Mediaite’s former Senior Editor Steve Krakauer‘s inevitable rise to global media dominace continued today, with news of his promotion to Senior Digital Producer at CNN. He will now oversee all digital producers at CNN, who primarily manage the show’s social media and online footprint, in particular, the show’s Twitter feeds. Krakauer left Mediaite roughly a year ago to helm the digital side of Piers Morgan Tonight, which launched last January and has enjoyed critical raves and impressive ratings, in no small part due to an aggressive Twitter presence.

I am thrilled to announce that Mark Joyella, a five-time Emmy winning reporter joins Mediaite today as the new TV Editor. Mark has worked as a reporter and anchor at television stations across the country including Miami and New York and has been honored by the Associated Press, and the Radio-Television News Directors’ Association.

Politico’s Mike Allen added another layer of speculation to Keith Olbermann‘s sudden and indefinite suspension on Friday: Olbermann was suspended for refusing to apologize on air. “Olbermann told his bosses he didn’t know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly. Olbermann may not hold as many cards as he thinks.”

If you happen to follow a bunch of political and media types, you may have noticed that your Twitter just exploded. That’s because Keith Olbermann just happened to be suspended indefinitely. We’ve collected some of the best reactions from the Twittersphere here. We’ve also excluded all of the Tweets which just said some variation of “Wow.”

Mediaite Office Hours is has a great show and a new time today from Livestream.com – at 2:30pmET, with MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, Ashley Madison President and CEO Noel Biderman and author Dan Fost. And a special surprise for Glynnis’ last show!

Mediaite Office Hours is back today with a great show from Livestream.com at 3:15pmET – with CNN’s Candy Crowley, CNBC’s Darren Rovell and more!

Last night President Barack Obama sat down for a full 22 minute interview with Daily Show host Jon Stewart, and judging by the reaction in today’s news, the interview was by turns flat and wonky. The implication is that President Obama has lost his “rock star” aura, a sharp and profitable metaphor heading into the midterm elections. However, isn’t wonky and even-measured what we should be lauding right now? Do we really want a leader that can make with the comedy jokes?

Joy Behar has been persona non grata over in conservative circles ever since she walked out on Bill O’Reilly a couple of weeks ago. The anger against her has only strengthened now that she’s called Sharron Angle a “bitch” two days in a row. Earlier today, Mediaite’s own Steve Krakauer had the unenviable task of defending Behar to Megyn Kelly on America Live.

Mediaite Office Hours is back today with a great show from Livestream.com at 3pmET – with NBC’s Hoda Kotb, author Paul David Pope, Jose Simian talking Chilean miners and a surprise guest!

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, along with a panel that included pop-culture-savvy former SC Democratic Party Chair Dick Harpootlian, weighed in on the “controversy” surrounding a “casting call” for a joint MTV/BET/CMT town hall event. While there’s undeniable entertainment value in watching Kelly rib Harpootlian’s Krakauer-esque knowledge of the Jersey Shore cast, and her shocked reaction to the “s-word” (skank), the real treat here is how badly they all bungle a central fact in this story.
Update: Back Stage National Casting Editor Luke Crowe provides additional information in a statement to Mediaite

After a couple month hiatus, Mediaite Office Hours is back today! We’ll be coming to you from Livestream.com at 3pmET – with FNC’s Greta Van Susteren, MSNBC’s Willie Geist and Time magazine’s James Poniewozik. There’s certainly a lot to talk about.

One of the great stories we didn’t get to include in our first Mediaite Supper Club video was something you probably didn’t know about Geraldo Rivera‘s spectacular, embarrassing, record-breaking Al Capone Vault special.

Here it is now: the story of how his “fifth and final” wife first found out about who he was.

For the first edition of Mediaite Supper Club, a new video series, we had dinner with Geraldo Rivera of Fox News and Pat Kiernan of NY1 at Doma in the West Village.

