From Hardblogger:

The Bloomberg party was indeed a scene. I managed to slip in without an invitation because of my dear friend and MSNBC colleague Alison Stewart (and she didn’t have an invite either). On a dare, the two of us went to the VIP entrance (bypassing the legitimate ticket holders’ line) and waited as the frenzied Bloomberg PR folks tried to accomodate the arrivals in front of us of Paul Wolfowitz, actor Richard Schiff, and Senator Ben Nelson. After a few minutes, a particularly tired-looking Bloomberg PR type looked at us and said, “May I help you?”

Alison smiled and said, “I’m Alison Stewart of MSNBC and this is David Shuster of MSNBC.” The woman smiled at Allison and waved us through without even checking the list. As Alison noted, “See, it helps to be nice.” Point taken.

Ms. Stewart and I then walked along the red carpet until I stopped her in front of the 25 waiting photographers and loudly declared, “Ladies and gentlemen, Alison Stewart.” The flash bulbs went off like crazy. There were also shouts of, “Over here Alison… Alison can you look to the right… can the two of you look left? How about a shot for me?”

Read the rest of David Schuster’s blog here.

The AP’s David Bauder reports that CNN’s Jonathon Klein wants to put a little NY attitude in CNN.

“All I’m asking them to do is better journalism,” he said. “Who could be resistant to that? Now that Fox has pretty well cleaned their clock for a few years, there’s a real desire to win, a real thirst.”

James Earl Jones: This is CNN.
Johnny Gilbert: This is Jeopardy!

Maybe next week the duo can have a “This is…” party. CNNFan reports that the syndicated program will feature CNN related questions in honor of CNN’s 25th year.

“Camilla Parker Bowles” went on a funny rant about the MSNBC name switch rumor this morning.

Here’s my chicken-scratch transcript.

Well, nick names do seem to be the order of the day I-man, as has been rumored by that lovely fedora-wearing fact-meister Matt Drudge.

To hear him tell, there’s an impending name change for MSNBC, which is now going to be known simply as the NBC News Channel.

One assumes that’s only because Cartoon Network was already taken.

The mind simply reels to ponder the collective IQs afoot, and the particular think tank that came up with this little bit of entomological brilliance.

Let’s see… what she we call it?

Dreckolodeon? Hmmm… Too Jewish.

Tragedy Central? Too negative.

How about F-U-NBC! That’s certainly what those Nielesen viewers appear to be saying.

One wonders if this obvious act of desperation isn’t more like a Witness Protection Program. You know, hide in plain sight to prevent any further ugliness.

According to Mr. Drudge’s source, the new name is cleaner, less confusing and represents the programming.

Well, if an anagram like MSNBC is too confusing for your viewers, I should think you have more significant problems on your hands than what you are going to call the bloody thing!

I don’t know if it could be considered cleaner, although if you do say MSNBC quickly enough, it does sound suspiciously like Mess-NBC, which I believe represents the programming just perfectly.

I bet Fox News is kicking themselves they didn’t get first crack at Connected: Coast to Coast.

This information theme park was originally a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC.

I’ve always thought Microsoft a non-verile name for a company that carries a big stick, so to speak. And given the fact that the ratings have been somewhat — flaccid — I should think than perhaps the most apropos compliment would be Richard Kaplna’s P- - - - .

Whatever it is, it should be something that’s not so easily forgotten. You know Don, like the early 80s were for you?