We thought we’d heard it all, but Twitter followers apparently now double as currency, and “clandestine Twitter trading” may very well be a real thing (someone please help us figure out how this would work). At any rate, quite a few big-name accounts have found themselves in the news lately for accumulating thousands of fake followers. Is your feed hiding any fakers? Maybe you should double check.

Take a look at StatusPeople’s Fake Follower Check to find out how many of your besties are anything but–and let us know how it pans out.

Donald Trump isn’t much for nuance or insight, but he manages to stay in the news somehow—in many cases without the aid of a publicist. We can’t even remember the last time he hawked a real product beyond his own golden-hued face.

Trump showcased his crude PR savvy yet again yesterday by announcing, via his Twitter feed, that he is planning a “big surprise” for the upcoming Republican National Convention. And of course this tweet was catnip for poli-bloggers. Sounds a little fishy–everybody already knows about Chris Christie.

Vanity Fair’s Juli Weiner thinks Trump’s bombshell might involve scissors, glitter, pipe cleaners and macaroni (we always preferred the star-shaped pasta). And Donald, if you’re listening, we feel like Newt Gingrich would make a great addition to the next season of Celebrity Apprentice. He can do his usual routine: condescend to everyone and get cheers for it.

So what do you think? Does The Donald have anything interesting up his sleeve, or is this “announcement” more of the usual smoke and mirrors?

Former President George W. Bush has endorsed Mitt Romney. He did so as he was entering an elevator after giving a speech about human rights in Washington D.C. Actually, he did so while the elevator doors were closing and with the words, “I’m for Mitt Romney.” Well all righty then.

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Newt Gingrich is exiting the Presidential race the same way he entered it: by pre-announcing his announcement about dropping out.

The former House speaker released a video today telling viewers that he will be “suspending” his campaign tomorrow. Very strangely, he characterizes the sharing of this info as “insider, advance notice.” A person sharing information with a special someone usually does so with a whisper in the ear rather than a megaphone online. Moreover, the media has been covering his pending campaign suspension since last Wednesday.

Both Gingrich and Rick Santorum are looking for assurances from Mitt Romney before giving him their endorsement. Santorum would like a guarantee about Romney’s conservative bona fides; Gingrich wants help with the $4.3 million in debt it’s said he’s accumulated and assistance with reputation repair, Fox News says.

[via Mashable]

*Update, 5/2: He’s officially done.

The Pulitzer Prize winners were just announced (click that link for more info about the winning stories). Among them: Sara Ganim and members of the Harrisburg, PA Patriot-News staff for local reporting, The Huffington Post‘s David Wood for national reporting, and Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times for international reporting.

It looks like Good Morning America topped the Today show in viewership last week, the first time in 16 years. The Today show will likely still win in the 18-to-54-year-old age category, and the margin could be as small as 13,000 viewers, but it’s a ratings win nonetheless. Official word comes on Thursday.

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Etch A Sketch rode a political gaffe to a bonafide PR win. Sensing an opportunity, they released this creative statement after Mitt Romney advisor Eric Gehrnstrom used the antique toy as a way to describe what happens when we move from primary season into the general election.

Shortly after the interview, both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum made appearances holding up an Etch A Sketch. They’ve kept up the Etch A Sketch-related attacks for days. Their supporters did the same. Santorum’s spokesperson Alice Stewart handed out the toys at a Romney gathering and then waved one on Anderson Cooper 360°.

As a result, Etch A Sketch’s stock skyrocketed. Is the recession so bad that we’re taking stock cues from bad metaphors?

Bigger question: Have Santorum and Gingrich benefited from their antics?

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Super Tuesday is behind us and with the results showing that the race is increasingly between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, the two are calling for Newt Gingrich to scram.

According to The Washington Post, Santorum’s camp made it clear that Gingrich, who was only successful in Georgia last night, should clear the way for Santorum and stop taking votes from their guy.

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Rick Santorum has gotten a tremendous jolt after his wins in Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota earlier this week. His presidential campaign raised $1 million twice this week. And supporters are becoming increasingly confident that he is a viable candidate.

After he got whomped, Mitt Romney came out with his guns blazing, aiming not just at Santorum, but Newt Gingrich and Republicans as a whole. With some time to reflect, he and his supporters are toning that down. But others are calling for him to ramp up his messaging in other ways.

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Political conservatives who should’ve been paying attention to the game instead of the ads got themselves all fired up over an imagined conspiracy theory about the Chrysler/Clint Eastwood ad that ran during the Super Bowl.

Karl Rove said he was “offended” by the ad, with others on his side of the political spectrum backing up his claims that the clip is an endorsement of President Obama and the auto bailouts.

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NY Times' Jill Abramson

Le Huffington Post made its debut on Monday in France with Anne Sinclair as editorial director. Sinclair, a former TV anchor, is the wife of infamous former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, aka DSK. At the press conference Sinclair reassured the audience that there would be no conflicts of interest between her new role and her private life. (via New York Times)

ABC News‘ partnership with Yahoo! has spawned two new Web shows about politics that launched this week. The shows are extensions of long-running blogs from George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper. George’s Bottom Line debuted on Monday and Political Punch with Jake Tapper appeared on Tuesday. (via TVNewser)

NBC News established a new eBook imprint called NBC Publishing. The unit will release enhanced eBooks with videos inside, and the launch follows the media company’s success in the eBook business. (via GalleyCat)

Jill Abramson, executive editor at The New York Times, will make her grand entrance at the Davos World Economic Forum this week. She will be joined by NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger, who is hosting a dinner on Abramson’s behalf. She will also lead a panel of women leaders in a discussion. (via Capital New York)

Newt Gingrich is continuing his attacks on the media. Last week Gingrich critiqued CNN for questioning him about his second marriage at the start of the South Carolina debate. After the Florida debate this week Gingrich complained that NBC did not allow the audience to clap, saying “Media doesn’t control free speech.” (via FishbowlDC)

Diane Sawyer was criticized by James Spann, chief meteorologist at Birmingham ABC-affiliate WBMA, for her report on the Alabama tornadoes on Monday evening’s World News. Spann took issue with Sawyer’s claim that there was no tornado warning, saying “This event was forecast days in advance.” (via TV Spy)

Click through for more media changes.

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