The conversation ranged from Piers Morgan and CNN’s prime time ratings troubles to Rupert Murdoch, Howard Stern, David Westin and Glenn Beck. Check it out:

Two years ago Glynnis MacNicol, Steve Krakauer and I — all working for different organizations back then — had just wrapped up two weeks in Denver and/or Minneapolis for the Democratic and then the Republican National Convention. Obama had blown the roof of Invesco Field, and the Sarah Palin blew the roof off that with her nomination and killer speech (and made me blow a gasket). Looking through a gallery of pictures from that time, it all seemed so long ago, like from another era. Two years ago, no one could have predicted that, as between Obama and Sarah Palin, it would be the latter who would dominate on Facebook and Twitter (remember how avante-garde it was for not-yet-President Barack Obama to announce his selection of Joe Biden as VP via text message? Back then it seemed like a BFD). Come to think of it, everything seems different now except for Sarah Palin – looking at her blithely making that speech, blaming the media for being mean to her even when she refused to sit for a Sunday morning show (she still hasn’t), or any interview (except for Fox and Oprah, has she since Katie Couric?). Her demeanor has been pretty unshakable through these last 2 years – you can say one thing for Sarah Palin that you can’t say for Obama – with her, you know exactly what you are going to get.

Glenn Beck is hosting his “Restoring Honor” Rally today on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and thanks to the folks at MSNBC.com (!) everyone can watch the video via live streaming video. Mediaite’s Glynnis MacNicol, Steve Krakauer, Tommy Christopher and Michael Tripplet are all in attendance and plan to file reports throughout the day.

The Washington Post‘s enormously comprehensive “Top Secret America” project – found at TopSecretAmerica.com – has rolled out since yesterday, and the reaction has been wide-ranging.

But now the background of one of the two bylined co-authors, William Arkin, has come into question.

Mission: Accomplished. In a search for a sequel to last year’s Summer of Angst over health care reform, the “manufactured menace” of a New Black Panther-controlled election has gripped California’s 27th District. In a video featured on Fox News earlier yesterday, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Ca) was asked about the case, to wild applause. The applause, however, turned to jeers at his assurance that the DOJ is not anti-white, and hysterical jeering when he said he didn’t know about the NBPP case. It’s gonna be a long summer

This week marks the one year anniversary of the launch of Mediaite, and what a year it has been. As Dan Abrams notes, predictions of Mediaite’s doom were greatly exaggerated, and as Mediaite columnist and White House reporter from Day One, I have viewed the site’s successful first year from a unique perch. When Rachel Sklar pitched the site to me, I have to confess I was a little bit skeptical, but it didn’t take long for me to see that she and Dan were on to something.

Mediaite Office Hours is live today from Livestream.com today at 3pmET – with CNN anchor/correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNBC’s Darren Rovell and Politico’s Patrick Gavin. There’s certainly a lot to talk about.

It is hard to believe it’s been a full year since our newbie website with the awkward-sounding name was welcomed to the blogosphere with accolades such as “sounds…like something you’d give to a toddler suffering diarrhea,” or “no one really cares about the business and personalities behind the media,” or my personal favorite, “Mediaite feels a bit doomed.” Ah, yes — that honeymoon period was so sweet. We all love to curl up with the scrapbook and reminisce about the early days.

Mediaite Office Hours is live today from Livestream.com today at 3pmET – with CNN’s Ali Velshi, John Gapper of the Financial Times, Mediaite columnist Philip Bump and more.

Everyone has weighed in on Pres. Barack Obama‘s BP oil disaster speech Tuesday night. Tommy Christopher did. Frances Martel did. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews did.

On Fox & Friends this morning, several people did…including me.

Mediaite Office Hours is live today from Livestream.com’s brand new studio at 3pmET, with author David Goodwillie, talk sports with SportsGrid.com and more.

Is it fair for a fashion writer to critique a Supreme Court nominees style? How about to discuss whether or not she crosses her legs?

Today on America Live, we were there for a discussion about the coverage.

Mediaite Office Hours is live today from Livestream.com’s brand new studio at 3pmET, with Newsday TV critic Verne Gay, New York magazine’s Will Leitch and more.