REPORTING LIVE FROM THE TAMPA CONVENTION CENTER'S RADIO ROW—Just moments ago, the political world's axis tilted directly towards the second floor of the Tampa Convention Center, near the back doors, where onetime pizza restaurateur Herman Cain delivered a scorching call for truth to the assembled voracious media scrum.

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan addressed the RNC tonight. There wasn't any lipstick on his teeth, but he did possibly bend the truth a little.

New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti e-mailed an advance, unpublished copy of a Maureen Dowd column dealing with the CIA to an Agency spokeswoman last year, according to newly released emails obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act. Depending on whom at the Times you ask, that was either "much ado about nothing" or a "mistake that is not consistent with New York Times standards."

Whatever you do, do NOT sign up for the RNC press release list unless you love transcripts of "Remarks by [Jerk.]"

Celebration time: Day-Two-Which-Is-Actually-Day-One of the Republican Convention is now, as we speak (type), UNDERWAY in Tampa, a hot parking lot located in a swing state. We can assure you that our investigations have revealed that absolutely no one, including those in official capacities, know where the fuck they are supposed to go right now. Here are a few of the most crucial "insider" factoids that you will need to know about this vital U.S. political institution going forward:

I will now cover the 2012 Republican National Convention in the style of noted New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. The following reporting is 100% real.

All of the news on CNN this morning was about Hurricane Isaac. On NBC, too. And Fox News, for the most part. Yes, the storm has already screwed the Republican convention in so very many ways. But here today, in (sunny!) Tampa, as journalists stream into our media holding pen like so many wayward Katrina refugees, comes the final indignity: this pseudoevent threatens to be completely upstaged by a real event.

The second floor of the Tampa Convention Center is home to the Republican Convention's "Radio Row," the very EPICENTER of America's news and talk radio industry for the next four days. And just as exciting as it sounds. Who is on radio row? Let's see.

Rupert Murdoch knows a thing or two about invading other people's privacy, so maybe we should take his words to heart when he says to give Prince Harry a break.

This business of ours, the blog business, is not "easy." Bloggers must have the agile minds and exquisite judgment necessary to survey all the news of the day, decide what is important and why, and bring readers along on a journey towards understanding.

New York Post headline: "Press pussies soft on O." The Post itself is rock hard.

Grady Newsource has released some (rather unclear) video of the "scuffle on the ground" that interrupted a recent meeting at the University of Georgia's Red and Black newspaper headquarters.

Yesterday, the editorial staff of a student newspaper from the University of Georgia resigned from their positions after a memo appeared to reveal, among other, more bizarre assertions that a non-student director would be given final say over the paper's content.

The student editorial staff of the University of Georgia's Red & Black newspaper resigned Wednesday after receiving a draft of a completely insane memo on behalf of a member of the paper's Board of Directors.

If bad newspaper columnist Frank Bruni ever decides to take his milquetoast musings to a new industry, he should consider becoming the guy who writes the little inspirational slogans that appear on marketing materials inside the Coca-Cola— Pavilion at the Olympic Games™. He's already had his tryout!

A couple of weeks ago, hot shot New Yorker wonderboy Jonah Lehrer was forced to resign after he was revealed to have fabricated Bob Dylan quotes in his book Imagine. Remember that? Yeah. It was in all the newspapers and websites and radio stations and whatnot. The only place the news did not reach: deepest, coolest, fauxhemian Brooklyn. (And Manhattan. "Brooklyn" is just a brand name.)

"World Class Entrepreneur" Bob Thomas world class plagiarized his Nevada Appeal newspaper column today.

Barry Eisler, a former CIA agent turned novelist, has put forth a handy checklist that journalists can use to determine just how co-opted they have become by the very powers over which they are supposed to be serving as a watchdog. It can help any reporter decide just how far down the road to hackdom they've traveled so far. It's like one of those online personality tests, but it tells you exclusively how much of a sellout you are.

Once upon a time long ago, blogs were criticized for making us all more narcissistic and self-obsessed. Then, of course, Twitter came along. And now, the fabled "third wall" of self-referentiality has been breached: a lengthy blog post pondering the implications of a writer's retweet of a tweet about the writer's writing. Tell me: what do you think—about me?

About 8 years ago, while in the midst of his book promotional tour after he was caught fabricating and plagiarizing quotes for the New York Times, I did an email interview with Jayson Blair. At the time, this was a great get for a website called The Black Table and our media interview series, even though Blair was trying to sell his book and had pretty much accepted any request without hesitation.