BOLD QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’m just so happy I made it in here right now. Chris Christie’s directing traffic out there it’s kind of a nightmare, but I’m here.” — Soon-to-be NBC Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon talking to Carson Daley on the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards last night.
Ben Smith reacts to WaPo Weingarten’s hit piece
“@geneweingarten ought to get off twitter and read the site, or at least /books…Great journalism though.” — BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith in reaction to Weingarten’s piece on BuzzFeed. The column was aptly titled “Buzz Off.” Weingarten is critical of BuzzFeed‘s decision to ban negative book reviews. And by critical we mean Weingarten takes a chainsaw to the site. Surprisingly, in some places, it’s LOL funny. Weingarten, prepare to enter the GIF torture chamber. No doubt BuzzFeed can do a thing or two with Weingarten and a pile of shit (his Twitter avatar).
An excerpt: “I’m not entirely sure why BuzzFeed drew this particular line — this is not a Web site famous for worrying unduly about the nature (or quality) of its content: On the very day I write this, its editor is all over the Web publicly defending BuzzFeed’s practice of reporting events before confirming they are true. And its featured homepage story is “The 40 Most Awkward Cats of 2013.” But what the hell — this decision is good for me, and I celebrate it.
Robert Costa smooches WaPo
“Working at the Post is an absolute thrill. Heaven for political junkies. And if you’re not following already, follow@postpolitics” — WaPo‘s Robert Costa, formerly with National Review.
Jake Tapper reacts to the weekend smears
Over the weekend, Glenn Beck‘s TheBlaze wrote a story falsely depicting a tense interview that Tapper did with Lone Survivor author Marcus Luttrell. Catch up on the manufactured “scandal” here. See Tapper’s Saturday remarks from Twitter below. All are in response to followers who wrote him notes of support.
12:25 p.m. “Thank you. To be honest, after years of covering troops/families/sacrifices, breaks my heart that ppl now believe this falsehood.”
4:41 p.m. “Thanks. This whole thing has been entirely bizarre. And I suppose sadly predictable.”
5:31 p.m. “I’ve been covering vets and troops for years. What I learned today is about demagogues and mobs – not vets and troops.”
Editor watches sex scenes
“Watching ‘The Way We Were’ for the first time in 40 years – it has one of the more discomfiting sex scenes, which sailed over my head as a kid.” — Commentary mag’s John Podhoretz, who unfortunately put the visual of a hairy beast watching sex scenes in our heads.
Correspondent confuses Rachel Ray and Kelly Clarkson
“I can’t tell Rachael Ray and Kelly Clarkson apart.” — Yahoo! News‘ Chief Washington Correspondent Olivier Knox. (Ray, left; Clarkson, right.)
An idea for Washington journalists
“Every DC journalist, upon arriving at Union Station, should be given a copy of “Leak,” to disabuse them of the unseemly Woodward fanboyism.” — J. Arthur Bloom, opinion editor, Daily Caller.
Surprising clothing choice
“Tonight, I’m wearing Lane Bryant #GoldenGlobes” — The Bill Press Show Producer Peter Ogburn.
No “fuck” in the NYT
“I don’t understand why you can’t say ‘fuck’ in the New York Times but you *can* say ‘ideating.’ — Mother Jones‘ reporter Tim Murphy.
The reaction every author wants: ‘Shut the fuck up!’
“Author delight = Getting a note from a reader (who just got to the plot twist of my novel) that says: ‘SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!'” — Klaus Marre, an entrepreneur who previously worked for The Daily Caller and The Hill among other places.
News you can lose
“Just got official confirmation that @brianstelter is not only wearing a tie on @CNNReliable but also the TIE CLIP I bought him.” — Jamie Shupak, fiancé to CNN “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter, who takes over his Twitter feed during the show. Helen Shupak, who we assume is Jamie’s relative, perhaps her mother, is well versed on Twitter. She wrote of her presumed future son-in-law: “Looking so handsome.”
Right, casually (wink! wink!)
“So, just casually checked Tinder for the first time since September. I’m ashamed of all of you.” — Washington Examiner‘s Justin Green.
Mocked by the homeless
“Oh he’s got a cell phone, he’s looking for his butthole.” — A homeless man in a sing-songy voice to an undisclosed Daily Caller reporter.
Writer sees strange animal on streets of DC
“Just saw a woman walking a ferret on the streets of DC.” — The Hill‘s Rebecca Shabad.
The Media Observers
“Jeff Zucker insists he’s totally comfortable with SE Cupp, who works in part for Glenn Beck, interviewing him on CNN’s airtime.” — Alyssa Rosenberg, features editor at ThinkProgress.
“MSNBC’s @davidgregory interrupts just one type of guest – Republicans. The Mayor of Ft Lee didn’t get push back./interrupted. Reince did.” — FNC Media Critic Richard Grenell, former communications aide to Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign.
HuffPost Click-bait: “One bet. One fitness app. One run. One gigantic penis.”