Reality check: Oprah Winfrey (who else?) gets first dibs on the Garden State's former first lady, on May 1. By sheer coincidence, that's also the release date of Matos McGreevey's memoir, Silent Partner, about her marriage to a closeted gay man.
Back to the morning wars.
"I don't think we were even interested in it," says Today executive producer Jim Bell of the Matos McGreevey interview.
"I don't consider her to be the story now," says Steve Friedman, head of CBS's morning news broadcasts.
Au contraire, mes freres, says ABC's Jeffrey Schneider, ever ready with a round from his verbal Uzi.
"Those guys should check with their bookers, who were making every conceivable effort to interview Dina," Schneider says. "Perhaps the heads of those shows don't know what their own troops are doing.
"Everybody has heard from Jim McGreevey. I think it will be fascinating to hear from the woman who stood by his side, holding his hand, as he told the world he was gay."
Today won the morning battle for Mr. McGreevey in September, at the start of his media tour to promote his tell-all tome, The Confession. (Oprah was his first stop. Naturally.)
"Since we had him exclusively in the morning, we were sure she would do the other guys," says Today's Bell. "Obviously, we were aware it [Matos McGreevey] was something we needed to be thinking about."
Says CBS's Friedman: "You have to decide what you're going for and what you're not. We went after him and didn't get him. She may be a compelling interview, who knows? I'm sure Diane will do a good job."
McGreevey, who lives in Plainfield, N.J., with his partner, Australian money manager Mark O'Donnell, recently filed for divorce. He also filed for custody and child support for Jacqueline, his 5-year-old daughter with Matos McGreevey.
