BBC World News anchor Katty Kay got off a cheeky one-liner that had her fellow Chris Matthews Show panelists chuckling (and in Kathleen Parker‘s case, perhaps blushing) when she assessed Florida’s importance in electoral politics by saying “It’s very big, and it swings.”

That’s probably true, but it’s fair to ask what good that does, given the state’s history of electile dysfunction.

Newt Gingrich‘s family values have been the subject of much attention during the GOP primary race, and on his show today, Chris Matthews highlighted a poll which showed roughly half of the respondents rated Gingrich’s personal standards poorly. Mathews asked panelist Andrew Sullivan if the GOP establishment still retained enough clout to heavily influence the race going forward, given the concerns they have about a Gingrich candidacy.

In the world of the microscopic news cycle, a year is a mighty long time. Think “dog years” on steroids. Over the course of the past year, in thousands (around 7,500 ) of articles and millions (between 3 and 4 million) of words, Mediaite has covered the ups and downs of that whizzing, ricocheting media world. In case you lost track in that sea of information, we’ve compiled a list of 2011 Media Winners and Losers that we hope will be the start  of a conversation, not the end of one. Here, in no particular order, are Mediaite’s 2011 Media Winners and Losers.

Today’s edition of The Chris Matthews Show featured a small little awards ceremony to honor the most important political moments of the year. Chris Matthews dedicated the first award to President Obama for his “Best Move” of the year. The nominees for the category were the death of Osama bin Laden, the Libyan invasion, the fulfilled promise to withdraw from Iraq, and his unifying speech to the nation following the Arizona shootings and critical injury of Gabrielle Giffords.

The title question makes for a bad Paula Cole record, but a good basis for discussion on this morning’s Morning Joe. Co-host Mika Brzezinski led a discussion of the current GOP presidential field’s frequent brain power outages, such as Herman Cain’s Libya whiff and Rick Perry’s debate mega-stumble, pegged to op-eds by The Washington Post‘s Kathleen Parker and Newsweek‘s Paul Begala.

On his show today, Chris Matthews and panel discussed the very likely possibility of a Barack Obama-Mitt Romney showdown in the 2012 election, and amongst all the talk of class warfare and business experience, Matthews asked if American voters would embrace or resent Mitt Romney for his vast wealth and business ties given the anti-business climate in America encouraged by the Occupy Wall Street protests.

On Friday, Parker/Spitzer co-host Kathleen Parker announced that she is leaving the show. In a guest column, John Ziegler, radio host, Palin confidante, and the filmmaker behind Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted, offers his commentary on Parker’s departure from CNN.

After months of turbulence at CNN’s Parker Spitzer, the network will drop co-host Kathleen Parker from the show, according to sources and a memo released to CNN staff. Eliot Spitzer will continue with the show. According to CNN chief Ken Jautz, the new show will feature Spitzer in an “ensemble format” of contributors and be called In the Arena. The new show debuts Monday.

CNN’s Eliot Spitzer, who’s recently gotten good reviews for his performance as co-host of Parker Spitzer, may be envisioning a one-man show. According to a report in the New York Post, Spitzer “is telling friends” Parker “will be gone within a week.” The Post cites an unnamed source who says “Spitzer thinks (Parker) is holding him back,” an observation that others have made, most recently in a column in Broadcasting and Cable.

The individuals who book guests on CNN’s Parker-Spitzer deserve a good deal of credit for booking Egyptian blogger Ethar El-Katatney last night, who provided a spirited account of the current upheaval in Egypt via Skype. El-Katatney described the reaction among social media watchers and activists to Mubarak’s apparent head fake in which he did not resign as widely expected by saying “we got punked.”

Cable news ratings, February 3, 2011: •It’s turning into a banner week for the oft-bashed CNN show Parker Spitzer. Again Thursday, Eliot Spitzer hosted the show and focused on breaking news from Egypt. (Kathleen Parker, the show’s co-host, has not been on the show all week–out sick, say CNN execs) Fast-paced and newsy, Parker Spitzer [...]

•The show that seemed headed for a reboot may have life in it after all. CNN’s Parker Spitzer has quietly gained ground in the ratings recently, and closed to within 15,000 viewers 25-54 of MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell in his new 8 p.m. timeslot. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly remained far ahead in first place, with 824,000 viewers 25-54.

House Speaker John Boehner put it bluntly in an interview with CNN’s Kathleen Parker: “We’re broke.”

In his first interview since the State of the Union, Boehner was asked about President Obama‘s reference to a “Sputnik moment.” Boehner said the real “Sputnik moment” was that the nation was flat broke. “The American people know we’re broke, and they want us to do something about spending.” The Speaker told Parker “there wasn’t much talk last night about cutting spending and getting our debt under control.”

