What if the first two words in every story you have written for a particular outlet were a blatant effort to mislead your readers?
Such is the case with Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher, whose real name isn’t actually “Tommy Christopher,” the name he uses for his Mediaite byline, The Daily Caller has learned.
Christopher, an admitted “douche” who apparently enjoys karaoke, doesn’t offer a reason for misleading his readers, but a woman identifying herself as Christopher’s girlfriend on Twitter named “Diana Lynn W.” said in a since-deleted tweet it was for reasons “to protect his family”:
Nothing to hide, he’s just very protective of his family. #nada2it #privacy
Mediaite senior editor Nando Di Fino doesn’t see a problem with it. He has taken over for the recently departed Colby Hall, and explained what his major concerns are for Mediaite going forward.
“My main concern here is putting out quality content that will bring people to the site,” Di Fino told The Daily Caller in an email. “And we have a team of writers and editors that are stellar in this regard.”
But regarding Christopher’s use of “Tommy Christopher,” Di Fino said he had no issue with it.
“Look, this was one of the first things I learned when I got here,” he said. “He’s not presenting himself on Mediaite with a different name than everywhere else, so I’m not bothered. He’s known everywhere, professionally, as Tommy Christopher. He legally does business as Tommy Christopher. But the Secret Service knows his real name, and he uses his real name on the White House visitor logs. He even signs his real name in the visitor logs at the Daily Caller.”
In 2009 Christopher was fired by AOL’s Politics Daily, over what some say was an article he wrote criticizing a story about ten conservative women Playboy’s Guy Cimbalo most wanted to “hate fuck.” Christopher also used the “Tommy Christopher” byline while at Politics Daily.
Readers are encouraged to offer their guesses of Christopher’s real name by sending them via Twitter to @jeff_poor, or by email to jeff.poor@dailycaller.com.