5QQ caught up with Romans between reporting duties at CNN and book signings:

1. Christine, you’ve got a new book, Smart is the New Rich: If You Can’t Afford It, Put It Down. Isn’t there any way I can keep living like I used to, which is to say, way beyond my means? Isn’t it getting better and we can all get back to our credit cards?

It’d be nice, wouldn’t it? But the credit card companies won’t let you. Plus, it wasn’t real. All that credit-driven wealth was a mirage. It IS getting better though and 2011 will be the year that people on Main Street start to feel it.

2. But seriously, you’re an author now–just like Snooki. Where’d you find time to write a book and just how tough love are you on spending?

If I had a dollar for every time someone compared me with Snooki, well. I’d have a dollar. I wrote two hours a day after work and two hours on Saturdays for three or four months. Then I delivered the final edits on a Friday and delivered a baby boy on Sunday. With two little guys already at home, let’s just say 2010 was a busy and productive year.

As for tough love on spending, the USA Today reviewer wrote that the book will coax out your inner “cheapskate.” Let me set the record straight. I am not a cheapskate. We don’t have to live like the Great Depression because it is not. If you can afford it, spend whatever you want. Just make sure it’s after you have saved for college, retirement and put enough away to cover six months of joblessness.

3. So you’re moving to CNN’s Your Bottom Line, which we like a lot because it’s easier to say than Your $$$$$. (Just between us, have we been correct in calling the show “Your Five Dollar Signs?”)

It’s actually called Your Money, but you have my permission to call it “Your Five Dollar Signs.” During the recession I called it “Your Three Dollar Signs.” So far only one dollar has come back. I’m holding out hope that 2011 is a better year.

4. When you’re working the money beat, as you are, and times are tough, is it more exciting or more challenging?

Both. How the economy works can be complicated. But people are hungry for information that will help them understand it and thrive again.

5. Word association. We say a phrase, and you respond with the first embarrassing anecdote that comes to mind. Okay? Here goes: ALI VELSHI.

Pin stripes, plaid and polka dots. All at the same time. Fashion aside, I love that guy — we’ve been working together for 10 years. Any embarrassing anecdotes I am keeping to myself since he has plenty of ammo on me, too.

Dylan Ratigan is the host of MSNBC’s Morning Meeting which airs weekdays from 9 to 11amET. He went to MSNBC on the heels of a successful stint hosting Fast Money, the CNBC show he co-created in 2006. Since joining MSNBC in late June, Ratigan has made a bit of a stir with his quick-wit and sometimes confrontational style. His interview with Betsy McCaughey over the Health Care debate got a lot of attention for being “one of the most brow-beating interviews in history,” as McCaughey called it.

Ratigan’s show has a major “meeting” focus – when introducing guests, it’s not “welcome to the program,” or “welcome to the show,” it’s “welcome to the meeting.” And who was the featured guest of his first “meeting”?  None other than former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Here are our 5 Quick Questions for Dylan Ratigan:
1. How do you get your first news of the day?

My show is on pretty early and I’m not a morning person. So I typically get the first news of the day from the last three minutes of Morning Joe. Which is usually my pal Willie Geist talking about Rob Blagojevich and Sarah Palin.

2. Either, Or (you gotta pick one!):

Stock Exchange or stock cars?

You’ve obviously never watched me fight for real health care reform…I believe in more than limited choice for all Americans. That being said….I basically left a job that had me at the NY Stock Exchange and accumulated 11 speeding tickets in the past 3 years.

3. What’s the biggest story the media has missed this year? (Or last week):

This is as yet unconfirmed, but a military source told me on background that the US is bribing Afghanistan goat herders with Viagra. I hear this is a story that could get bigger….

4. Obligatory Twitter Question: Describe yourself in 140 characters or less (hash tag optional!).

A man on a mission. #DylanRatigan

5. Are you nervous or excited about the future of Journalism? Why?

Excited because I think the growing competition will ultimately give the American people the best information they’ve ever had.. Nervous because the only difference between me and a kid on Skype is a graphics package and peacock logo.

Photo: Michael Benabib, 2008

Vivian Schiller is the president and CEO of National Public Radio, which she joined at the end of 2008 after seven years at The New York Times Co. During her tenure at the Times, where she was most recently the SVP and general manager of NYTimes.com, she oversaw a complete overhaul of the paper’s website and dismantled TimesSelect, an early attempt at charging for content online. Schiller’s leadership at NPR has also meant a redesigned website. With her experience at the premiere newspaper website and now at NPR, which she touts as the oldest pay model in broadcast, Schiller knows as much as anybody about online pay models. Earlier this week she came to New York to prove it, participating in a debate with Journalism Online founder Steve Brill — ”The Great Digital Debate: Free vs. Paid Content Online.” Now she answers our 5QQ — Five Quick Questions.

1. How Do You Get Your First News Of The Day?

I divide my affections equally between Morning Edition and The New York Times Online – Please don’t make me choose!

2. Either, Or (you gotta pick one!):

New York City or Washington, DC?

My two great loves — my family and my job — are in Washington, so this one’s easy. But I’m glad I get to New York as often as I do.

