Brian Stelter. (Photo via Facebook.)

Last week was quite a whirlwind for New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter. Top of The Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, his look at the world of morning television, hit shelves, and Mr. Stelter found himself in the potentially awkward situation of appearing as a guest on morning shows to talk about a book about morning shows.

At press time, Mr. Stelter had done around 20 media appearances, with more scheduled. He was on Morning Edition, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, CNN’s Early Start, Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. Revelations were sprinkled throughout the tabloids and on the cover of Us Weekly, which featured a smiling photo of Ann Curry in a yellow cardigan, arms defiantly resting on her hips, with the headline “Stabbed in the Back: They called her ‘Big Bird’ and plotted to get rid of her. How Ann Curry’s coworkers tortured her and why she won’t forgive Matt Lauer.” 

“I feel the same way a morning producer feels at 9 a.m.—proud of my work, happy that people have seen it for themselves and dog-tired,” Mr. Stelter told Off the Record over the weekend.

Although The New York Times Magazine ran a cover story the weekend before the book came out on some of the juicier elements about Ms. Curry’s ouster and the drama with Matt Lauer behind the scenes, the newspaper itself panned the book in a review

“Brian Stelter’s book on the nefarious network morning show wars ends up being like a breakfast made not quite to order,” veteran television critic Ed Bark wrote. “The eggs over easy have one hard yolk, and the bacon’s a little limp. The toast is well-buttered but burned, and the coffee’s short on heat. Edible? Yes. Fulfilling? Not quite.”

Mr. Bark then took the reporter to task for his use of metaphor, which, when comparing a book to breakfast in the opening of a review, seemed a tad unfair.

“It’s a breezy read with more than a little overblown prose, some of it just plain silly,” Mr. Bark continued, noting that the author, at 27, still has “ample time really to get the hang of this.”

“I expected a tough review,” Mr. Stelter told OTR. “If it had been glowing, readers would have rolled their eyes.”

Tough review or not, it did little to quell the celebration. Mr. Stelter’s girlfriend, NY1 traffic reporter Jamie Shupak, organized a book party at The Park in Chelsea. (The book is dedicated to Mr. Stelter’s parents and to Ms. Shupak: “For Jamie, my love, who makes every morning a good one.” Of course, Ms. Shupak is usually at the NY1 studios before dawn to report on traffic conditions.)

Sunlight streamed through the large windows, making it difficult to see the media people, drinks in hand, who stood with their backs to the view of the High Line.

“You know, Jamie was the social director of her sorority,” Mr. Stelter told OTR. We didn’t doubt it. The bubbly brunette, in a lime green minidress, acted every bit the hostess, posing for pictures and thanking people for coming. In keeping with the theme, the dessert table featured chocolate cakes shaped like miniature TV sets and peanut butter balls shaped like tiny suns.

“Matt Lauer and Ann Curry send their regrets,” joked Mr. Stelter, before thanking both his and Ms. Shupak’s moms and a host of editors and colleagues, many of whom were in the room.

“The hardest part was putting together a guest list,” Ms. Shupak said, explaining that she had to keep adding people at the last minute. But Ms. Shupak evidently did a good job. In addition to her family and his, there was a strong Times contingent: Michael Grynbaum, Michael Barbaro, Christine Haughney, Dave Itzkoff, Julie Bloom, Stephanie Clifford, Julie Bosman and Bill Carter all seemed relaxed despite a Politico hit piece on executive editor Jill Abramson’s tenure that ran earlier in the week. Bloggers, television execs and NY1 hosts rounded out the list.

Out on the balcony, media reporter David Carr smoked a cigarette in the setting sun while talking to a friend of Ms. Shupak’s mom.

As we were leaving, NY1’s Pat Kiernan reminded us to grab a copy of the book. They were almost gone.

Jamie Shupak puts on makeup. (Photo: Racked).

Ever wonder what NY1's traffic reporter (and Brian Stelter gf) Jamie Shupak does before she goes on air? Well, Racked NY, the shopping and beauty blog owned by Curbed Network, made a video of Ms. Shupak's early morning routine at the DIY station, where the one-man-band ethos extends to hair and makeup.

Starting at the ungodly hour of 4:11 a.m., the preternaturally perky Ms. Shupak puts in some visine, rubs some Nars eye cream around her eyes, and rims them in black eyeliner. Ms. Shupak switches up her eyeshadow color ("our biggest and most exciting decision of the day--which eyeshadow to wear") and smooths out her foundation and bronzer with a moist sponge.

Of course, TV changes thing: in real life, Ms. Shupak says she uses half as much makeup and more bronzer because she is naturally pale. Also, nothing too sparkly or shiny because otherwise it looks like she's sweating and that's "not cute." A quick curl with a curling iron (but no hairspray--just shampoo and conditioner) and some lipgloss, and Ms. Shupak is ready to report the traffic conditions and banter with morning anchor Pat Kiernan.

We emailed Racked NY's associate editor Tiffany Yannetta about Backstage Beauty, the new feature which debuted two weeks ago.

"As of now we don't have any plans to profile other anchors, but we're open to it! We'll be rolling the feature out frequently with other NYC based performers and personalities," Ms. Yannetta wrote back. "And we chose Jamie basically because she's awesome, and of course a great anchor."

