Say hello to WTOP’s National Security Correspondent JJ Green, who has worked at the station since 2004. Asked for his thoughts on new versus old media, he replied, “I’ve always been sort of forward leading when it comes to technology. The title for my senior thesis for broadcast journalism was ‘Selected Implications of Satellite Electronic Surveillance.’” Mr. Smartypants graduated from Hampton University, near Virgina Beach. “I had no idea, no understanding that led me to believe I’d be involved in covering national security now. I had no clue, no interest and look where I ended up.” Green praises new media, but stresses that you still have to go that extra step of verification. “We’re so breathless now, with so many other avenues and sources for people to get their news that there is pressure individually to want to keep up and be recognized,” he said. “We have to be really careful when using social media.” Green covers global intelligence and terrorism. His career history is extensive, but we’ll give you highlights. He came to Washington in 1989 to work as a reporter for WMAL radio. After working as a weekend reporter on FOX-5 WTTG in the early 90s, he worked on air as a correspondent-in-training on ABC News NIGHTLINE. He covered various elements of the O.J. Simpson trial and race relations. Asked if he thinks O.J. was guilty, he said, “No, I did not and I do not now have an opinion on that. As a journalist, I don’t think that my opinion really counts when it comes to covering the news.” Green’s resume includes working at CNN, where he covered The Million Man March and The Balkan Peace Talks as a general assignment reporter in Washington. In the late 90s he began working for the Voice of America Television and as host and correspondent of Africa Journal while traveling extensively. Don’t try trash talking him in another language. He’s fluent in Spanish, speaks working level French and is studying Korean and Arabic. Among the problems he faces with government public affairs is they have lumped radio into one pool, so that it all appears to be talk radio. “WTOP is a news radio station not a talk radio station,” Green said fervently. “We have people who do opinion for us. It’s not designed to be a talk radio station.”  In 1996, Green landed what he looks at now as “the” job: host of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.” Asked if he kept a straight face with callers, he said, “I think I laughed once while I was at C-SPAN. A caller phoned in and said ‘Dude, you dress almost as nicely as Brian Lamb.’ I cleared by throat and regained my seriousness.” Lamb is purportedly a great dresser. And Green? “I like nice clothes.”

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be? One that is finished.

How often do you Google yourself? Whenever someone says “hey have you googled yourself lately?”

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice versa)? “No” is the worst I’ve ever said. Thoughts are another matter.

Have you ever goofed up on air? What happened? Yes, a colleague at a radio station, who shall not be named, sneaked into the radio studio years ago and lit my news copy on fire and I huffed and puffed my way through it.  True story.

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Tavis Smiley, because one day when I used to host C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” and I was getting hammered by some guy on the phone for being political, which I was clearly not, Tavis, who was my guest, immediately pivoted from the cool intelligent scholar he is and verbally assaulted this guy on live television to get him off my back.

Do you have a favorite word? Yes… is my favorite word. No is such a waste of effort.

Who are you named after and what are people’s general reaction to your name? I’m named after JJ Green Sr. So Jessie James Green Jr. is my full name and our middle name, James, came from his mom’s maiden name. She was not inspired to name her son after a gunslinger.

Who would you rather have dinner with – NBC’s Brian Williams, CNN’s Roland Martin, ABC’s Sherri Shepherd or Fox News’ Megyn Kelly? Tell us why. I’d choose NBC’s Brian Williams, because I tell him how Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube are always cutting up at the Pentagon gaggle. No actually, I’d ask him if he wanted to switch jobs for about 10 years. Read more

(A Sprinkling of Things We Thought You Ought to Know…)

Oh no they didn’t — Expect backlash from this one. The Root wants to know why conservatives in the media are focused on “black-on-black” violence as opposed to, say, “white-on-white” crime.  They call this a “false media narrative” and point to a statistic recently shared by conservative columnist George Will on ABC’s “This Week” program. He said that every week 150 black men are killed — 94 percent by other black men. The headline of the piece: “Don’t White People Kill Each Other, Too?” The author, an author, columnist and MSNBC Political Analyst, says the term “black-on-black” is destructive and cites a stat from the Justice Department that says that 84 percent of white people killed each year are by other whites: “The half-truth he spoke went curiously unchallenged by the panel — including former White House adviser Van Jones — largely because the meta-narrative of black-on-black violence is widely accepted in journalistic and political circles.” The author’s conclusion: “It seems that the media in general and white American society in particular prefer to focus on crime perpetrated by African Americans because it serves as a way to absolve them from the violence, prejudice and institutionalized discrimination engendered for generations against blacks.” Read here.

