On Thursday morning’s Fox and Friends, Eric Bolling asked why bombshell revelations from the Jodi Kantor book The Obamas, like supposed tension between the East and West Wing and the Secret Halloween Party That Wasn’t A Secret, were “not exposed by the White House press corps.”

Fox News contributor Andrea Tantaros‘ diagnosis: “most reporters” are “lazy and liberal.”

ABC News’s Jake Tapper took White House Press Secretary Jay Carney to task over a comment Vice President Joe Biden made to Newsweek, saying “the Taliban per se is not our enemy.” Tapper asked if the language Biden used was regrettable. “if taken out of context.” “It’s only regrettable when taken out of context that I just explained,” Carney responded.

Before today’s White House daily briefing, I spoke to several reporters from conservative publications about the chatter surrounding a potential Chris Christie presidential run. They each shared their thoughts on why it is that Christie won’t run, so I thought I’d also get a liberal perspective from my Professional Left colleague, Bill Press. While he agreed with our conservative friends, his reasoning was comically succinct: “He’s too fat!”

Before today’s White House daily briefing, I found myself surrounded by something of a Holy Trinity of Conservative Media, so it seemed like a good time to ask them what they thought of the chatter surrounding NJ Gov. Chris Christie‘s possible (if unlikely) entry into the 2012 Republican presidential field. John Gizzi from Human Events, Fred Lucas from CNS News, and Les Kinsolving from World Net Daily all responded to the question “Will he, and should he?” with a resounding negatory.

What good is being a guy people want to have a beer with, if you’re not allowed to have a beer with them? According to pool reports, President Obama had to scuttle plans to drink with White House reporters and staffers Tuesday night, during the Iowa leg of his bus tour, when the Secret Service got wind of the idea. The President apologized to reporters on Air Force One, and joked that he hoped Press Secretary Jay Carney picked up the tab, or at least paid for his own drinks.

At Wednesday’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that this afternoon’s debt ceiling meeting with Congressional leaders would be restricted to a still only “pool spray” at the top of the meeting, and closed to reporters. Carney complained that the last time reporters had been allowed in one of these meetings, they had shouted questions at the President. The response didn’t sit well with CBS News’ Chip Reid, so he, and several others, challenged Carney on the media shutout.

During President Obama‘s press conference today in which he addressed yesterday’s federal budget presentation, the tone turned a tad contentious between the President and reporters in attendance. The normally cool and calm Obama seemed frustrated with the suggestion made by NBC News’ Chuck Todd that the administration was ignoring recent bipartisan goodwill to effectively cut deficit spending. Obama bristled while calling the press corps “impatient.”

The White House press corps is home to several proficient and prolific Twitter users, but there’s only one White House correspondent who has made his Twitter bones without the aid of a tether to the dinosaur media, or even to the baby dinosaur medium of blogging: West Wing Report‘s Paul Brandus, whose indispensable tweets have made him a leading vote-getter for the 2011 Shorty Journalism Award. The Twailblazer™ has kindly agreed to answer our 5 Quick Questions, in between tweets.

The recent appointment of former Time magazine reporter Jay Carney as White House Press Secretary has already spawned an effort to discredit Carney, and his former colleagues, by right-wing media watchdog Newsbusters. The right’s answer to Media Matters has released what it calls a “Media Bias Dossier” on Carney, but at eight quotes in a twenty-year career, it’s pretty thin gruel. It might also surprise Newsbusters to know that libeeral watchdog Media Matters has an even thicker “dossier” on Carney, and that Redstate’s Erick Erickson is among Carney’s biggest fans.

As former Time magazine reporter Jay Carney emerges from the Office of the Vice President into the glaring spotlight of White House Press Secretary, there will undoubtedly be an effort to capitalize on the right’s contempt for mainstream journalism by demonizing Carney, and his former colleagues, in one fell swoop.

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh provided the blueprint for this effort back in 2006, when he offhandedly slammed Carney and his wife, ABC News National Correspondent Claire Shipman, as “slave-owner and husband.” (h/t Media Matters)

The announcement of Jay Carney as successor to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has ended weeks of speculation, but raises questions about how Carney will take to his new post, and it to him. In exclusive comments to Mediaite, members of the White House Press Corps expressed optimism about Carney’s tenure, and identified possible challenges for the new Press Secretary, including his own status as a former journalist, his relative distance from the Obama administration’s inner circle, and his boyish good looks.