Video below:

Photo credit: Huffington Post.

The Huffington Post Home vertical took us inside the magical, DIY home of everyone's favorite media couple--New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter and NY1's traffic reporter Jamie Shupak.

When Michelle Manetti, HuffPo Home's associate editor, first met Ms. Shupak at a crafting event (side note: what's a "crafting event"?), she was told that the traffic reporter had an amazing way with the home crafts. But she had to see it to believe it. And a tour of the West Village apartment that Ms. Shupak shares with Mr. Stelter convinced her. Ms. Manetti's 18 picture slideshow convinced us that...um, they have a very nice place, thanks to Ms. Shupak's craftiness and Mr. Stelter's "trusting" personality.

"It also doesn’t hurt that Shupak pretty much has free rein over the decorative decisions. When the couple first moved in to the space right after Labor Day, the few items Stelter kept with him included his televisions, computer chair and the dinning room table," Ms. Manetti wrote. "But even the table was turned into a project when Shupak decided to buy new legs and install them herself. 'He is so, so trusting,' Shupak gushes."

So what tidbits did we learn about the Stelter/Shupak household?

• They live in a nice building with an actual lobby: "As we walked through the amazing lobby, which had all those great old New York City details (deep jewel-toned colors, classic traditional furniture and flattering lighting) we wondered if the home would retain the same appeal."
• They have a bedroom: "The loft apartment allows for adequate sleeping space."
• Their office desk was "originally from a medical institution." (The caption fails to note what type of institution).
• They blew up and framed iPhone photos.
• Ms. Shupak's grandmother's perfume tray makes for a nice candle and terrarium holder.
• They have a chalkboard-painted wall where they scribble hastags (can't take that guy off Twitter, can you?).
• They found a construction sign on their first date.
• The living room is "bright, airy and funky."
• Judging from a three quarter empty bottle on their liquor stand, their scotch of choice is Johnny Walker Black.
• An artistic rendering of the subway map was bought in honor of Ms. Shupak's job as a traffic reporter.
• Ms. Shupak saw a crazy expensive lamp at ABC carpets and made one herself for way less money out of plumbing supplies.
• They called their apartment "The Lovenest" in a chalk welcome to HuffPo.
• They have roof access!

And now, home decor mostly accomplished, they are ready to turn their attention to entertaining: "Though [Ms.] Shupak still has a desire to be creative while most of their home is complete, the two are now focusing on hosting fabulous dinner parties."

We await the post on their DIY hors d'oeuvres.

Housewife de Lesseps.

Don’t let the warm weather fool you, we are officially in Fall season mode. You can always tell the changing of the seasons by the changing of the leaves, or at least by the changing of the hair colors of The Real Housewives of New York—which we anticipate will take place any day now in some of the city’s higher end hair care establishments as LuAnn de Lesseps and Ramona Singer reap the rewards of their cast-off cast members by doubling their salary. The two will now be getting $500,000 each to throw champagne in each other’s faces. Who says that there are no high-paying jobs anymore? Rather unbelievably, fellow New Yorkers, these are the 1%.

Meanwhile, the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who are some heretofore undetermined percentage of the remaining 99%, have moved on to their fourth consecutive week in the hospitable lodgings of Zuccotti Park. Mayor Bloomberg changed his tune about the city’s newest attraction, saying that the protesters were welcome to stay in the park as long as they liked. (Which, he’s hoping, will not extend past November’s first frost.)

The cooling temperature could also be a good excuse for city-dweller Beyonce, whose baby-bump seemingly collapsed during an interview with an Australian TV show this week, fueling speculation that she was just using the padding... as insulation for her real baby, due in February! It was an embarrassing faux-pas for the Harper’s Bazaar cover celeb, who spent her profile in this month’s glossy talking about her pregnancy. The reception was, shall we say, icy.

Other places where the chill factor drops to below zero? The New York Times, where a memo circulated reminding staffers to report any speaking engagements where they received more than $5,000. We’re still trying to guess the blind item on who failed to ask “pretty please,” but if we had to take a guess, we’re going with Jill Abramson pocketing extra scratch by talking up cute puppies during a secret Westminster semi-final event. Perhaps she could join up with New Yorker’s Susan Orlean, who held her book party for Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend at The Kennel Club.

And really, is there a quicker route to fame and fortune than writing a book about dogs? Sure: just be the perkiest thing at 4:30 in the morning (without the use of recreational stimulants). We assume that’s the reason that NY1’s traffic reporter Jamie Shupak was profiled in The New York Times this weekend under the title “A Star Is Born.” We have nothing against Ms. Shupak, who we recently named one of New York Media’s most eligible bachelorettes, but the bar for stardom must have dropped a bit closer to sea level if you can reach it now by reporting construction delays on the BQE. (That or Times headline writers have been using recreational stimulants.)

Then again, we’re not sure where the stardom bar is anymore anyway. Elizabeth Olsen, who took a break from NYU classes to premiere her breakout feature, Martha Marcy May Marlene, at the New Yorker Film Festival, seems to be eclipsing both of her famous twin sisters. The bar there, for thespianism at least, is somewhere in the Dead Sea basin range, but the Other Olson seems to doing well critically. You never know what Autumn will bring.