Today is a glorious day, for I have discovered something so rare it is almost non-existent in today’s media world: giving context to things. On his CNN show today, Fareed Zakaria discussed Mitt Romney‘s unfortunate comments about the poor, which have done nothing to help his public image, but Zakaria actually defended Romney. He blamed the media for taking Romney’s comments out of context to get the juicy soundbite of the former businessman seemingly ignoring the plight of poor people.

Not a single member of The New Yorker‘s esteemed panel was willing to argue in favor of the proclamation that television has surpassed – or would surpass – the prestige and prowess of Hollywood cinema. However, some were more willing than others to argue that TV shows have come a long way in proving that they, too, can be taking seriously as an artform.

Over the course of 2010, we covered an array of politicians, authors, entertainers, media mavens, and others as they discussed their crafts and their industries. We enjoyed most of the panels, lectures, and debates we took in, while some of them fell short. Here, a rundown of our 5 favorites, followed by the 10 quotes that defined the year in New York City media panels:

Who: Jonathan Alter, David Remnick, moderated by Abigail Pogrebin
What: What Everyone’s Talking About: The Obama Experts
Where: The JCC in Manhattan
When: October 13, 2010
Thumbs: Up

This past weekend, Mediaite contributor Jasmine Moy took in the New Yorker Festival, one of the city’s hottest cultural tickets every fall, usually featuring very smart people sitting in chairs on stage, talking thoughtfully about smart things, for longer than five minutes and without interruption. Why is there so little of that on the telly? It even had its share of naughtiness: “They were small breasts, in keeping with the understated nature of the magazine.” If you want to find out the context for that remark, you’ll have to read on.

The New Yorker is now available on the iPad. If you are reading this and are already the owner of an iPad you likely know this. Perhaps you’re even watching the instructional film starring Jason Schwartzman and directed by Roman Coppola. But I think it’s worth noting the news for two reasons.

It’s the moment I know you’ve all be waiting for: this year’s Time 100: The Most Influential People In the World (or at least people that stand a good chance of getting more magazines off the stands) has been released. One of the fun features of the Time 100 list is the magazine’s match-making skills when it comes to finding bold-faced names to pen the blurbs that accompany the some of the featured nominees. This year there are some eye-catching pairings.

Bill Maher’s guests the other night, which included New Yorker editor David Remnick and journalist Laura Flanders, appeared to concur with Frank Rich’s take on what’s motivating the movement, concluding from the poll results that the Partiers are actually not that upset about government involvement or taxing (they like their medicare; social security), but are worried and angry that we have a black president.

By now you’ve all seen those ads for the just-released fantasy epic Clash of the Titans, with Liam Neeson as Zeus declaring from on high, “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!” The Kraken is a giant sea monster with huge tentacles and rows of razor-sharp teeth. Ooh scary, how will the hot Australian guy from Avatar defeat it? [...]

As Frank Rich noted in his Sunday column this week a whole lot of people suffer from the habit of comparing President Obama to past political heavy-weights. Or not. At least according to New Yorker editor David Remnick today on Meet the Press, who noted that Obama “does not have the talents” of Ronald Reagan.

The year 2009 was a remarkably troubled year for magazine publishing — filled with lay-offs, declining ad revenue, and serious questions about the viability of the medium as a whole. Yet, in this sea of bad news, a few titles were able to eke out some positive attention and influence over the field — thanks, in part, to the vision and leadership of their editors. Who among them did we find to do his or her job the best? Jon Meacham, Editor-in-chief for Newsweek. His runner-up and reader poll winner after the jump.

The Monday morning Gourmet quarterbacking continues a week after Condé Nast decided to shutter the much-loved foodie mag along with three others. Now that the initial dust has settled from the first round and the much of the magazine world is waiting for the second shoe to drop, a number of folks are taking a peak behind the curtain at the wizard himself. It ain’t pretty.

You’ve got to hand it to Gawker for turning the process of writing blog posts into fun and profit for all. They’ve complained in the past that the photo of Finke to the left is the only one available on the Web. Rather than resign themselves to that fact, they’ve made a contest of it: the first person to bring them a recent photo of Nikki Finke wins $1000.

As the media world awaits the official word (i.e. layoff news) from McKinsey’s summer-long interrogation, rumored to arrive sometime in mid-October both Crain’s and the New York Observer are reporting that 25% budgetary cuts across the board are the targets currently being delivered to editors and publishers in the form of “McKinsey binders…complete with pie graphs and charts.”

Much has been made of The New Yorker‘s exemption from Conde Nast’s summer-long apocalyptic McKinsey evaluation. And there’s been plenty of speculation as to the whys behind it. However, perhaps it has a leettle something to do with the New Yorker Fesitval

It might just be wishful thinking on his part, but here’s what Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter had to say to the New York Observer at a book party last night about. A good attitude can get you far in life, you know.

The New Yorker‘s managing editor Kate Julian was hired away to Washington earlier this summer. David Remnick‘s choice to replace her? A 26-year-old (!) — Amelia Lester.

You know reality is really biting at Condé Nast these days when Graydon Carter is taking his bites in the cafeteria! [Or is it? A reader tells us it's actually happened before! Back when things were good!] Cry me a McKinsey river!

It seems that the economy hasn’t just killed ad sales at Condé, it’s killed the myth of Condé. They are no longer the envy of the magazine world. Of course who is these days? Maybe David Remnick?

Why does everyone ignore Seymour Hersh? That’s what NYU Local editor Cody Brown wants to know, asking furiously on Twitter: “Why did the NYT omit mention of Seymour Hersh from the CIA story?” New Yorker editor David Remnick weighs in.

The Magazine Editors category on the Power Grid has engendered some good debate here at Mediaite’s global headquarters. Summing up: should a Magazine Editor be rewarded more for the public profile of the title they oversee, or more for how they promote their own name.

The A.I.G. Financial Products unit is to the global financial crisis what rickety levees were to Hurricane Katrina. But as Michael Lewis points out in his excellent article in the latest issue of Vanity Fair, F.P., as it’s called, used to be the envy of Wall Street. In 2001, the elite unit accounted for a [...]