After several weeks of speculation that began with current White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ announcement that he is leaving the White House in February, a successor to Gibbs has finally been named. According to several news sources, including ABC News’ Jake Tapper, White House sources confirm that the new Press Secretary will be Vice President [...]

Last August, Mediaite reported that Helen Thomas‘ nameplate had disappeared from her famous front-row-center seat in the White House briefing room. At the time, sources within the White House Correspondents Association and the White House press office were baffled about the disappearance. Tuesday night, however, the iconic nameplate was back in its old spot, affixed to the front row seat that now belongs to the Associated Press.

Since White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced his imminent (early February) departure from the White House, speculation about his replacement has centered around Gibbs deputies Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, and Vice President Biden’s Press Secretary, Jay Carney. After today’s White House briefing, I tried to get a sense of where things stand by [...]

With the announcement Wednesday morning that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will soon be moving on to a role outside the White House, the next big question is: Who will succeed him? There have been a few names kicked around, but the smart money is on Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, and with the [...]

As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to take stock of the year that was, and since we in the White House press corps might not have him around much longer, I think it’s important to look back on Year Two of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs‘ tenure. While it was a bumpy year for the Obama administration, Gibbs was out there every day, taking the heat and giving some back. As a fourth-row witness to Gibbs’ tumultuous year, here are my selections for the Top Ten Robert Gibbs Moments of 2010.

Despite a rough year for the Obama administration, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has managed to keep it light in the daily White House briefings, according to Mediaite’s research. Sure, we’ve kidded Politico in the past for its laughter-measuring ways, but why should that stop us from doing the exact same thing? Now when someone says of Robert Gibbs, “That guy is a million laughs,” you can authoritatively respond, “Actually, he’s 987 laughs. This year.”

The now famous press conference President Obama handed over to former President Bill Clinton is the source material for another very funny video from the Taiwanese animators over at NMA News. No one is safe from ridicule here as Obama is trampled by a Republican elephant, Clinton is summoned by a Playboy bunny signal in the sky, and even soon-to-be Speaker of the House John Boehner gets laughed at for crying during his 60 Minutes interview.

Some days, it might not seem like it, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has proven, once again, that he has the White House press corps’ backs. When Indian security officials tried to restrict press access to an event yesterday, Gibbs not only threatened to pull President Obama from the event, he even offered to let them break his foot!

An important part of Mediaite’s coverage of the White House press corps has been taking you behind the scenes to find out what makes the Grillers of Gibbs tick, but what about the men and women behind the cameras? In the most recent installment of his Political Punch web series, ABC News’ Jake Tapper put cameraman Chris Carlson front and center to pull back the curtain on what it’s like to go to work every day in a piece of living history.

The result is a brief, yet illuminating, slice of White House working life.

Some have suggested that President Obama has neither the political capital nor will to see the termination of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” through, which was the topic of conversation during today’s White House Press conference. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dealt with a rather aggressive set of questions over the Obama Administration’s handling of the political hot potato. Gibbs did reaffirm his statement from the weekend in which he proclaimed that the controversial policy would end under Obama.

On the heels of reports that the Democratic National Committee is eyeballing Robert Gibbs as the next DNC chairman, the White House Press Secretary fielded a volley of questions on the subject at today’s White House briefing. Accustomed to the wiggle room that Gibbs often builds in to his responses, reporters pressed Gibbs, amid laughter, to nail down his denial. He ably complied, responding that he has had no talks with anyone, anywhere, regarding the DNC chairmanship, and that he’s happy where he is.

It appears that Rahm Emanuel‘s White House exit may be one of the first in a series for the Obama administration. According to Politico, the Democratic Party is looking into leadership negotiations that could land current DNC chairman Tim Kaine in the White House and spokesman Robert Gibbs in the Party’s top post.

Ever wonder what would happen if someone live-tweeted their own heart attack? Neither did I, until I was actually having one. Once I did, it was an irresistible notion, an inversion of the social media update-as-trivia curve, and an opportunity for a pitch-black meta joke.

The story caught on, becoming a worldwide sensation, and I didn’t die. Here’s what else happened in between, and what I learned.

Mediaite’s White House and Political Reporter Tommy Christopher is in stable condition after recovering from emergency surgery last night brought about from a major heart attack he suffered yesterday around 5:00 p.m. In Tommy’s inimitable style, he reported on his heart attack via his own Twitter feed, while being rushed to a New Jersey hospital in the back of an ambulance, writing “I gotta be me. Livetweeting my heart attack. Beat that!”