On NBC’s Today Show Wednesday morning, host Matt Lauer underscored just how nasty this 2012 Republican primary campaign has gotten, and how quickly, when he asked former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to confirm whether he had received a congratulations call from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich following Romney’s victory in the Florida primary. Romney revealed that Gingrich did not call last night…or after Romney victories in Iowa (apparent victory, anyway) and New Hampshire.

Today’s Matt Lauer put author Jodi Kantor on the heat seat Monday morning over her controversial new book, The Obamas, which claims — among other things — that there are tensions between White House staff and the First Lady.

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.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the week between Christmas and New Years Eve is kind of a dead zone. A lot of time it seems like those that aren’t lucky enough to be on vacation are just trying their best not to let anyone see them licking the stamps they’re using to mail it in. However, this kind of sleepy atmosphere also leads to some gloriously goofy segments like the Today Show‘s episode spent interviewing the “Internet stars of 2011″ (which basically means “people who were in viral videos”). While this sounds fairly insubstantial, it did give us a wonderful interview in which Matt Lauer squared off against the Huffmans, the lovable elderly couple whose attempt to use a webcam ended up garnering about 16 million YouTube hits.

Among other things, the Holiday season means end-of-the-year gift giving, and as such, television viewers receive the gift of promotional appearances from authors looking to hawk their recently penned tomes. Take for example Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who this morning appeared in enemy territory to sell his recent biography Killing Lincoln on NBC News’ Today Show. This appearance wasn’t all about pushing product, however, as O’Reilly shared his opinion on a number of GOP candidates and their chances on getting elected.

Monday morning, Today host Matt Lauer sat down with Donald Trump to discuss his upcoming gig moderating a GOP debate on December 27th.

NBC’s David Gregory backtracked on his comments about “grand wizards” in the Republican Party this morning. Earlier on The Today Show, Gregory had responded to a question from Ann Curry who referring to Herman Cain’s sexual harassment scandal, asked “does the party just wish he would go away?” “Well, there is no grand wizard in the party right now that can really force the issue,” Gregory responded.

Surrounded by throngs of screaming fans, Matt Lauer confronted teen heartthrob Justin Bieber on the Today Show this morning and interrogated the singer about the paternity lawsuit being made against him. “There is a lot of good that comes with celebrity, you know that. there is also a pretty white-hot spotlight and you found yourself under it recently, someone is filing a paternity suit saying you’re the father of her three-month-old son, what do you say about that?”

Last night, Conan O’Brien kicked off a week of special shows from his old home, New York City. Throughout the week, the host is going to do all kinds of great New York things like eating Chinese delivery, catching a Reggie Watts show, and officiating a gay wedding. However, he is now by definition a tourist, so he also engaged in an activity that no actual New Yorker would ever dream of actually doing; he attended a Today Show taping.

However, since he is an ex-NBC employee, O’Brien had to visit the studio in cognito.

The Ruth Madoff explanation tour continued today with a nearly 20 minutes on the set of the Today show this morning alongside son Andrew Madoff and his fiance. Matt Lauer served as interviewer and challenged Madoff over her recent claim in her recent 60 Minutes interview that she and her husband had attempted suicide by talking a number of pills. A NY Mag report suggested that Bernie Madoff refuted that claim, though Laure revealed that he later personally told him that it was true.

In a heated interview, Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Today‘s Ann Curry today on the defeat of the jobs bill in the Senate. “The president’s jobs bill didn’t even get unanimous vote from Senate Democrats. Why didn’t the president roll up his sleeves months ago and line by line address this issue for the need for jobs to create a bill that both parties could support?” Curry asked. “The president’s jobs bill didn’t even get unanimous vote from Senate Democrats. Why didn’t the president roll up his sleeves months ago and line by line address this issue for the need for jobs to create a bill that both parties could support?” Curry asked. “Hey, he not only rolled up his sleeves; we rolled up our sleeves, our pant legs, we were in our gym shorts working like the devil. They’ve made it real clear that under no circumstances are they prepared to pay for anything that we need to do now so we don’t raise the debt further in order to help people have jobs.”

MSNBC mainstay Rachel Maddow appeared on The Today Show this morning to discuss President Obama‘s slipping support with the Democratic base. Maddow chalked it up to a general softening of support for Obama, and host Matt Lauer observed “They (Democrats) have nowhere else to go.”

Maddow correctly points out that enthusiasm is the key, and sees promise in the President’s current push, predicting that “(Republicans) are the ones that have to bend this time.”

On the Today show to discuss his new memoir, Here Comes Trouble, Michael Moore maintained that he would not take back his contraversial 2003 Oscar speech, but holds certain regrets for the toll it has on him and his family.

Moore left jaws dropped in the days immediately following America’s entry into Iraq when he used his Oscar acceptance to speak out against the “fictitious times” with “fictitious election results,” “fictitious presidents,” and “fictitious wars.” Over the audience’s boos, he unforgettably cried: “We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you!”

