Another kind of ‘House’ wins vote — Patrick Gavin of Politico writes about a new Amazon.com TV series called “Alpha House” that will begin shooting this year in New York City and Washington. The show is a comedy about four Republican senators living as roommates and stars John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Mark Consuelos and Matt Mallow. The show was part of an Amazon contest that featured 14 pilots that viewers voted on to choose which ones would be made into a full season.

DOJ scandal deepens — WaPo’s Erik Wemple further examines the DOJ scandal today in a piece on Fox News host Shepard Smith’s statement that the Justice Department gained access to the news organization’s servers and took information from them. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement that DOJ is not identifying the “news organization or the reporter involved in the Stephen Kim investigation.”

Reporter’s computer compromised — Also on Politico today, Dylan Byers reports CBS News investigative reporter Sheryl Attkisson’s computer was compromised. Attkisson said she’s been looking into the intrusion for months but is “not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today.” The reporter said suspicious activity was first seen in Feb. 2011 while she was reporting on the Fast and Furious scandal and the White House’s green energy spending.

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BREAKFAST AT ABC’s THIS WEEK: HuffPost-AOL Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington: “French toast, home fried potatoes, sausage patties and bacon in the ABC green room. Seriously?” Host George Stephanopoulos replied, “Sorry, Arianna, I ate all the Greek yogurt.”

On Margaret Thatcher’s passing

“Margaret Thatcher was the first politician I ever met. She was a wonderful person and a great leader.” — FNC Contributor and RedState Editor Erik Erickson.

“Obviously, everyone should relate Thatcher’s death to something in American politics, and then tweet it, because that is a Good Thing to Do.” — Politico‘s Tony Romm.

“Over-under on # of people who will write interesting columns about what Thatcher meant to them: 4″ — Politico‘s Alexander Burns.

Music editor ties the knot

“En route to the church to marry my best friend, @mabinty. #weddingday.” — WCP‘s Marcus Moore, who married Mabinty Koroma.

Violent dream talk.

“I’m killing people off in my dreams right and left this week. Sorry, everyone. I don’t like it either.” — Photographer and blogger Laurie White.

Weekend TV Watching

“This episode of Cops takes place in Portland. The squad car pulls over a naked man on a bike who is ‘protesting global warming.’” — Politico’s Byron Tau.

“Watching ‘Point Break’ with Alex Pappas. It’s his favorite movie.” — The Daily Caller’s Will Rahn regarding he and his colleague, Alex Pappas.

Tschida’s exotic vacation to southeast Asia

“Long airport layover, so sign up for ‘foot massage.’ 90-year-old man comes in says please take off trouser but please leave underwear on.” — ABC7′s Stephen Tschida. And unfortunately, upon returning home, Tschida falls ill: “Back from the jungle and all day long I go from chills to sweat. Sure hope it’s the D.C. weather and not dengue fever. But with my luck?”

Editor throws caution to wind

“Went to the P St. Whole Foods after 2pm because YOLO” — Foreign Policy magazine Managing Editor Blake Hounshell.

TV anchor admits culinary weakness and a reader panics that Politico Playbook has been nixed today. continued…

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Browsing through the list, we reminisced about what this year brought us from FNC. We laughed. We cried. We laughed a little more. Then we pulled out our top three favorites.

1. Fox & Friends Gets Punkd

In mid September Max Rice, a “recent college grad” came on the network to explain why he was supporting Mitt Romney, introduced himself to the nation with one word: “Sup.” It was all downhill from there. Rice called show co-host Gretchen Carlson “Miss U.S.A.” when she’s actually former Miss America. He sipped a cup of something on set. He said he met President Obama “in third grade,” which had absolutely nothing to do with anything. The interview ended with him saying… continued…

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” Fox News anchor Shepard Smith recalls how he got noticed working as a local reporter in Orlando. The story involves puppies, explosions, and Mel Gibson.

For more videos, check out our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

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Van Damm is seen here sporting a seriously creepy mustache on set of an upcoming movie.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Politico

FishbowlDC has learned that FNC’s media relations department has been forced to “soften up” on Politico. “From the top it has come down that media relations have to be softer than they are,” a source who requested strict anonymity told FBDC. While Politico reporters may not start popping up on FNC programs by, say, next Tuesday, it is headed that way. “There are certain shows that would like to have them on and I think that will happen,” our source said.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The two media entities are still in mid-thaw. Fox News and Politico have notoriously not gotten along, with a string of media writers placed on the infamous Black List (which exists no matter what they claim and, in fact, is discussed monthly). Just three months ago FNC PR snubbed Politico reporters, saying they “tend not to rate well” on the network. Politico responded with a sticky-sweet profile on “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier. Fast forward two months to today and Politico has a three-page story on “how Fox News has stayed on top” of cable ratings for a decade. Both stories are by Mike Allen.

