Though the critics have skewered his first book, Brian Stelter chooses to see the coffee cup as half full.

“Honestly, I appreciate the feedback,” says Stelter, 27, author of Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, and a media reporter for the New York Times. (Full disclosure: Stelter founded TVNewser when he was a college student)

“I’m not making this up,” he continues. “I want to learn how to be a better writer and reporter. I do think normal readers come away really happy, really entertained.”

‘Normal readers’ probably don’t include a trio of power players, past and present, from NBC. ‘Morning’ paints a less than flattering portrait of ‘Today’ co-anchor Matt Lauer; his former boss, Jim Bell; and ex-NBC News president Steve Capus.

All were involved, to varying degrees, in the ham-handed – and excruciatingly public — ouster of Lauer’s co-anchor, Ann Curry, according to the book. Bell had dubbed it ‘Operation Bambi,’ not knowing, of course, that Curry would come out looking as innocent and victimized as the white-tailed fawn in his title.

Lauer is the clear villain of the piece, prompting Entertainment Weekly to accuse Stelter of having a ‘vendetta’ against the mega-millionaire anchor.

Stelter labels the accusation as ‘preposterous.’

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Warren Buffett phoned in to CNBC this morning following the news of his $28 billion acquisition, along with private equity, of H.J. Heinz. Which means, among other things, that the Secretary of State is about to be a whole lot richer. That deal aside, Buffett is also bullish on newspapers. Last year his company acquired dozens of papers across the country. But his love of media does not extend to magazines, apparently. Following news yesterday that Time Warner is ready to sell several Time Inc. titles to Meredith, CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Buffett, “You obviously love the print business, but would you ever buy a magazine?”

“No. The answer is no,” said Buffett.

Buffett will be on Liz Claman‘s FBN show later today.

This week the World Economic Forum is once again  being held in the sleepy ski town of Davos, Switzerland, and the business networks are on the scene to try and score chats with market shakers and world leaders.

CNBC has anchors Maria Bartiromo and Andrew Ross Sorkin in Davos, along with senior economics reporter Steve Liesman, Sorkin will co-anchor “Squawk Box” from Davos Wednesday-Friday, while Bartiromo and Liesman will be appearing on various programs throughout the week.

Fox Business Network has Liz Claman in Davos, with coverage kicking off Wednesday at 11 AM, and continuing through Friday.

Bloomberg TV has Erik Schatzker, Tom Keene and Francine Lacqua at the Forum, along with reporter Olivia Sterns. BTV coverage starts at 1 AM ET (6 AM GMT) tomorrow, and continues through Friday. Lacqua will anchor “On the Move,” Keene will anchor “Bloomberg Surveillance” and Schatzker will co-anchor “Market Makers” from Davos.

CNBC’s election night will have a heavy focus on what’s become the number one issue of the election: the economy. CNBC’s coverage begins with a two-hour special edition of “Squawk Box” at 5pmET with Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Then at 7pmET, Maria Bartiromo and Carl Quintanilla anchor the network’s primetime special “Your Money, Your Vote,” with Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood reporting live from the virtual electoral map room at CNBC Global Headquarters. The primetime special will include real-time results and instant analysis from Washington to Wall Street to the vital battle ground states

More after the jump…

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Gabe Sherman examines the evolution of the Bloomberg media empire in the latest issue of New York magazine. Tucked into the piece are a few  interesting details about the television operation:

Under CEO for multimedia Andrew Lack, Bloomberg Television has failed to eat into CNBC’s audience. Last year, talks to partner Bloomberg TV with ABC News broke down. Bloomberg has tried to attract stars, including offering CNBC’s David Faber a mid-six-figure deal. Bloomberg also went after the Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin. Neither could be swayed. Part of the problem is that [Bloomberg News editor in chief Matthew] Winkler remains resistant to adopting some of the entertainment values that could attract an audience.

