in confined spaces like trains and planes. Tardiness is totally unacceptable. I find most meetings and conference calls to be too long, inefficient and a source of great frustration. When people call … just to “say hi.” Bad table manners. In all honesty, I’m a nightmare.”

Read the whole interview here in which you’ll learn about her thoughts on worry and moving a lot growing up.

Quotes of the Day

LOCKED OUT: WaPo’s Dana Milbank: Mayhem at #dnc2012. Hundreds of delegates, journalists locked out of arena.

Penis sighting

“So yeah. Definitely just walked in on some dude in the bathroom with his pants around his ankles staring in the mirror #dnc2012” — BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton.

WTF Mars Mention of the Evening: “I always figured if Bill Clinton landed on Mars, he would know how to do it. He would know how to reproduce. He would know everything. He’d just instinctively know how to talk to people…the martians.” — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews at 12:53 a.m. opining on Clinton’s vast reproduction knowledge that extends beyond our solar system. Please, someone put Matthews to bed (no pun intended).

Bill Clinton Speech Fallout

“A significant part of this is off prompter. He is using it as notes.” — TIME‘s Michael Scherer.

“The prompter has stopped rolling as Clinton goes off book.” — BuzzFeed‘s Zeke Miller.

“Take away the TelePrompTer, bite his ankle, throw a rat down his trousers, it only raises his game.” — Editor of The New Republic Franklin Foer.

“Bill Clinton is totally ghost ridin’ the script right now.” — Jamelle Bouie, writer for The American Prospect and fellow at the Nation Institute.

“The constant camera flashes in here are going to send Bubba into a seizure #dnc2012″ — Stanton.

“Bubba’s hands are shaking.” — HuffPost‘s Jen Bendery.

“I think Bill Clinton is the gun you bring to a knife fight.” — Metro Weekly Co-publisher Sean Bugg.

“Bill Clinton looks great. @peta may be right about the benefits of a vegan diet.” — HuffPost Deputy Editor Erin Ruberry.

“Man, Clinton is happier than a pig in Arkansas you know what.” — James Oliphant, Deputy Editor, National Journal magazine.

“Clinton is the master. He makes a speech to an enormous crowd feel like a personal talk.” — LAT‘s David Horsey.

“I really don’t understand reporters who think this is too long for a politician to be trying to talk to voters about policy.” — WaPo‘s Ezra Klein.

“This speech was killing it at 15 mins. Now, it’s bordering on a hostage situation.” — Co-host of MSNBC’s The Cycle S.E. Cupp.

“This is moving from ‘greatest speech ever’ to gong territory pretty fast.” — BuzzFeed Political Editor Ben Smith.

“They’re going to need a crowbar to pry Bill away from that podium.” — NYT Op-ed Columnist Charles Blow.

“There’s no way Rahm Emanuel actually thought ‘a broken clock is right twice a day’ was that funny.” — National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg.

“This is like watching a good lawyer defending a guilty man.” — Former Clinton pollster Dick Morris.

“Poor fact checkers, now they gotta spend the night studying 52 years of employment data” — Craig Crawford.

“Same R bloggers who were touting Clinton as the ‘good’ Dem for weeks suddenly talking about sex scandal and perjury again.” — WaPo‘s Greg Sargent.

The Name Dropper

“Caroline Kennedy just walked into our booth. Interview w @DavidMuir #abcworldnews” — ABC News’ Rick Klein.

Dirty jokester

“PLEASE tell me that Sandra Fluke isn’t wearing a blue Gap dress tonight.” — NRA News’ Cameron Gray in a tweet on the night former Prez Bill Clinton is to speak.

INTO THE POOL: “Oops! A wet former treasury secretary Bob Rubin after falling into a pool at a fancy cocktail party in Charlotte.” — Politico‘s Lois Romano with accompanying photograph.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report. Above black and white photograph by Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner.

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, WaPo columnist Jonathan Capehart and The Cycle‘s S.E. Cupp joined the roundtable to talk politics. During a commercial break, Capehart, easily recognized by his thick, shiny, black-framed glasses, took part in a brief costume change and accompanying photo session. He tried on Cupp’s equally distinguished glasses.

“Now I try on S.E. Cupp’s specs,” Capehart tweeted, noting that the photo Cupp took of him was “much better.”

Cupp also tweeted, “So Capehart and I switched glasses, to prove we do not share a pair, as is often suggested.”

The two photos (The pouty one was tweeted by Capehart):

Below is a photo of Capehart in his own glasses. And yes, they look exactly the same.

SiriusXM has put together around-the-clock convention coverage featuring several “pop-up” radio shows from each host city. A new channel called “Convention Radio” will let both sides of the political aisle have a chance to maximize their time in the spotlight.

At the RNC in Tampa, Convention Radio will feature conservative voices such as Will Cain and S.E. Cupp from TheBlaze. In Charlotte, the DNC coverage will have shows hosted by Daily Kos contributors.

“We are proud to bring our subscribers this extensive and diverse collection of political coverage, particularly now when the conversation about the country’s direction for the next four years is front and center,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM. “Our subscribers can choose between a variety of perspectives, call in to share their own views, and experience the RNC and DNC as if they were there.”

Those interested can tune in on the first day of the Republican Convention, Aug. 27, on Sirius channel 123 and XM channel 142 and on SiriusXM Patriot Plus online. SiriusXM Convention Radio will also air from the Democratic National Convention beginning Sept. 4 on Sirius channel 123 and XM channel 142 and on SiriusXM Left Plus online.

In addition to the special programming, SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel will carry every speech from both conventions live. Hosts Tim Farley, Julie Mason and Pete Dominick will be on hand to broadcast live with guests and get immediate reaction to the events.

