The Mitt Romney campaign released a scathingly simple ad today attacking Newt Gingrich– a simple, unadulterated news report by Tom Brokaw detailing his fall into disgrace. Now both Brokaw and NBC News are calling for the removal of the ad, the former noting he is “extremely uncomfortable” with his presence in the ad.

They grow up so fast, don’t they? Online political media giant Politico turns five years old today, and to celebrate, the site posted a video roast by some quotable notables in the political media world. While the site has arguably earned the right to toot its own horn at least once every half-decade, did they really have to overshadow the birthday of Saved By The Bell actress Tiffani-Amber Thiessen?

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a way of making statements about class that clang like a robot mosh pit, having previously declared himself “unemployed,” and challenged rival Rick Perry to a casual $10,000 bet onstage at a debate. On Tuesday’s Morning Joe, he made his most bewildering statement yet, telling Tom Brokaw “Somebody that’s fallen from the middle class into poverty, in my opinion, is still middle class.”

Could Chris Christie still become the Republican nominee? Tom Brokaw thought that if the nomination process resulted in a brokered convention, pressure would be put on the New Jersey Governor to jump in the race.

During his interview Thursday, Tom Brokaw told CNN’s Piers Morgan he believes voters should be privy to “as many debates as possible” in order to get to know the candidates as well as possible. He also advised voters and journalists) not to act as if any one candidate has already run away with the election.

On Sunday morning’s Meet The Press, host David Gregory told his panel that senior White House adviser David Plouffe “broke new ground” in attacking GOP establishment presidential hopeful Mitt Romney as having “no core.”

Republican panelist Mike Murphy thought Plouffe owed Romney an apology, while Tom Brokaw pointed out that “the record is there,” but they’re all really late to the party here.

Isn’t it ghastly? Will we be accused us of capitalizing on the nation’s grief? Is it still too soon?

Those were just some of the questions we faced when deciding whether to replay NBC’s 9/11 coverage when I was General Manager of MSNBC back in 2006. As I watched MSNBC air that coverage for a sixth year today, many of those same questions remain.

Just a few months ago, reports surfaced that Today Show host Matt Lauer had had enough early morning TV work, and would be departing the show when his current contract came to an end. While NBC denied the report, rumors have persisted that not only is Lauer serious about leaving, but that NBC executives are reasonably (and quite seriously) considering possible replacements. Mediaite has learned that the top choice of certain key Comcast and NBC execs is American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

NBC heavy hitters Tom Brokaw and David Gregory stopped by Morning Joe to share some of their thoughts on the deficit negotiations and Brokaw warned that the “fun” is far from over. Brokaw also admitted how impressed he was with the Tea Party’s effect on Washington and concluded “if you want to change Washington, you’ve got to look at the Tea Party model.”

Jon Stewart has been perfectly transparent in counting Rep. Anthony Weiner among his friends and giving him the maximum benefit of the doubt as the mystery of how a lewd photo ended up on his Twitter account. But while Stewart began the week shrugging the story off, and begrudgingly kept his audience “apenis” of it, today he spent almost ten minutes parsing the legislator’s interview with Wolf Blitzer and trying to figure out how he cannot have certainty in whether the photo is his.

Comedians are notoriously a strange breed of character; the line between an affably absurd outlook played for jokes, and a cynical self-loathing personality is a dangerously thin one that could break at any minute. Which is why David Letterman‘s beseeching of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams to never go on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is so entertaining. Because while you know that he’s just joking around, you can honestly sense Letterman’s palpable dislike of Leno in a way that almost makes Williams uncomfortable.

With the Egyptian revolt that is slowly but surely toppling president Hosni Mubarak nearing its end, some in the media are beginning to evaluate the big picture of what this hopefully near-complete historical event means, and how it ranks near similar occasions. Rachel Maddow attempted to describe the magnitude of the revolts as a “Brokaw moment,” and took the opportunity to look back at the similarly dramatic falls of some of history’s sturdiest regimes.