Is WaPo “She the People” blogger just asking for trouble? — In a new post by Bonnie Goldstein, she skirts around a topic sure to rile some readers — namely, the issue of whether the Santorums should have had Bella in the first place. She never comes out and boldly says it. If she was going there, why not just go there? Instead she writes, “The little girl’s parents knew when she was still in utero that she would have serious developmental and physical disabilities. They nevertheless welcomed her joyfully despite having many other children to raise and not unlimited resources.” She also insinuates that Santorum hitting the campaign trail has affected the girl’s health. Again, gingerly broaching what could be dangerous territory without really fully going there. Read the rest here.

New book to hit the shelves… PBS’ and PRI’s Tavis Smiley and Professor Cornel West are out with their first co-authored book together, The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto out in stores, Tuesday, April 17. They will appear in Washington on April 17 as part of their 10-city book tour.  On April 22, West will also speak at Howard University. On April 16, Google will host a special The Rich and the Rest of Us online chat LIVE from Google Headquarters, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT.  To watch, visit: www.youtube.com/live.

President Obama makes funny monster faces…See BuzzFeed’s picture spread here.

Suze Orman takes compliments well. For instance, when she showed up to the National Press Club this week for a presser with TV commentator Tavis Smiley and Prof. Cornel West, Tony Gallo, who heads up the newsmaker program, told her she looks much better in person. Her reaction? “Thank God.” Another compliment came during an elevator ride to the first floor where she was doing an interview for CNN. This one was on her hairdo. “We did it ourselves,” Orman boasted. “We’re trying it.” By “we” she means she and her life and business partner, K.T., who was along for the ride. “I can’t tell other people to save money and not do it myself. I saved myself $200.”

As charming in real life as her SNL impersonator, Orman was just what you’d imagine her to be: blonde and chatty with spanking white teeth, and in your face about your finances. Case in point: Suze wasn’t in the building 10 seconds when a woman recognized her in the elevator and began sharing her financial woes. This scenario would repeat itself for hours as complete strangers poured out their pain. The woman said she avoids reading her column in O Magazine because she “can’t face her truth.” Suze started asking her why not, what’s stopping you… and then the woman got off on the 10th floor.

The press conference involved poverty and Orman unveiling her new prepaid card — the Approved Card — which she’s hoping will revolutionize how people experience their money. “We barely have the heart to look in the mirror and tell ourselves how we’re doing,” she told a packed room of media and ordinary people who came to share their hard luck stories. “The one fascinating thing about money is you can’t look at someone and know they’re poor,” she said, instructing an unemployed woman in a black suit to stand and be the poster child for poverty. “There should be no face of poverty in the United States,” Suze stressed, making her point. As for her new card, she said emphatically, “This card is to give people a viable alternative. I have put my name on it. I have put my reputation on it. And no financial institution or blogger is going to stop me.”

At the end of the presser, Gallo concluded: “I judge each event by how many people fall asleep and how many leave early. We had absolutely zero — the highest possible score.”

I trailed Suze and K.T. to her interview with CNN. Not surprisingly, behind the scenes Suze is no-nonsense and doesn’t like annoying surprises — so she’s a tad irked that the CNN spot wasn’t better planned. “She hates lipstick and she hates makeup,” remarked K.T. “So we argue — it’s the only time we do.”

“She’s not a prima donna at all,” said CNN Commentator Hilary Rosen, whose firm, SKDKnickerbocker, is handling Suze’s press for the card.

Finally we gathered in a quiet conference room on the first floor of the building for five questions with Suze and discovered one thing for certain: She knows her way around a Fishbowl metaphor.

The Questions…

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This time next week broadcaster Tavis Smiley will be in town to host the nationally televised discussion, “Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity.” The event will be at GWU and broadcast live in C-SPAN. It will rebroadcast on PBS for three nights beginning Jan. 16. His panel: Cornel West, Princeton University professor and author; Suze Orman, America’s authority on personal finance; Michael Moore, Academy Award®-winning filmmaker; Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America; Jeffrey Sachs, poverty expert and prof at Columbia University; Majora Carter, Urban Revitalization Strategist; Roger Clay, President of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development; and Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America.