We wrote Allen as well as Politico‘s editor-in-chief John Harris to ask if they’ve seen any uptick in FNC booking their writers. To Harris: “Are there any talks between Fox News and Politico to get more airtime for your reporters in the way MSNBC has?” To Allen: “In the past Fox hasn’t booked too many Politico reporters. Has that changed of late? Have you been booked on Fox before?” We also reached out to some of the talent at FNC to get their take on the matter. So far, no word.

Allen’s buttery piece quotes FNC execs as well as talent…

continued…

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Correction: This post originally misidentified the anchor of “Special Report” as Shepard Smith. It is actually Bret Baier.

A new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs found that Fox New’s “Special Report” program had the “most balanced overall coverage” of the Republican presidential field. That’s in comparison to the nightly newscasts of CBS, ABC and NBC.

We can already hear Bill O’Reilly‘s “talking points memo” touting the news.

CNN and MSNBC were not included in the study. “Special Report,” anchored by Bret Baier, was considered because it is “most like the network news shows in content and presentation.”

CBS’s coverage of the candidates was most positive, followed by FNC, then NBC and finally ABC.

The study also found that Mitt Romney, who has remained the frontrunner for almost the entire race, has received the most negative news coverage on the whole.

“The media love a horse race and hate a frontrunner,” explained Robert Lichter, director of CMPA.

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It’s no secret amongst Washington reporters that Fox News PR has a Black List. It includes reporters, editors and pundits, and just about anyone who occasionally looks at them cockeyed or has an ounce of audacity to question their journalism methods or – god forbid – phone the person or network they are attempting to slam. The Black List is a seasons, reasons and lifetime endeavor. Sometimes you’re on the list. Sometimes not. Sometimes you’re on and off in the same week. But these days, one thing is clear: Fox News PR has found a comfortable landing strip in the Washington Examiner.

Today’s story about Geraldo Rivera celebrating his 40th anniversary on air is just one example. Earlier this week they had that whopper of a story on Shepard Smith not wanting to watch those falling tower images. In June there was the war between Fox News and Bloomberg – this item was, to borrow the catch phrase, a fair and balanced approach on the war for Helen Thomas‘s White House seat. The Yays & Nays team indeed reported both sides. But also in June, Fox News went straight to the Examiner after Politico published a story about Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace getting escorted from his seat at a Nats game when he sat in seats belonging to former President Bush aide Karl Rove. The network gave a reaction to Politico’s scoop in The Examiner. Fox News made sure the story that published in the Examiner was a more Fox-friendly version than the more sharp-elbowed version that ran in Politico.

There’s a clear nexus between Fox News and the Examiner.

That Fox News Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon and Chris Stirewalt went from the Examiner to Fox certainly doesn’t hurt. Add to that the fact that current columnists Byron York, Michael Barone are Fox News contributors and you have more than a solid Fox News-Examiner bond.

One last Fox-y detail: A visitor to the Examiner offices told FishbowlDC this week that Editor Stephen Smith‘s office TV is typically tuned to – guess what – Fox News.

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As reported in Yeas & Nays:

“Before viewing the clips, Smith told Yeas & Nays, ‘I don’t like to watch the towers fall, and I don’t like to watch New Orleans flooded. I don’t like it. I try to avoid it when I can.’”

Question to broadcast media: Does anyone sit around watching this sh-t for fun?

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Comfortably numb cabbie

“My cab driver is eating McDonald’s fries and blaring Pink Floyd.”
-WSJ‘s Susan Davis on Twitter Monday. To which House GOP Whip Spokesman Brad Dayspring remarked, “Munchies.”

Socks News Strikes Again?

“Okay, so they’re persistent, but Shepard Smith is probably the best anchor on the network — one of the few name personalities who really does report the news in a ‘fair and balanced’ manner.”
- Commentary from a “reader” on FishbowlMatt’s “Rhymes with Socks News PR” item Monday. The item was the result of three consecutive really enthusiastic “anonymous” pitches on Smith landing on the cover of New Orleans Magazine.

Cupcake Paralysis

“Anyone who waits more than three minutes for a cupcake is insane.”
- WaPo feature writer Dan Zak in a Monday tweet.

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Due to the level of enthusiasm for the topic and the pitch method (anonymous bc they don’t speak to us), we’re guessing the culprit rhymes with “Socks News PR.” So, here ya go, Socks News PR:

Pitch one:

Shepard Smith graces the cover of New Orleans Magazine for his Katrina coverage http://www.livingneworleans.com/?p=3988

Pitch two:

Go Shepard Smith!!! He’s on the COVER of New Orleans Living Magazine for Katrina! http://www.livingneworleans.com/?p=3988

Third time’s a charm:

Shep rocks: http://www.livingneworleans.com/?p=3988

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The Institute invited the FNC anchor to Washington, D.C. to appear and speak with “other notable news leaders” at the Newseum for a day-long conference on the “practices in the evolution of news.” A FNC spokesperson tells FishbowlDC: “While we’re amused by Poynter’s persistence we have no interest in participating given their relevancy has ceased to exist.”