In light of last week’s horrific shooting in Arizona, it seems many in the media are understandably shaken and some are thinking twice about the state’s comparatively loose gun laws, though some have expressed this with more tact than others. After Tom Brokaw confessed on Morning Joe that he would be “nervous going into a bar” in Arizona, Bill O’Reilly, like others, made light of it, but did so by joking about Brokaw being shot.

Tom Brokaw appeared on MSNBC‘s Morning Joe to discuss the prevalence of guns in America and the increase in gun sales since the Arizona shooting. Conservative commentator Peggy Noonan explained the sales being a result of law-abiding citizens purchasing guns to protect themselves from any future Jared Loughners, while Brokaw theorized that people are just eager to stockpile guns in case new regulations are created to restrict them.

Where did we come from? What does it all mean? What did Tom Brokaw have for lunch? We maybe never know: the NBC News legend revealed to Poynter that he’s hesitant to join Twitter or Facebook. Why is this member of ‘The Greatest Generation’ shunning social media? “I have too many invasions of my privacy as it is,” he said.

On Monday, the New York Times ran a “Frequent Flier” column penned by Michael Clemente, Fox News’s senior vice president for news. In the piece, Clemente reflects on his above-ground experiences—and recalls one particularly memorable plane ride with Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather.

Karl Rove was on Meet The Press this morning, discussing Fox News’ (where he is a political analyst) coverage of the Obama administration. Have they been as fair to the president as other networks? Even more so, claims the former senior adviser to George W. Bush, especially since some news networks “has opinion people…and those same people playing the part of your news delivery…which would not happen at Fox.” Guess which network he was talking about!

Negotiations between Conan O’Brien and NBC recently hit a snag over Tonight Show staff compensation, as the $40 million or so NBC is reportedly paying Conan not to do The Tonight Show apparently has the network a bit reluctant to shell out anything more. However, even if and when the two sides work that issue out, another complication, referenced by O’Brien on last night’s show, looms – intellectual property.

Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, had on the former anchor of NBC Nightly News Tom Brokaw, as his guest last night. While the two were discussing the highs and lows of the previous decade, Colbert shared his opinion on the both the current state of civility in public discourse, and what those who disagree with him can do with his “man-sack”.

NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw was involved in a three car accident on Friday. Though Brokaw and his wife Meredith were not injured, the driver of the second car was killed after being thrown from her vehicle. The Brokaws released a statement, available inside, in which they explain the circumstances of the crash and pass on their condolences.

Tonight NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams marked his five-year anniversary in the anchor chair after taking over from Tom Brokaw in 2004. Since then he’s covered Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, the Tsunami, and a hugely historic presidential election — all through probably the most tumultuous time in media since Chet Huntley and David Brinkley wished each other goodnight.

After Harry Potter’s worldwide record-breaking weekend, we got to talking about certain parallels between the magical land of Hogwarts and the equally magical land of headlines, bylines, cutlines, chyrons, blog pickup and declining ad pages. Turns out, the two have a lot in common!

On that note, for your edification and enjoyment, we present our own version – let’s call it “Harry Potter and the Media Muggles.”

A look at the Power Grid this week reveals a few fixtures that never waver. But just behind them in the rest of the top ten all it takes is a big scoop or scandal to send ripples through the rest of the rankings. Here are the big shake-ups from the past week and a look at what caused them:

Long before The Daily Show, long before The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live was making fun of the news in a way that no one had ever seen before.
In honor of the premiere of Season 35, we’ve pulled together 35 of SNL‘s choicest news anchor spoofs and Weekend Updates, from Baba Wawa to Fred Armisen‘s Joy Behar to the infamous Couric/Palin interview.

Earlier today, we wondered if Keith Olbermann knew that footage of his show was being used in an ad by Change Congress, a political group, and brought up the issues that would be raised if he did. An MSNBC spokesperson tells Mediaite no permission had been given for the ad, and says that the network has demanded that Change Congress stop running it.