Some wacky stuff happened in our media world over the past several days, and we’re still trying to sort it all out. A friend suggested that writing our thoughts down in a list form might help. After pondering the top stories at Digg (”ten pen tricks to do when you’re not jacking off” and “five ways to make your chest bigger” ), we figured everybody likes lists anyways, so why the hell not:

1) Why did MSNBC bail on reporter David Shuster for asking Rep. Marsha Blackburn a simple question?

The net’s soon-to-be former General Manager Dan Abrams made Shuster issue an apology to Blackburn on-air after he asked the congresswoman to name the last soldier to die from her district. When Blackburn didn’t know the answer, Shuster said that Jeremy Bohannon was that person — which soon became a source of controversy, with some conservatives saying that Bohannon was not from Blackburn’s district. Before that important detail could be sorted out, Abrams made an unhappy Shuster apologize because he thought Shuster had gotten it wrong. In the end, it turned out that Bohannon was from Blackburn’s district.

Hopefully Abrams made it up to Shuster in private — not that he has much incentive to do so, since he’s in the process of leaving his management job to become the permanent host of the network’s 9 p.m. hour, which was vacated by Joe Scarborough earlier this year.

Media Madness Ranking:  (3) Patrick Gavins  Read more…

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The Politico’s gossip columnist Anne Schroeder (formerly of Capitol File) had Washington media insiders all over town laughing with glee (and embarrassment) yesterday. 

Not only was her debut column (which she literally had two months to work on) a dud, she created a strange video of herself lurking about the Politico’s office to boot! In fact, the video quickly became the most viewed content on the new Web site – I’m guessing because it’s so bad. In it, she brags about being hung over while writing, frequently going to bars to chat up sources, and being a “busy girl” with “eight arms.” Plus, as of this very minute, the site’s editors still have her name spelled wrong.

“It really is all about interpersonal relationships, at the end of the day,” the cliche-loving Lloyd Grove protege announces within said vid. “Sometimes you can see my Jack. You can’t see my Ace.” Schroeder also says she sees herself as a combination of Maureen Dowd and Dave Berry. Ahem.

At one point in the video, a circus announcer booms that one of her biggest scoops was about Jessica Simpson thinking the Interior Department Secretary decorates the White House. Um, that’s the best story of your career? And you worked at the Washington Post? How sad.

One Schroeder pal who asked to remain anonymous said the video made her cringe with embarrassment. Another media insider summed the whole train wreck up best: “horrible!” 

Better luck in the future, Anne. Break a leg — or, an arm, I guess, in your case. You’ve got eight of ‘em!

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According to the NY Observer, Jason Binn, the publisher of Capitol File, has bought the apartment next door to his Tribeca loft for a cool $1.76 million. His wife, Haley, is a real estate agent, which probably helped him get a better deal, our sources say.

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Anne Schroeder, currently of Jason Binn’s Capitol File and formerly of WaPo’s Reliable Source, is set to become the new gossip columnist for Capitol Leader when it debuts on November 21.

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Garrett Graff is keeping a tight lid on the contenders for a new writer position at FishbowlDC. From his blog yesterday: “As we mentioned earlier, we’re looking to add some new voices to Fishbowl DC. Starting today, you’ll be seeing a new ‘Guest Writer’: we’re going to be trying out a couple of people over the coming weeks. Let us know what you think….”

Well, here’s what I think of yesterday’s imposter, Garrett. The new writer likes to use lots of picture posts. That’s fine. He or she referred to Jason Binn, publisher of the of the soon-to-launch Capitol File, as a “playboy.” But then later retracted that detail. No brownie points there. Thirdly, the guest blogger posted a whopping 5 posts yesterday, which indicates that he or she is an eager beaver. Eager beavers can be fun, but they can also be tedious.

So, I can’t decide if I love her or him or hate her or him yet. So, I’ll err on the cautious side and say that I hate her or him.

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