We caught up with Tavis by phone this morning to pick his brain on a range of topics.

1. What are you most looking forward to about this summit? Doing what we can to help make poverty a priority in this country. Four years ago, during the last presidential campaign, in those presidential debates the word poverty and poor did not come up one time. As you recall, the economy was tanking. Obama never raised it. McCain never raised. The moderators never raised it. I have committed myself to making sure that I’d do everything I can to make sure we had every platform we have available to us. This is a another step in that process.

2. How about Michael Moore? Are you hoping he gets dressed up for this one and not look like a slob as usual? I don’t care how he looks as long as he shows up and tells the truth. Michael challenges us to face to deal with to be unsettled by hard truths. And that’s why he’s an Academy Award Winner. And seeing as poor people aren’t walking around in Brooks Brothers and Farragamo shoes, I can guarantee you that Michael will have on his baseball cap and Cornel will have on his three-piece suit.

3. Have you met and interacted with Suze before? I know her very well. She is a dear friend of mine Next week at the National Press Club, Suze is making a major major major announcement that I think is going to turn the financial services industry on its ear. I’m going to be with her when she makes her announcement. The point is, when it comes to talking to ordinary everyday Americans, no one is better than Suze Orman. I’ve never had a panel so full of long distance runners on this issue. I’m chomping at the bit with all kinds of boundless energy to moderate it.

4. What do you think of the Republican crop of hopefuls as it relates to your cause about poverty in America? “I think that the White House, Congress, Republicans and Democrats – none of them have stepped up to the issue on poverty. Poverty, at the moment in this country, is not a priority. On the issue of poverty, none has laid out a credible plan. It’s not just about the Republican crop, they are all deficient, all bankrupt on the issue of poverty.” He adds hopefully…”At the moment.”

5. How do you think journalists are doing on the whole in terms of covering the administration? On the issue of poverty, the Occupied Movement is an absolute rebuke of the media. The media have only covered this story reluctantly and they were forced into doing it. When the numbers are as they are — half are in poverty or a step away from poverty — the media has to be basically pushed and pulled and pricked and prodded into covering the issue. We ought to be basking these questions. We ought to be unsettling people with hard truths. What the media does is follow stories as opposed to using the public airwaves to empower people with information. We’ve got to do a better job.

5a. In roundtables like these sometimes guests can go on too long. How do you stop yourself from doing this and in this case, others? Short answer is, this is what I’ve done for 20 years. I’m not good at a whole lot of stuff, but this is what I do. These are real persons I know and they’ve been on my programs. They’re all very respectful. These are persons who love to learn. No one is coming to GW next week to filibuster. You just lean forward and say, ‘Hey Michael, let me ask you this.’ There is a gentle way to do it.

5b. From an FBDC reader on Twitter: “Mr. Smiley with this year being an election year, do you foresee an invitation to the White House for an interview?” He replied with long laughter and remarked, “My answer is, I am not holding my breath.”

It’s time once again to check in on how many one-eyed anacondas will hit the political talk show circuit this weekend. Last week we began our series looking at how many females appear on Sunday morning political talk show panels. Last week was rather dismal, with FNC coming in at a big fat zero and the highest showing, two females, appearing on NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show.” Update: It’s official. This Sunday, ABC’s “This Week” claims the most number of female panel guests.

CBS’s Face the Nation: 1

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics
Norah O’Donnell, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent
John Dickerson, CBS News Political Analyst

NBC’s Meet the Press: 1

Donna Shalala, Former Sec. of Health and Human Services
William Bennett, Former Sec. of Education
Tim Shriver, Chairman and CEO, Special Olympics
Tavis Smiley, PBS

Fox New Sunday: 1

Brit Hume – Fox News Senior Political Analyst
A.B. Stoddard –The Hill
Bill Kristol – Weekly Standard & Fox News
Juan Williams – Fox News Political Analyst

ABC’s “This Week”: 3

Mary Matalin, Republican Strategist
Amy Walter, ABC News Political Director
Donna Brazile, Democratic Strategist
George Will, ABC News, WaPo columnist

CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: 2

WaPo‘s Jennifer Rubin, Current TV’s David Shuster, Craig Crawford, former WSJ reporter Ron Suskind, former Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Connie Schultz, wife of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

NBC’s Chris Matthews Show: 2

The Daily Beast‘s Andrew Sullivan, NYT‘s Helene Cooper, CNN’s Gloria Borger, and WaPo‘s Michael Gerson.

