Dan Gross: The Bykofsky-Olbermann tiff

A TESTY E-MAIL exchange between

Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky and MSNBC blowhard Keith Olbermann that was reported online yesterday was actually an exchange between Byko and an Olbermann imposter.

Bykofsky wrote columns critical of Olbermann on Thursday and again Monday after the left-leaning cable host was suspended for making political contributions to Democratic candidates, in violation of NBC News policy.

Bykofsky wrote to Keith@KeithOlbermann. com for comment and received a reply Monday in which "Olbermann" challenged Bykofsky's journalistic chops. Byko replied and the conversation, which escalated into a respectful argument, was first reported on Phawker.com and later picked up by several media blogs. Not too much later, the real Olbermann took to Twitter to say that Bykofsky and readers had been duped.

"If you see a supposed email exchange between me and somebody named Bykofsky @PhillyDailyNews - complete fake. Email address shown not mine," wrote Olbermann about 3:30 p.m. Sure enough, it turns out that KeithOlbermann.com is a parody Olbermann site run by former MSNBC host and Olbermann foe Tucker Carlson of TheDailyCaller.com.

"Sure, I'm embarrassed that a private exchange somehow got out, but when Wikileaks gets Pentagon secrets, I'm not shocked," Bykofsky said yesterday.

"It was a clever practical joke that caught me, even as I made an honest attempt to reach Olbermann for comment.

"Fortunately, no actual harm was done to anyone, although I have a small concern that the bosses here may suspend me without pay for the weekend," he joked.

"But I'll be back in the paper tomorrow, as I usually am on Thursdays," he said.

In other People Paper news . . .

Pulitzer Prize-winning Daily News reporters Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman have gotten a publisher, HarperCollins, for their book, "Midnight in the City of Brotherly Love."

The book is about the duo's discovery and reporting on the "Tainted Justice" series about Philly police corruption.

Ruderman says the book, which was sold at auction by literary agent Larry Weissman, is due to the publisher Nov. 1, 2011, and should be released at some point in 2012.

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