The hard feelings center around the Winter issue of American Journalism Review, which is published by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. The FNC anchor landed on the cover. And inside: a glowing, nearly 5,000-word profile of Smith. Poynter Online, which reports original media news and aggregates the big media stories on any given day, made no mention of the AJR piece.

As of late last week, Kelly McBride, Poynter’s Ethics Group Leader in charge of the Washington D.C. event, had not received word from Smith. “We’d like for him to have a speaking role, but no one has responded to our invitation. We’ve had him on our list of ‘hey, would he ever do anything with us?’ I actually like Shepard Smith. I have followed his work.”

As for not mentioning the AJR piece on Poynter.org, McBride tells FishbowlDC, “We don’t usually write about who makes the cover of AJR. It’s a pretty small circulation magazine. We don’t cover them much… Well, that maybe explains why we can’t get a hold of him.”

Poynter.org has covered Smith in the past. AJR too. The site mentioned Smith in a number of articles, including a link to an NPR story in Oct. 2008 and to a Boston Globe story in July 2009. There are 10 Poynter Online items mentioning AJR, and 10 items on Smith.

McBride sounded disappointed but not crushed Smith might not attend the June 29 event. She said Poynter has invited 100 journalists to attend, including GQ‘s Ana Marie Cox and Drew Curtis of Fark.com.

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Obama Mocks Media Mood Swings

“At Dem fundraiser, Obama mocks way media portrays him: ‘You’re like a genius for about a month, then you’re an idiot for about 6 months.’” — CBS News’s White House correspondent Mark Knoller in a Thursday tweet.

Kurtz Wants to Beat Gibbs to Twitter Punch

“Just sat down with Robert Gibbs at WH and talked about…Twitter. So I have to beat @PressSec to tweeting this.” — WaPo’s Howard Kurtz in a Thursday tweet.

CNN’s Larry King Marital Status: Available

“To all you single ladies who say there are no good men available, I have just two words: Larry King.” — @Borowitzreport in a Thursday tweet.

Scherer Resorts to Analogies

“Shepard Smith is to car chases what Mozart was to music, what Lil Wayne is to wordplay. [Should be nightly show]” — Time’s Michael Scherer in a Thursday tweet.

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We bring you Mediaite’s recent story of FNC’s Shepard Smith very lightly mocking Bill O’Reilly’s “F–k it, We’ll Do it Live!” clip from “Inside Edition” because it’s worth watching repeatedly.

Watch it here.

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By Roger he means, of course, FNC President Roger Ailes, the most powerful man in news.

But for now, it’ll do. As anchor of FNC’s “Fox Report with Shepard Smith”, his mellifluous baritone voice is a constant reminder of his days as a “reporter” at the sensational tabloid show “A Current Affair.” His looks are not to be overlooked either, (A producer from another network went into an extensive detail last week about how handsome the man simply known as “Shep” is.)

Smith flees from such flattery, even when he’s decked out in a tux and holding court with famous anchor men and women at the Radio & TV Correspondent’s dinner as he was last week. “Everyone gets together and we’re the narcissistic freaks that we are,” he told FishbowlDC when I caught up with him at the dinner. “What we do is serious, but we try not to take ourselves seriously.”

The TV anchor of the most watched but controversial cable network insists being on TV isn’t the be all and end all. “I try not to let what I do define me,” he says. “There’s more to life.”

So, what’s more important? “Basketball, beach, baseball, beer,” he says quickly, like, duh, obviously, the four B’s are far more crucial.

Still, he knows he’s part of an elite group, but doesn’t take the whole game too seriously. “It’s like a fraternity,” he says. “When you put yourself in front of klieg lights everyday you know [viewers] are going to make fun of you. I don’t really care. …We have lights on us all day. That infinitely makes us weirder than everyone else.”

Weirdo or not, he doesn’t sweat the small things. “I don’t know that I have an interview technique. I just ask the questions I think people want asked. I don’t over-think it.” He equates life as an anchor to a daily morning ritual. “Do you have any concerns when you’re brushing your teeth?” Uh, not so much. “No one’s life is on the line.”

And despite his lofty spot, he’s not likely to watch FNC’s rerun of “The O’Reilly Factor” at 11 p.m. Instead, he likes to watch Jon Stewart on Comedy Central.

Sorry, Roger.

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