Now that news outlets are, for the most part, done with reported on Hurricane Irene itself, they have now taken to covering whether the coverage of the storm was “overhyped.” As The Today Show sees it, that all depends on where you happened to be during the hurricane, and the degree to which you believe in the old adage “better safe than soggy.” Or something like that.

Along the eastern coast of the United States, experiences of the hurricane differ greatly, from a few fallen leaves and extra rain to a loss of power and dangerous flooding to over 20 hurricane-related deaths. That said, some reporters were selling the storm as “the hurricane of our lifetime,” which, after a quick comparison to storms like Katrina, Hugo or Andrew, just didn’t seem to be even close to realistic. But does “unrealistic” equate to “irresponsible”?

Judge solely by the amount of attention she has received this week, it’s fair to say that Tea Party darling and aspiring media figure Christine O’Donnell has been successful at promoting her new book Troublemaker. But if you draw a distinction between the quantity and quality of media attention, well then perhaps its a different story all together. This morning O’Donnell showed up on NBC’s TODAY and was fairly interrogated by Savannah Guthrie who questioned O’Donnell’s previous explanations for why exactly she walked off of the set of Piers Morgan Tonight earlier in the week.

I don’t know the exact figures, but I’m pretty sure the Today Show airs on NBC for about 42 hours every day. With that much time to fill, you’d think some of the content may strain for substance. Not the case, however, as you could see by today’s Today in which the show sought to answer a question that’s been challenging great thinkers for centuries; “Why do breasts turn men into boobs?”

I’m sure all the camera guys who shot b-roll for this segment must have been really excited. You know, for helping with great journalism and all.

Last week, Laura Ingraham appeared on The Today Show to promote her new book, Of Thee I Zing, which deals in part on the destruction of our culture (a topic that’s been good for books for as long as there’s been culture…and books). While there, she gave a couple of examples she’d seen which included a man watching porn on an airplane (for the hundredth time, Laura, it was a long flight and I’m sorry) and the musicians that Today itself had booked for their summer concert series. A few days later, after R&B singer Chris Brown, perhaps better known for the whole brutally beating up Rihanna thing, performed on the show, Ingraham took he and Today to task which has now led to a heated Twitter fight between she, Brown, the rapper 50 Cent, and their fans.

How can one person raise 14 children? That was the question Ann Curry sought to answer this morning on the Today Show as Nadya Suleman and nine of her many children gave their first live television appearance. We got a taste of the logistical nightmare that having this many children is as the interview continuously needed to be stopped as various Today anchors chased the wandering children around the set.

The Today has gotten a huge get in the form of an exclusive interview with President Obama in which he speaks about the scandal involving Rep. Anthony Weiner. Asides from comments from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney that the entire situation was nothing but “a distraction,” this will be the first official statement from the White House. Not only that, he told Today‘s Ann Curry that, were he in Weiner’s shoes, he “would resign.”

What do you get the man who has everything? Tough question, right? Ok, try this one; What do you get the man who has everything and also totally talks to God all the time and can be all, “Hey God, Matt Lauer is a terrible gift-giver. I think you know what to do.” Pretty pressuring, huh? However, that’s what Lauer had to figure out when he met Pope Benedict XVI while exploring the Vatican with Al Roker for the Today Show. So what’d he give him? A crystal cat.

Huh, good to know the Pope has the same tastes as my aunt who never married.

At the end of her appearance on Today this morning, Michele Bachmann was asked point blank by Matt Lauer whether or not she was running for president in 2012. She chuckled and said she probably wouldn’t make the decision till this summer. However, the entire rest of the interview played like one with an official candidate as every question Lauer asked, began with the phrase “If you were president…” and Bachmann was eager to answer them all, showing how her approach would differ from the “Obama doctrine.”

Despite the worry from some that the media is wrongly exploiting Charlie Sheen, the fact remains that right now in Sheen’s world there constantly seems to be new developments worth covering and that he is interested in discussing. Now Sheen’s estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, has been granted a restraining order against Sheen and as a result their twin boys have been removed from his home. Sheen addressed the situation live on The Today Show and vowed that he “stayed calm” and is now “focused” on getting his children back.

It was one of those moments that made you smile.

Last week, a piece of footage arrived on the net. It could only be described as nostalgic. It was an episode of the Today Show from 1994 – with hosts Bryant Gumble and Katie Couric puzzeling over this thing called – ‘internet’.

It was – without a doubt – charming.

If this is true, it’s very sad. Last week, an amazing video from 1994 was posted online showing Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel sitting on the Today set and trying to wrap their heads around this whole “Internet” thing. The video instantly went viral and was posted on countless websites (including Mediaite). Well, now it would appear that the guy who posted it has been fired by NBC for leaking it.

This morning on The Today Show, Glenn Beckdefended himself against accusations of violent rhetoric by saying he didn’t regret any remarks he intended to be jokes, and told host Meredith Vieira that if he was getting his feet held to the fire, writers for The Simpsons, as well as Jon Stewart, should be held to the same standards.