LA-based talk show host Tavis Smiley comes to D.C. next week to moderate a “multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-ideological” panel next Thursday at GW’s Lisner Auditorium. The panel is set to include opinion-makers such as Cornel West, Arianna Huffington, Maria Bartiromo, David Frum, Dana Milbank, David Brody, and Maria Teresa Kumar.

“We’re going to talk about how this country can get back on the right track, if that’s possible,” Smiley told FishbowlDC in a phone interview on Thursday morning. (Horribly, I completely spaced our Wednesday interview and he agreed to chat with me Thursday. When I answered the phone and apologized profusely, he said, “I’m just happy when you answer the phone. Turns me on.” Laughter ensued. A well-deserved crack for standing him up.)

Anyway, back to the interview and getting the country back on track. “There is so much happening in Washington in our body politic,” he’s saying. Asked if he thinks our country can get on a better path, he said, “I think America’s a great country, but I think we have to be on the right track on this divided government that we have to endure. I think the president squandered some time. He could have been more aggressive in the past two years.”

Smiley’s media diet in Washington includes a brief buttering up of our sister site, FishbowlLA, and FishbowlDC: “Oh man, I read most everything online. I live in LA. I’m swimming in the Fishbowl every day, every other day.” When in Washington, Smiley prefers boutique hotels like the Hotel George. But this time he’s staying at the host hotel, the Madison Loews. As for eating, he says he always ends up at Georgia Browns and Ben’s Chili Bowl.

What else can we expect to hear from Smiley next week and what are his thoughts on the media? As he put it…

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Say hello to Tavis Smiley. He hosts Tavis Smiley, a late-night show on PBS and radio show Tavis Smiley from PRI. Some standout details about him: He doesn’t cuss. Ever. And he doesn’t own a cell phone. His career path has included hosting “The Tavis Smiley Show” on NPR and “Tonight With Tavis Smiley” on BET. In 1999 he founded the Tavis Smiley Foundation. His communications company is The Smiley Group. The third installment of the PBS prime time series, “Tavis Smiley Reports,” is called “New Orleans: Been in the Storm Too Long?” It’s life in New Orleans five years post Hurricane Katrina and airs on July 21. Is that enough “Tavis Smiley’s” for you? We thought so. Read on.

If you were a carbonated beverage, which one would you be? I’m gonna go with Coke, because whatever the strongest carbonated beverage is, that’s what I’m gonna be.

How often do you Google yourself? Almost never. I live with myself 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The last thing I need to do is to read more about myself.

Who is your favorite working journalist? I’d probably say Frank Rich at the New York Times.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor, or vice versa? I did a piece one time that somebody had asked me to do. And I guess there was so much truth in the piece that they decided to pass on it. I basically told them, quoting Jack Nicholson, “You can’t handle the truth.”

What’s your favorite word? Next year I’ll celebrate 20 years of being in the media business, and for all of those 20 years I have always closed all of my shows with the same salutation, “Keep the faith.” So I guess “faith” is the word that people have heard come of out my mouth the most, and that’s the favorite.

When did you last cry and why? I have an art exhibition called America I AM that is traveling around the country. It’s in Cincinnati now, but the last week it was in LA, Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, called me. She wanted to come through with Michael’s kids and she asked if I would give them a private tour. And I did. Long story short, when she saw the Michael Jackson memorabilia, she broke down crying and just lost it. She lost it, I lost it. And it hit me in that moment that for all the rest of us that are sad about Michael being gone, this is Michael’s momma. And when I saw his mother break down, all I could do was hold her. I grabbed her and held her. She was crying, I was crying.

What word do you routinely misspell? I’ve always been a very good speller. My thing is not spelling, my thing is grammar. And by that I mean I want to make sure that I have the right verb tense, the right pronoun.

What’s the name of your cell phone ring? I don’t have a cell phone.

What swear word do you use most often? I don’t swear. I used to, 8-9 years ago. And one day I got into it with one of my producers because something had gone wrong on the show that day. She was a friend. But I was cussing at her and she was cussing back at me. And somebody in the studio recorded me. And when I heard myself on tape, I said to myself, this is not how I ever want to be portrayed. There has got to be a better way to communicate what I’m trying to say. And I stopped on a dime and decided I would not use that language anymore.

