Paris really was burning, almost

A lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the symbol of television journalism’s guilt trip about Paris Hilton.

Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton’s release from jail on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.

Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than 2 million people have watched a clip of the incident online, around 10 times the number who watched it live on TV.

“Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we’re tired of pretending this is important,” Brzezinski says. “We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don’t believe this is news. They can’t. They can’t think we’re that dumb.”

Brzezinski, who left CBS News last year, has been working as a news-reader and on-air foil for Joe Scarborough on the show MSNBC is trying out to replace Don Imus in the morning.

Hours after Hilton’s June 26 catwalk to freedom, Scarborough and Brzezinski discussed one of the day’s other big stories at their show’s opening: influential Republican Sen. Richard Lugar‘s declaration that President Bush’s Iraq strategy wasn’t working.

It was then Brzezinski’s turn to sum up the day’s news. She looked down at her script, and Hilton was the top story. She froze.

“I could not get through the first three words without crumbling,” she said. “My skin was crawling. This was our lead? On a day like this?

“To me, it was just the ultimate Paris Hilton out-of-control moment. We’ve gone too far, and we’ve got to stop. That was all real. There was nothing planned about that, and I believe we got a little snappy.”

Brzezinski attempted to set the script ablaze at one point, then sent it through a shredder borrowed from network chief Dan Abrams‘ office.

In the days since, she’s received more than a thousand e-mails, and was named “woman of the week” by a British Web site. She’s been invited to address a media symposium in Scotland.

The New Zealand Herald hailed her: “Deliberate or not, there is no denying the incident struck a chord with viewers the world over. When it comes to Paris, we’ve all had enough.”

It may be a coincidence, but three days after the incident MSNBC told Brzezinski that she’ll have a regular hour to anchor the news each morning.

Brzezinski, daughter of Carter administration national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, said that after her initial annoyance, she and Scarborough were really just mocking themselves.

But if that makes people think about Hilton coverage, so much the better, she says.

“It’s not like I’ll never cover a Paris Hilton story again, and it’s not like I’m never going to listen to my producer again,” Brzezinski says.

“But that day, that story as the lead was just preposterous. It made me feel stupid.”

The birthday bunch

Actor-singer Ruben Blades is 59. Drummer Stewart Copeland (The Police) is 55. Dancer Michael Flatley is 49. Actress Phoebe Cates is 44. Country singer Craig Morgan is 43. Actor Will Ferrell is 40. Actress Rain Pryor (“Head of the Class”) is 38. Actor Corey Feldman is 36. Singer-guitarist Ed Kowalczyk (Live) is 36. Actor Mark Indelicato (“Ugly Betty”) is 13.