Hard to believe, but there is a name for a talk show that’s more ungainly and unimaginative than “Parker/Spitzer.” In a sketch that played on the recent rumors of strife surrounded the poorly rated CNN show, SNL aired a segment depicting Eliot Spitzer‘s hypothetical search for a new co-anchor: “Parker/Amanpour,” “Parker/Klum” and “Parker/Paterson” are all tested as possible candidates.

Amidst reports that CNN is eager to shake-up the relatively new, but ratings-starved, Parker Spitzer, by dumping Kathleen Parker and giving Eliot Spitzer a new co-host, I politely suggest the exact opposite strategy would better ensure the show’s longevity. With the ratings for Parker Spitzer consistently placing it in last place among cable news networks at its time slot, and often last among CNN’s own primetime lineup, the evidence is clear that the show’s current format is not clicking with audiences. Change is a good idea. Keeping Spitzer is not.

CNN’s Parker Spitzer, which has been largely pre-taped, went to a live broadcast Monday–with the New York Post hinting the move was a last-minute effort to boost ratings. “Network honcho Ken Jautz announced yesterday during a morning meeting that the show, which had previously been taped, would now be aired live, one insider said.”

According to a report posted tonight on the website of The Wall Street Journal, CNN is considering replacing Kathleen Parker, co-host of the ratings-challenged Parker Spitzer. The WSJ story quotes unnamed sources who say a new co-host could be named to join Eliot Spitzer as part of a major overhaul of the show, which has floundered in the ratings since its debut three months ago. CNN’s primetime programs performed poorly in 2010, which marked the network’s worst ratings performance in fourteen years.

CNN’s Kathleen Parker, co-host of Parker Spitzer, weighed in on the unfolding controversy over a series of “raunchy” shipboard videos shown to the crew of the Navy aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise. The videos, produced by then-executive officer and now Navy Capt. Owen Honors, have been described as sexist and homophobic, leading the Navy to begin an investigation of the captain, who may not deploy with his ship when it sails to the Arabian Sea later this month.

Piers Morgan has made a series of fun web videos in the lead up to his new show, many of which have been produced by He Who Will Not be Named (not because of any malice, just because I’m terrible at remembering names. Steve Krack…inski?). The latest, though, is probably the best, with Morgan bursting into the office of Parker Spitzer to remind them that they will soon be nothing more than his “warm-up act.” God, those Brits get away with saying anything. Must be the accent.

Last night on CNN‘s Parker Spitzer, Democratic congressman Peter DeFazio appeared and wanted his opposition to President Obama’s tax compromise to be heard loud and clear. With the tax compromise very much in jeopardy as liberal members of the House of Representatives are currently in revolt, DeFazio’s comments not only ruffled a few feathers in [...]

After a New York Post column last week that claimed a fed up Kathleen Parker “stormed off” the set of CNN’s ratings-challenged Parker Spitzer, Parker tells The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter there has indeed been “some editorial and political tension.”

The jokes have been made, and the ratings are not strong: Eliot Spitzer has starting to look like cable news’s piñata. In fact, it’s not unreasonable to think that Parker/Spitzer‘s days on air are numbered, at least in its current iteration. But despite the sturm und drang and predictable drama that comes with a new cable news show, I think that there is one unspoken truth to be gleaned from this whole enterprise: Former New York Governor-turned-cable news host Eliot Spitzer is very good on television.

Citing anonymous “insiders,” the News Corp-owned New York Post suggests today that Parker/Spitzer co-host Kathleen Parker is–as the Post puts it–”so fed up with playing second fiddle to the hooker loving ex-gov that she’s threatening to walk.”

As the Posties tell the story, Eliot Spitzer‘s a bit of a control freak. Now who would’ve thought a thing like that?

We know you’ve been waiting tirelessly for hip hop mogul Russell Simmons to break his silence on the media. Well, kids, your wait is over.

Simmons, the Phat Farm honcho and longtime media critic chose the obvious setting: CNN’s Parker Spitzer, to lay down a harsh track of criticism of the American media: “You can’t have much faith in them. You’ve got to work around them…the media does not have the people’s best interest” at heart.

On the heels of Kathleen Parker‘s admission/boast that she “led the (media) assassination” of Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign, Palin responded via Twitter “Parker: appreciate your admittance. Now, I’m still standing;Standing by family, faith & flag. Who do u stand by today?”

Malapropisms aside, Palin seems to be taking a rather thinly-veiled shot at fellow gubernatorial resignee, and Parker/Spitzer co-host, Eliot Spitzer. After the jump, a bit of further irony, plus Mediaite founder and NBC Chief Legal AnalystDan Abrams pays a visit to Parker/Spitzer to discuss the Parker/Palin feud.