You can always count on TMZ to – if one may be permitted to weave a particularly unsavory metaphor right about now – lift the motel linoleum out from under a dead hooker’s decaying body to go after the juicier aspects of a headline-spewing story. The news organization’s founder, Harvey Levin, recently crafted a series of Tweets taking CNN to task for holding a hypocritical stance when it came to reporting the identity of the former housekeeper with whom Arnold Schwarzenegger had an extra-marital affair and, up until this month, a secret child. And Levin was able to do this not because TMZ has a strict ethical code revered by the media and public at large, but because, by staying true to its own unique code, TMZ has been able to own this story.

TMZ’s Harvey Levin has been taking CNN to task over Twitter this afternoon, drawing attention to the network’s changing stance on whether and when to name the housekeeper with whom former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had a child (known alternately as the “baby mama”). Levin, whose own news organization has been on the receiving end of criticism over issues with celebrities’ privacy, accused CNN of having no “moral compass” for changing their original take on the issue.

Television punditry is a wicked game of power and prestige, but one’s sphere of influence has been historically difficult to measure. But not anymore! Thanks to the our friends at TVEyes, we now know exactly how many times one’s name gets mentioned on air. So who’s getting the most mentions this week? Well, using the mix of magic and math that is the Mediaite Power Grid Here are the top 25 TV pundits of the week.

The year 2009 had many media bright spots, break-out stars, dominating networks and game-changing technologies. The Mediaite 50 collects the finest, most exemplary innovators and influencers of the year, defining a media moment in time and setting the agenda as we move forward. See the full list after the jump:

Connoisseurs of Saturday Night Live will remember the classic sketch featuring then-host Tom Hanks featuring fake game show “Jew/Not A Jew” (“Sponsored by Feldman’s Kosher Pickles. You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy Feldman’s, but it helps.”) Connoisseurs of this blog will remember that I am slightly conflicted over horrormeister Eli Roth, who makes [...]

Michael David Barrett, 48, has been arrested for interstate stalking after he filmed eight videos of EPSN reporter Erin Andrews changing in two different hotel rooms and posted them on the internet. Barrett attempted to sell the videos to TMZ.com. But instead of snatching the videos (and an avalanche of traffic) the site gave Barrett’s personal information to the right people.

There is nothing populist about Vanity Fair‘s annual top 100 Information Age powers list — it is brazen in its celebration of the worldwide corporate aristocracy. What can we say, we’re suckers for power rankings. But as the media’s old guard works on curbing its exorbitance in the midst of a shifting economic reality and technological innovation, is there any room on the list for the Elite Media?

Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock, 28, is the youngest member of Congress and a product of the GOP’s Young Guns program, which works to get young Republican talent into office. Serving in Abraham Lincoln’s district, he’s an honest hard-worker, who began his IRA at age 14. And, if you ask NPR, he also “has the best abs.”