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During the handoff from “Squawk Box” to “Squawk on the Street” this morning, CNBCers Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Carl Quintanilla and Melissa Lee were chatting about the new CNBC set at the New York Stock Exchange, which Alex got a look at Wednesday. And it was that story which gave Kernen his first look at the set:

Quintanilla: Have you been down here yet to see it in person?
Kernen: No. I saw it on TVNewser.
Lee: Your source for news about CNBC is TVNewser?
Kernen: That’s where I saw it. I’m too honest.

Not too honest, Joe. Just honest enough.

The party’s still going at the Edison Ballroom in Times Square as the “Today” show celebrates its 60th anniversary. The morning milestone began with a welcome from “Today” frontman Matt Lauer before singer Pit Bull took the stage.

Fourth hour hosts Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford were early arrivals, with Kotb (below) front and center during Pit Bull’s set. We spotted NBC News president Steve Capus and “Today” EP Jim Bell working the room, as longtime EP and, later NBCU president Jeff Zucker was deep in conversation with former “Today” anchor Meredith Vieira.

“Today” senior broadcast producer Don Nash, who’s been with the show more than a third of its life — 23 years — tells TVNewser tomorrow’s anniversary program is not to be missed. All former living on air talent — save for Joe Garagiola and Gene Shalit who aren’t able to make it — will be a part of the show. And we spotted many of them at the party tonight, including Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, (above) Barbara Walters, John Palmer and Hugh Downs.

NBC spared no expense flying in correspondents from other NBC bureaus including Andrea Mitchell, Kerry Sanders, Kevin Tibbles, Janet Shamlian and Luke Russert.

Brian Williams stopped in after “Nightly News.” And we chatted with “Today” anchors Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Wolfe and Amy Robach, here with husband Andrew Shue, and said hello to Willard Scott on our way out. Other “Today” regulars celebrating  included Jill Rappaport, Martha Stewart, the Scotto family and Bobby Flay. We chatted with Andy Cohen (mostly about NeNe Leakes) who later tonight will be interviewing Rosie O’Donnell on his Bravo show, “Watch What Happens Live.”

Rounding out the crowd: Willie Geist, Jeff Rossen, Martin Bashir, Carl Quintanilla, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Tyler Mathisen, MSNBC president Phil Griffin and CNBC president Mark Hoffman and many more I may have missed. Because, as I said, the party is still going. Then, tomorrow at 7am, “Today” takes the party nationwide.

Andrea Mitchell and Jeff Zucker

Kerry Sanders and Jenna Wolfe

(Photos: Chris Ariens)

CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, the newest anchor of “Squawk Box,” has a diverse media diet. Sorkin divulges it all — from The Wall Street Journal to Us Weekly, which he reads at the gym — in the Atlantic Wire this week. (He also reveals which websites he reads religiously, and one of them is — you guessed it — TVNewser. Thanks, Andrew!)

On TV at night, I DVR lots of programs – I use it more like a magazine rack flipping through shows than actually watching them in full. Charlie Rose, Meet the Press, 60 Minutes are musts for me. I also DVR NBC’s Nightly News and The Chris Matthews Show on Sunday. I often DVR the other morning shows, like Morning Joe and American Morning, to see how they covered the news while I’m on Squawk Box.

People across the country today participated in “Spirit Day,” wearing purple as a sign of support for LGBT youth. The movement, started by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, counted several visible people as champions of the anti-bullying cause: morning anchors, evening anchors and cable anchors on several networks were color-coordinated today.

On the morning shows:

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts participated, as did Ann Curry and Al Roker on NBC’s “Today.” All four co-hosts on “The View” — Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck — were decked out in purple as well.

After the jump, see who on the evening news and who on cable participated. Read more

Dealbook, the New York Times site that details mergers and acquisitions, hedge funds, and VCs turned 10 years old Saturday. And four months after founding editor Andrew Ross Sorkin has taken on the co-anchor job at CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” he’s taking on a new title at Dealbook.

10 years later, I felt it was time to tweak my title in DealBook’s nameplate to better reflect the enormous contributions of the reporting and editing team. It will be Editor-at-Large. Of course, I will continue overseeing the team and writing, recruiting new talent and developing new projects for DealBook.

• Related: Andrew Ross Sorkin on MediaBeat.