The full lineup and channel information can be found at www.siriusxm.com/Election2012

Quotes of the Day

Rachel-Rachel: “Rachel Maddow was a guest on Rachel Maddow tonight. Err, I mean Rachel Maddow was a guest on Up with Chris Hayes tonight. Errr, wait, it’s Wednesday. Chris Hayes was a guest on Maddow tonight. I think I got it right?” — caption from a D.C. journo who prefers to remain anonymous.

Modern Journalism: Ask now, worry about editing later

“Regardless of the rightness (or wrongness — is that a word?) of the
Obama decision, what is [sic] amounts to politically is a pressing down of
the gas pedal in this ongoing game of political chicken.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza in a Wednesday story on “Fast and Furious.” A reader wonders on the writer’s question to himself, “Aren’t you supposed to find that out before you publish?”

A big Happy Birthday shout-out to Politico‘s Mike Allen, the man who owns birthdays in Washington.

GBTV’s S.E. Cupp on her frightful plane ride from Vegas to NYC: Cupp called the plane a “vomitorium.” Read and watch here.

Ezzy opines on Obama gaffe: No more news conferences!

“What Obama no doubt learned from his ‘gaffe’ news conference is that he shouldn’t do many news conferences. The downside risk of a poorly phrased, extemporaneous comment vastly outweighs the likelihood that whatever serious message he seeks to convey will make it through the media’s filter. What Romney learned from Obama’s news conference is that, if he’s lucky enough to become president, he shouldn’t do many news conferences, either.” — WaPo‘s Ezra Klein for Bloomberg View regarding the President’s “private sector is fine” gaffe. Read full story here.

AnonymASS Tipster of the Week

“Hey Betsy: How do you know so much about Michelle’s page???
YOU ARE BUSTED BITCH!!!” — AnonymASS. (Memo to ASS: I know as much as you do about The Daily Caller‘s Michelle Fields’ Wikipedia page, but any moron can look at the IP address and realize at least what part of town the changes are coming from. You can be that moron!) The tipster was in a tizzy about this story from yesterday.

How to handle rudeness on Twitter

“When someone w/ few followers is rude to you on #twitter U should post at least five successive replies explaining how cool you are. #protip” — Newsweek‘s Eli Lake.

Self-appointed media critic

“I’m looking forward to ‘The Newsroom’ joining Tom Friedman in ranks of things that everyone mocks relentlessly” — Wonkette and Salon‘s Jim Newell.

Necessary Tweet of the Day: Is Gene Weingarten now a food critic?

“Just had cold bing cherry soup topped with whipped goat-milk cream and duck shavings, at Pound in Cap. Hill. Beyond great.” — WaPo‘s Pulitzer Prize winning Gene Weingarten, who apparently thinks he’s Tom Seitsema this week. We’re sure you’ll get back to your newfound workouts at the gym soon.

But Gene’s not alone…Washington City Paper star photog Darrow Montgomery had this to say about a meal yesterday: “Brown ‘n Serve sausage smells like the ganja while browning.”

ICYMI: Vagina Journalism

“For TV, let’s all agree to stick with ‘vagina.’ That is, unless everyone can rally behind ‘pikachu’ or ‘tamagotchi.’” — TV industry insider from this story.

News broke a little over a week ago that MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan would be leaving the network, opening up the 3 p.m. time slot for a new host.

Politico‘s media reporter Dylan Byers reported that several personalities would be rotated through the slot starting June 25 before one is picked to fulfill it permanently. Included among the potential hosts: Salon‘s Steve Kornacki, MSNBC and GBTV contributor S.E. Cupp, WaPo‘s Ezra Klein, former Democratic congressional candidate Krystal Ball and author Toure.

Assuming all of these guys will be giving a go at hosting, who will probably work out best? Take our Fish Poll. We’ll run the results tomorrow.

(A Sprinkling of Things we Think you Ought to Know…)

Al Jazeera English Grabs Major Award – Al Jazeera English was given the Grand Prize Award at The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism for its documentary film “Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark.” The movie focuses on the crackdown of protests in Bahrain in 2011. The film was written and directed by May Ying Welsh. The footage was obtained mostly through hidden camera and undercover reporting.

Local Worker Crowned “Commuter Idle” – WTOP has been on the hunt for the person with the worst commute in the region and they have announced their winner: Brenda Wells from Sparrow Point, MD. According to WTOP, “Wells travels nearly 100 miles, 5 hours a day from Sparrow’s Point to Washington, D.C., and back. Her day begins at 3 a.m. and her commute includes a 45-minute drive (complete with two tolls), a 50-minute train ride, two metro rides, a short walk, and a metro bus ride.” And you thought YOU had it bad by having to spend 20 extra minutes in rush hour. Wells wins $1,000 in gas money and a limousine ride for one of her future commutes.

Results of our FishPoll – Yesterday, we asked for your vote on whether or not conservative commentator, S.E. Cupp, had a case against Hustler for photo-shopping an inappropriate picture of her. Here are the results. The vast majority of you, 45.54%, say that yes, she does have a case. Meanwhile, 30.69% say that she is fair game because she is a public figure. Interestingly, 20.79 also weighed in saying that she didn’t have a case, “but she should make things as uncomfortable as possible for Hustler’s legal team.”

Publisher of Hustler Larry Flynt made news yesterday when his nudie mag ran a photo of conservative commentator S.E. Cupp with a photoshopped penis in her mouth.

Scott Baker, editor of The Blaze, which Cupp contributes to, told FBDC “it doesn’t sound like” she plans on suing. Flynt told The Daily Caller‘s Caroline May that he had every right to publish the photo, which came with a disclaimer stating it had been edited, as an expression of satire.

But is there a difference between parodying a public figure and photoshopping a penis in her mouth? Let us know in our Fish Poll. We’ll run the results tomorrow.