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Michael Calderone
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Michael Calderone is the Senior Media Reporter for The Huffington Post. He previously covered media and politics for Politico, the New York Observer, and Yahoo! News. Calderone holds a master's degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's degree in English from Rutgers University. He lives in Brooklyn.

Blog Entries by Michael Calderone

CNN Sets Stage For Final GOP Debate Before Super Tuesday

25 Comments | Posted February 22, 2012 | 02/22/12 05:15 PM ET

NEW YORK -- The Republican candidates saw a lot of each other in January, with six debates crammed into a frenetic 19-day stretch. But after leaving the stage in Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 26, the candidates -- and political press corps -- split up and each campaign followed its...

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Iran Nuclear Coverage Echoes Iraq War Media Frenzy

6305 Comments | Posted February 17, 2012 | 02/17/12 08:29 AM ET

NEW YORK -- Military strikes expected! Weapons inspectors called in! A murky al Qaeda connection! And Cheney says time's up for Ira...

Wait. Haven't we seen this movie before?

It's already been a decade since the media hyped bogus WMD claims prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq....

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Conservatives At CPAC Search For The Right's Woodward And Bernstein

1823 Comments | Posted February 13, 2012 | 02/13/12 12:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- While Republican candidates score points slamming the media from the stump, prominent conservatives, gathered in Washington D.C. for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, were busy encouraging young attendees to pursue journalism.

Several conservatives, in interviews and on CPAC panels, said that young, right-leaning journalists have...

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CBS' Sharyl Attkisson Skips CPAC Awards Ceremony After Controversy

226 Comments | Posted February 9, 2012 | 02/09/12 05:32 PM ET

CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson did not attend Accuracy in Media's awards ceremony Thursday at CPAC, following days of questions from outlets like Politico and the Washington Post over her decision to accept an award from the conservative organization.

AIM editor Roger Aronoff, who described...

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GOP Primary Show: Non-Stop News And Noise In The Age Of Twitter

2436 Comments | Posted February 7, 2012 | 02/07/12 12:00 PM ET

Last week, Jon Ralston, a veteran Las Vegas Sun columnist, dared reporters to ignore Donald Trump's unveiling of his presidential endorsement -- with low expectations about how that might play out.

"I suggest media boycott of @RealDonaldTrump event in Vegas," Ralston tweeted. "Anyone with me? That's what I...

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Sarah Palin Assigned Newsweek Trig Essay Just Weeks After Blasting Mag

1467 Comments | Posted February 5, 2012 | 02/05/12 01:32 PM ET

NEW YORK -- When Newsweek published Andrew Sullivan's cover story three weeks ago with the provocative headline "Why Are Obama's Critics So Dumb?," former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin quickly took the magazine to task on Twitter.

"Newsweek: know what's truly 'dumb'?" Palin tweeted. "Giving a...

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State Of The Union 2012: News Anchors Lunch With Obama

38 Comments | Posted January 24, 2012 | 01/24/12 04:06 PM ET

NEW YORK -- President Obama sat down with several news anchors on Tuesday to preview his State of the Union speech, an annual tradition that's lasted through several presidencies amid a changing media landscape.

While the pre-SOTU lunch is off the record, it provides the president with...

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CNN Will Allow Applause At Jacksonville Debate; No 'Shouting Or Booing'

161 Comments | Posted January 24, 2012 | 01/24/12 01:33 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Newt Gingrich won't have to worry about the audience being completely quiet during Thursday's debate in Jacksonville, the final primetime face-off before the Jan. 31 Florida primary.

CNN allows the audience to applaud the candidates, but in a statement to The Huffington Post, a...

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Tom Curley, Associated Press President And CEO, To Retire

51 Comments | Posted January 23, 2012 | 01/23/12 07:50 AM ET

NEW YORK -- Tom Curley, the top executive at the Associated Press, told staff Monday that the "moment has come for AP to begin a transition to a new leader."

Curley, who holds the titles of president and CEO, said in a letter that he will retire this year and...

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South Carolina Primary: Mitt Romney Press Corps Rankled By Travel, Access Mishaps

257 Comments | Posted January 20, 2012 | 01/20/12 10:31 AM ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Mitt Romney campaign, renowned for its discipline and rigorous advance planning operation, has rankled some in the press corps after a handful of travel and access snafus in recent days.

