Obama Dog Scoop Proves TMZ's a DC Player

When TMZ got the poop on the Obamas' new dog, it sent a message to Washington: The celebrity gossip site has arrived. TMZ, co-owned by AOL, has scored exclusives before—like the photo of Rihanna’s bruised face and the report of Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant—but Bo's arrival was the first big get for its year-old Washington bureau, Time reports. And it could be the tip of the iceberg.

TMZ came to Washington chasing the glamor of Obama and his A-list pals like Oprah, but once there began trying to “create personalities,” co-founder Harvey Levin said. That makes legislators fair game for the celebrity-gossip treatment. “It’s a lower level of covering politics,” Levin says, but “I think it’ll bring people in that never had an interest before.” (More TMZ stories.)