MSNBC’s morning duo of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski wasted no time buttonholing Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes at the Newhouse School journalism awards lunch earlier this week.
The “Morning Joe” hosts, who just lost their executive producer, Chris Licht, to CBS News, made a tag-team pitch about moving their politically oriented coffee klatch to a morning slot on CNN.
Scarborough didn’t skip a beat when warned that On The Money was listening, continuing pitching about how much more convenient the commute to CNN’s Columbus Circle headquarters would be.
Scarborough and Brzezinski are rumored to want a bigger platform than the one MSNBC currently offers. They’ve also reportedly drafted super agent Ari Emmanuel to help them get one.
The two were hosting the June 7, Newhouse School’s journalism awards lunch at the Plaza Hotel, where their current boss, Comcast’s Brian Roberts, was given a special achievement award.
Roberts couldn’t be there because he was picking up the $4.4 billion gold medal at the Olympics TV rights competition in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Roberts’ dad and Comcast founder, Ralph, stood in for son, quipping, “Brian is proof that nepotism is a good thing. I have five kids and each one does their own thing.”
Scarborough denied the pitch and said it was all just a joke.
“Mika and I had nice conversation with a CNN executive who joked that we should bring our show to CNN. We laughed, exchanged pleasantries and left the event. Mika and I plan to work at NBC for a long time.”
Claire Atkinson
#Bot attack
Twitter users are spotting more and more new followers on the ever-growing social- media site with peculiar @ handles attempting to latch on and talk more about what high heels Paris Hilton thinks are hot and if Donald Trump is running for President.
The name for these new friends — many of which you don’t know from Adam?
Twitter robots. And yes, they are programmed to follow real users based on popular keywords like #you’refired.
The bots pose as friends sharing the same quirky in terests and ob sessions that attract users. But instead of sharing insight or rumors they leave behind e- mails filled with links to scam pages and pornography.
Several Web sites, including 7richer.com, are selling Twitter bot software with promises of adding upwards of 3,000 follow ers per week.
Most Twitter users aren’t aware these bots exist and, in stead of simply ignoring them once the olive branch is ex tended, they follow them and put their existing hardware at risk.
Twitter has a team designated to police the situation with the author ity to blow up the evil bots if they see fit.
Joseph Barracato
Digital Life
Since Congressman Anthony Weiner isn’t planning on step ping down, On The Money sug gests he read Shelly Palmer‘s new book, “Overcoming the Digital Divide: How to Use Social Media and Digital Tools to Reinvent Yourself and Your Career.”
In a recent post on his Web site, Palmer accuses Weiner of being digitally illiterate.
“If you choose a career in the public spotlight, you have to assume that your life is an open e- book. Everyone has access to everything you say, do, type, text, shoot, tweet, update, buy, sell, borrow, steal, eat, drink, wear and, they can easily learn where you are and who you are with.”
Claire Atkinson
Digital Life
As NFL camps are supposed to open in the next couple of weeks, fans of the gridiron aren’t the only ones anxious for the lockout to end.
The lockout of the NFL’s 2011-12 season is even threatening to blitz the electronic game biz.
Electronic Arts, the developers of the popular “Madden NFL” game franchise, may see gross revenue fall by as much as $80 million if the season is punted.
“You do get concerned that the attention of sports fans goes elsewhere,” said EA Sports President Peter Moore last week. “People not only get disenchanted, they get angry.”
“Madden NFL 12” is due to be released Aug. 30 whether the lockout is “resolved or not,” Moore added. Last year, sales of Madden topped 5.5 million copies. Moore estimated a 35 percent drop in sales if the season gets nixed, with some analysts putting that number as high as 50 percent.
Despite the temporary benching, players are keeping themselves occupied. Giants quarterback Eli Manning and his pals have been holding informal “camp” practices at several New Jersey high school fields. Meanwhile, Jets QB Mark Sanchez, a Broadway aficionado and 2010 Tony Awards presenter, made his pick for tonight’s ceremonies (he likes “Catch Me if You Can.”)
Angela Daidone
Quick Pickin’
On Thursday, the Google search icon on its homepage celebrated legendary guitar maker Les Paul with a playable six-string doodle.
If you enjoyed the ability to strum some chords, then you can continue the fun at mydoodlesongs.com — no pick required.