Since Wednesday, campaign reporters have been left behind at the Greenville airport, scolded...

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CNN Defends Debate Schedule In Gearing Up For 17th Contest

292 Comments | Posted January 19, 2012 | 01/19/12 05:34 PM ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Washington bureau chief Sam Feist got a call Thursday morning that would not only shake up the Republican primary but lead to some last-minute tweaks before CNN's prime-time debate.

CNN reporter Peter Hamby notified Feist that Rick Perry was dropping out of the race,

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2012 GOP Primary: How The Media Shaped Mitt Romney's 'Inevitable' Narrative In Iowa

139 Comments | Posted January 19, 2012 | 01/19/12 12:11 PM ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Mitt Romney won the Iowa Caucus by eight votes over Rick Santorum, according to reports by every news organization on Jan. 4.

Now two weeks later, there's a different story: Santorum is ahead of Romney by 34 votes in the just-certified count, with...

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ABC Insider: Marianne Gingrich Interview Likely To Air Before Primary; Gingrich Daughters Respond

13538 Comments | Posted January 18, 2012 | 01/18/12 08:35 PM ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Drudge Report began teasing political reporters Wednesday that a network's holding a "bombshell campaign interview." And soon, Drudge revealed that the network in question, ABC, had conducted a two-hour interview with Marianne Gingrich, ex-wife of Newt Gingrich, that may not run until after the...

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Associated Press North Korea Bureau Opens As First All-Format News Office In Pyongyang

96 Comments | Posted January 16, 2012 | 01/16/12 10:11 AM ET

NEW YORK -- When Associated Press executives and journalists attempted to open a North Korean bureau last month, they arrived in Pyongyang just hours after the death of Kim Jong Il.

AP journalists hit the ground running and provided text and photos of the historic time inside...

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Chris Hughes, Facebook Co-Founder, Interested In Buying The New Republic

1431 Comments | Posted January 12, 2012 | 01/12/12 05:48 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is a candidate to buy the New Republic, according to sources familiar with the matter. A deal has not yet been reached.

While Hughes has made his fortune in the tech world, the 28-year-old is no stranger to politics. He worked as director...

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New Republic For Sale, But Buyers Aren't Lining Up

72 Comments | Posted January 11, 2012 | 01/11/12 05:00 PM ET

NEW YORK -- The New Republic is on the market once again. But so far, its unclear if any media companies are interested in buying the influential, albeit unprofitable, Beltway political magazine.

"I looked at this a while ago and decided to pass," New York Observer owner Jared Kushner...

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Restless Press Corps, Expecting Romney Win, Can't Wait For South Carolina

51 Comments | Posted January 10, 2012 | 01/10/12 04:48 PM ET

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Politico's Mike Allen sounded a bit existential Monday night during a media panel at Saint Anselm College. "Why are we here?" he asked ABC's Jonathan Karl.

Allen was talking about reporting from New Hampshire rather than South Carolina, the upcoming primary race expected to...

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Republican Debate Marathon Continues With NBC News/Facebook Face-Off

129 Comments | Posted January 7, 2012 | 01/07/12 09:03 PM ET

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- After leaving Saturday night's debate, the Republican presidential candidates will return to their hotels and sleep for a few hours. Then it's back to the stage.

Just ten hours after wrapping up in Manchester, all six candidates will meet again nearly 20 miles north in Concord. And...

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ABC News Debate Producer Rick Kaplan: 'This Is Do Or Die'

346 Comments | Posted January 7, 2012 | 01/07/12 02:10 PM ET

CONCORD, N.H. -- Rick Kaplan, producer for Saturday's ABC News/Yahoo/WMUR debate, says he doesn't "remember a debate that has as much on the line as this one."

That's quite a statement coming from Kaplan, a network veteran and former cable news president who has worked on presidential debates since 1972....

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Mitt Romney Campaign Not Surprised Boston Globe Endorsed Jon Huntsman

44 Comments | Posted January 6, 2012 | 01/06/12 11:40 AM ET

NEW YORK -- By endorsing Jon Huntsman in the Republican primary on Thursday night, the Boston Globe has once again chosen an alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

In 2008 the paper's editorial board went with Sen. John McCain, who this time around is...

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