Follow-Up: Subway or Metro?

We are a two-hybrid family, so I drive my Prius in DC, but it’s subway all the way in NYC.

Morning Edition or Weekend Edition?

I never stop listening.

Ira Glass or Garrison Keillor?

Ira Glass, but only because his program connects with the journalist in me.

Sarah Palin or Tina Fey?

That’s too easy.

Bill O’Reilly or Glenn Beck

Sarah Palin

Spike Jonze or Maurice Sendak?

Depends on where the wild things are that day (or night).

Eco Canvas Tote (with your $60 donation to New York Public Radio, WNYC) Or Barbara Streisand’s “Love Is The Answer” CD ($100 Donation)?

Eco Tote – see ‘two-hybrid family’ above.

What’s The Biggest Story the Media Has Missed This Year? (Or Last Week):

Tough One. I’d have to say the job market. It’s not a sexy story, but I think the fact that so many college grads can’t find a job is a profound shift in THE American Dream.

4. Obligatory Twitter Question: Describe Yourself In 140 Characters Or Less (Hash Tag Optional!).

# Vivianschiller Can’t decide if she’s Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Partner, Employee, Boss, Teacher, Student or Friend so tries to be all at once, to mixed results.

5. Are You Nervous or Excited About The Future Of Journalism? Why?

Excited. A golden age of journalism is going to emerge from the hellish years we are going through. I’m sure of it.

Deborah Norville‘s career in media has spanned from network to cable, morning to evening. She’s anchored evening newscasts at NBC and CBS, did a stint on both the Today show and The Early Show and hosted a show on MSNBC. But now she is the long-time anchor of the popular syndicated news show Inside Edition. She’s also the author of several books, from Children’s to Nonfiction – the latest being “The Power of Respect: Benefit from the Most Forgotten Element of Success,” which came out this week. With back-cover blurbs ranging from Sean Hannity to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the book highlights what can be gained by “respect” – both professionally and personally. Now she’s the latest to give her thoughts for the Mediaite 5QQ – Five Quick Questions.

1. How do you get your first news of the day?

First see CNBC then flip between Today and GMA.

2. What’s the biggest story the media has missed this year? (Or last week)?

Media isn’t following the money. Who’s watching to see where all that federal money is going?

3. “Either, Or” Question: (you gotta pick one!):

iPhone or Blackberry?

Blackberry

CBS Evening News or NBC Nightly News?

NBC News

Writing Children’s books or writing Nonfiction?

Nonfiction

Better YouTube video: Bill O’Reilly’s Inside Edition meltdown or “Gonna Keep on Movin’”?

Bill O’Reilly

4. Obligatory Twitter Question: Describe yourself in 140 characters or less (hash tag optional!)

@deborahnorville works 2 hard does 2 much is a good friend

5. Are you nervous or excited about the future of Journalism? Why?

Excited. News consumers have finally realized we need an informed public. Journalist are painfully aware of where they’ve fallen short as aggressive reporters.

Check out Norville on the Mediaite Power Grid.

1. How do you get your first news of the day?

Twitter. By the time I wake up on the west coast, my friends on the east coast have tweeted links and news commentary I’m most interested in.

2. Either, Or (you gotta pick one!):

Source of information: Facebook or Twitter?
Twitter. I accept the fact that I am just too old to get Facebook.

Source of fun: Coding or blogging?
Coding! It’s more fun to make something others might blog about than blog about something someone else made. Usually.

Source of stress: RSS feed or email inbox?
Email. Freakin’ email. It’s a daily battle.

Source of light: Sunshine or LCD screen?
Sunshine. Hey, I live in San Diego.

3. What’s the biggest story the media has missed this year? (Or last week):

The Twitter break-in. Not the “scandalous” Twitter documents it revealed (because really, that stuff was yawn-worthy) but HOW it happened. There are hundreds of companies moving their email and company documents online like Twitter has, and thousands of users with weak passwords or expired secondary Hotmail addresses. How difficult would it be for a dedicated hacker with some time to get into your Gmail account?

4. Obligatory Twitter Question: Describe yourself in 140 characters or less (hash tag optional!):

Technophile, blogger and software developer. Netizen. Optimist and introvert. You can take the girl out of Brooklyn…

5. Are you nervous or excited about the future of journalism? Why?

I’m excited, but that’s probably because I’m much more of a blogger than a journalist. Disruptive technologies are scary, as is uncertainty. The world needs journalism, but not in all of its current forms. I can’t wait to see what that will mean in the next 10 years.

Learn more about Gina Trapani on her website, which is very thoroughly-linked, and check out her Power Grid standing here.

1. How do you get your first news of the day?

The New York Times on the doorstep.  Not that we have a doorstep.

Once upon a time, the pill.  Now the microwave.

Huffington Post.

The sky is falling.

Writer, New Yorker, married, mother, Democrat, happy to be here.

I’m concerned and curious, but I have yet to read anything particularly interesting on the subject.

Check out Nora Ephron’s HuffPo bio and IMDb page as well as her current standing on the Mediaite Power Grid