The Politico CLICK interviewed White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs on what it’s like to be recognized at gas stations, Chuck E. Cheese, and on the street.
“I don’t think you really get the appreciation until you’re walking down the street and you can tell that people are looking at you, and then they look at you again, and sometimes they point,” Gibbs said.
Check out the full interview HERE.
Beltway Boys from Vanity Fair article: Jim VandeHei, John Harris, Robert Allbritton, Mike Allen. Photograph by Gasper Tringale.
Don’t miss Michael Wolff’s great article in Vanity Fair.
On the surface, a paean to Politico: “Four old-media veterans may have solved the future of news with the Politico Web site.”
But arguably a look at Washington’s Fourth Estate and the problems facing general interest newspapers, which are losing readers and revenues at a fast clip. The irony? Politico’s print edition is what has edged their business model out of the red and closer to black.
From the article:
“Politico puts its current traffic at 6.7 million unique visitors per month (down from a high of more than 11 million during the campaign), yet it still can’t support its staff of about 100 on the Internet’s low advertising rates (although, with its agenda-moving audience and its preponderance of advocacy advertisers, it manages to get a higher rate than most sites). But one effect of its Internet traffic and notoriety and the ensuing attention of cable news shows is that the original Allbritton idea for a Capitol Hill paper-one that now largely reprints Internet content-has become, with its special-interest-size circulation of 32,000, a major success. Internet cachet, in other words, has enabled a tabloid-size print version of Politico (also called Politico) to thrive and more than double the company’s revenues-which, just about evenly split between Internet and newspaper, will, it appears, be more than $15 million in 2009-meaning, according to C.E.O. Fred Ryan, that Politico, paying its staffers at nearly the level that The Washington Post pays (starting salaries for reporters at the Post are about $45,000 per year), has hit breakeven.”
While President Obama’s nomination for the Supreme Court is still top of the fold, the hot gossip around town is who will be picked for the D.C. version of Bravo’s hit reality show featuring housewives. Here is Patrick Gavin’s take from Politico.
And Channel 8’s Rebecca Cooper speculates about who’s in and who’s not.
“Often called a D.C. social doyenne, Tammy Haddad edits the Web site White House Correspondents Insider. “To be really famous, you either have to be in the White House or have a whole lot of money,” she said. “We’ll finally be able to see these checkbooks and see who has some serious coin and who has climbed their way to the top.”"
Check out Rebecca’s take.
Getting ready for the pre-dinner brunch.
Preparations are underway for all sorts of events related to the WHCD. Check out what Politico has to say about them all here.
Sick and Tired
Is Washington ready for Wanda? That’s the question posed by Politico style reporter Patrick Gavin over the weekend and one that underscores the incredibly sensitive nature of selecting the “official entertainment” for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner each year.
When it was announced earlier this year that Sykes would be the headliner for the 2009 dinner, it seemed a non-controversial choice on the surface. While traditionally the actress/comedian has not been a politically active force by Hollywood standards, she was vocally opposed to California’s Proposition 8 and it’s fitting symbolism for President Obama’s first major Washington dinner.
But as the event draws nearer, expect the nerves to grow. There’s a thin line between edgy comedy at these events and that which borders on the offensive — either politically or in terms of taste.
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