“Not Prestigious Enough” For Hume

Washingtonian magazine’s “50 Best & Most Influential Journalists” features a big photo of “behind-the-scenes players — D.C.-based editors and executives who ‘set the news agenda.'”

“Most agreed to pose for the group picture, save for a few with scheduling conflicts,” WP’s Reliable Source says.

But Fox News VP and bureau chief Kim Hume declined. Editor at large Garrett Graff (also of FishbowlDC fame) “told our colleague Howard Kurtz (yeah, he’s on the list, too) that when the mag approached Fox, spokesman Paul Schur at first showed interest. But after learning who else was in the lineup, Schur told Graff the crowd wasn’t ‘prestigious enough’ for Hume.

Among the less-lofty TV types in the pic: just-a-producer Tammy Haddad of MSNBC, just-a-bureau-chief David Bohrmann of CNN, and just-a-political-director Elizabeth Wilner of NBC. Graff said he sent Hume an e-mail pleading his case and that she agreed to join the photo shoot. But she ultimately backed out, Graff said, apologizing that it was a decision by Fox.” A Fox spokesperson said the magazine is “no longer a must-read…”