What TV show do you have to watch? The only channel that I really watch with any regularity is TVLand. Pretty much whatever’s on there. I just like old school stuff.

What do you prefer for daytime talk? Dr. Phil, Oprah, Tyra, or the women of The View? None of the above. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a full episode of any their shows because I’m never watching TV during the daytime.

Who is your mentor?
Two. Dead: Dr. King. Living: Dr. Cornel West.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received in the course of your career? To bring my whole self to everything I do. By that I mean, don’t ever be afraid to bring everything you are: your culture, your experiences, your blackness, your upbringing. Everything that you have is what makes you who you are.

What’s the first job you had in journalism? I had a little one-minute commentary of just a thought that I created and started here on local radio in LA.

What’s Tavis’s most embarrassing career moment? You can’t
miss this one…

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It’s not every day that a person is considered for the highest court in the land.

Last night Chairman of the Congressional TARP Oversight Panel Elizabeth Warren appeared on PBS’s Tavis Smiley to talk finance reform. During the interview, Smiley pressed her for comment on speculation that she’s being considered for the Supreme Court.

“You just hit the key part, Tavis – …is there anybody who ever went to law school who didnÂ’t think: ‘wow, wouldn’t that be something?’ It is a profound honor just to be on the list and I will always remember that. I’m deeply honored.”

You would serve though, Smiley asked with a chuckle.

To which Warren ever so diplomatically replied, “Tavis, no one’s asked.”

<img alt="090610scarborough.jpg" src="/fishbowlDC/files/original/090610scarborough.jpg" width="175" height="212"

“It’s just a sweater, but they’re turning me into ‘Merv the Perv’,” complained MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough this morning.

The situation was already degenerating with Willie Geist stepping in for host Mika Brzezinski, who is on a book tour. Scarborough began dissecting his own ensemble — a red sweater underneath a dark suit, white button-down shirt and striped dark tie. He thought he looked like the late columnist Bob Novak. Others thought he had achieved more of a Mister Rogers look.

Scarborough asked MTP host David Gregory to do his Tom Brokaw imitation. Gregory wasn’t in the mood — it was 7:25 a.m. “You look like you should have a small boy on your lap offering him Werther’s Original,” Gregory replied.

A small boy? The panel, which included, NBC’s Norah O’Donnell, PBS’s Tavis Smiley and MSNBC’s financial correspondent Erin Burnett, burst into laughter.

Without missing a beat, Smiley tried to abruptly change the subject: “David, what’s on tap for this Sunday’s Meet the Press?” Gregory laughed and replied: [Obama senior adviser] Valerie Jarrett and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Discussion turned to health care. “The Daily Rundown’s” Savannah Guthrie wanted to jump in. “Can I say something?” she asked?
Scarborough: “No!”

With that, the red sweater returned.
“Joe, that sweater is your softer side, but that was kind of tough,” Guthrie said.

The gentleman that he is, Scarborough relented and let her speak.

• NBC’s Meet the Press: David Axelrod, Dr. Howard Dean MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Markos Moulitsas of the DailyKos.com, Rep. Strategist Ed Gillespie, PBS’s Tavis Smiley

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Olympia Snowe (D-LA) and Se. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

• ABC’s This Week: David Axelrod, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and roundtable with George Will, Donna Brazile, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts

• Fox News Sunday:

• CNN’s State of the Union: David Axelrod, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NY), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: WaPo’s Ceci Connelly, New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, The Weekly Standard’s Matt Continetti

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: Nathan Myrvold, founder and CEO, Intellectual Ventures and Vali Nasr, author of “Forces of Fortune”

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show:

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: WaPo’s Ceci Connolly, John Dickerson of SLATE Magazine and CBS, Economist’s Greg Ip and Chuck Babington of the Associated Press

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt:

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), American Urban Radio Networks White House Reporter April Ryan, Sirius XM Radio Host Joe Madison, Republican commentator Ron Christie, Politico White House reporter Nia-Malika Henderson and News One/Interactive One Chief Content Officer Smokey Fontaine.

• CNN’s Amanpour: Tina Brown, Founder/Editor of The Daily Beast Tina Brown and Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times and The Times

We’ll update as we learn them.