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John McCain Wins First GOP Debate, but MSNBC Shows Anti-Giuliani Bias
Friday , May 04, 2007
By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

John McCain bounced back in the first Republican presidential debate and breathed new life into his faltering candidacy.

His answers were strong: he faced the camera squarely, and scored big with his circa-2000 attacks on pork spending and special interests. He was both passionate and articulate. His sole bad moment came with his fumbling answer about why he opposed the Bush tax cuts. But for a candidate who seemed to have lost his way, McCain did very, very well.

That said, there was a major bias in the debate.

MSNBC and Politico deliberately marginalized Giuliani and steered far too many of the important questions to anybody not named Rudy. In doing so, they paid homage to their Democratic Party masters by diminishing the candidate most likely to win in November . . .

Just a nitpicking minute. Has M.A.A.'s work ever been printed in the (dead tree) "Washington Post" newspaper, or has it only appeared online, at the washingtonpost.com web site? They're both owned by same parent company (WashPostCo), but they're separate organizations. The newspaper is headquartered in downtown Washington, D.C., while the web site is headquartered in Arlington, Va.

Here's D.C. gossip columnist Patrick Gavin passing along the announcement from the washingtonpost.com web site that they were hiring Mary Ann Akers, known to D.C. gossipers as "MAA". http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/the_revolving_door/maa_to_postcom_49828.asp

fishbowl D.C.
a gossip blog about Washington, D.C., media
Editor: Patrick W. Gavin

Thursday, Dec 21 [,2006]
MAA to Post.Com

From the announcement:

I'm pleased to announce that Mary Ann Akers will be joining washingtonpost.com after the holidays to write about the the colorful personalities and unique culture of Capitol Hill and politics at large. We're thrilled Mary Ann has decided to join us, and she'll be a centerpiece in our effort to ramp up to cover the 2008 election.

Mary Ann Akers comes to washingtonpost.com from Roll Call, where she writes the must-read "Heard on the Hill" column, a newsy, nosy and irreverent look at what happens behind the scenes on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in Washington. Her work exposes the grittier side of politics, the after-hours and everyday lives . . .

- - Posted by Patrick | 05:56 PM

And again, five days later, here's D.C. gossip columnist Patrick Gavin passing along the announcement from Tim Curran at Roll Call that Mary Ann Akers was leaving Roll Call.

Tim Curran, himself, left Roll Call three months later, at the end of March 2007, and was hired to work as an editor at the "Washington Post" (the dead tree newspaper, not the web site). http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/the_revolving_door/maa_roll_calls_farewell_49909.asp

Tuesday, Dec 26 [,2006]
MAA: Roll Call's Farewell

From Tim Curran:

It is with a mix of pride and sadness that I inform you that our beloved Heard on the Hill, Mary Ann Akers, will be leaving the Roll Call family early next year.

Mary Ann will be joining WashingtonPost.com to write an online political insiders column.

Since May of 2004 she has been the reigning Queen of Capitol Hill gossip . . .

- - Posted by Patrick | 09:55 AM

Is "The Washington Post" versus "www.washingtonpost.com" a distinction WITH a difference? People in D.C. proper, and out in Arlington, seem to think so.