On Thursday we asked you to name this spectacularly maned gentleman who showed up to The New Republic‘s relaunch party at Bibiana.

Guesses include Bloomberg‘s Al Hunt, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and former talk show host Phil Donahue.

The correct answer is… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

But Paul Ryan? He puts a spring in their step.

This morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” TIME‘s Mark Halperin spoke of what he suspects will be a shift in coverage with the Ryan choice. Granted, his remarks might cause his colleagues to avoid him on the bus and not because he forgot mouthwash. “Another constituency he has, almost every national political reporter knows Paul Ryan and likes Paul Ryan more than they do Mitt Romney and that gives Romney a little bit of an edge he was missing, which was pro-Obama in the press corps,” he said.

Sirius XM P.O.T.U.S. Channel’s Julie Mason bristled at the idea that Ryan would bring positive coverage or that journos are in the tank for Obama. “Hill reporters respect Ryan, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into more positive coverage — especially if the campaign’s posture is still limited access, few press conferences and only friendly, safe interviews,” she said this morning by email. “And the idea that the press corps is pro-Obama is frankly laughable. So 2007!”

Breitbart.com editor John Nolte, not one to go easy on the “mainstream media”, calls bullshit on Halperin’s assessment. “I’m on vacation – headed to Ryan Country for a week – my home state of Wisconsin, so I didn’t see Morning Joe (part of my vacation is from insufferable smug),” he wrote in an email. “While I’m glad Halperin was able to openly admit what I like to call The Glaringly Obvious — that the media is in the tank for Obama — I know a hustle when I hear one. Halperin is hoping that by telling us the media likes and respects Ryan and will therefore treat him with anything approaching objectivity, that the Romney-Ryan ticket and those of us in their camp will think that makes sense. Except…it’s a trap.”

Still, Bloomberg‘s Al Hunt sounded pretty chipper about the Ryan pick. “Well Joe, they say in politics that all politics is local,” he said on “Morning Joe.” “I think it’s true in journalism too. It makes it a better race. It makes it more fun to cover. Other than Chris Christie I can’t think of a more interesting choice.”

And neither can Reuter‘s political scribe Sam Youngman, who sees the pick as an illicit drug. “Yeah, this is gonna be fun. The pick just added layers of meaning and consequence to a race that was starting to feel like a horrible movie,” he said. “Ya know, like Ides of March. Now we’re standing at a train station, watching a train that’s going one of two ways – to the White House or off a cliff into a fireworks factory. Put another way, for political junkies, this is the kind of heroin that’s so good it might kill you.”

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell sounded less hooked, but nonetheless enthused. “I think it is the most exciting choice he could have made,” she said on “Morning Joe.”

And indeed, that comfort level with Ryan is there. “Paul Ryan is known to make himself generally available to reporters on Capitol Hill,” Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody said when asked for his reaction. “He doesn’t pretend to take cell phone calls when he spots journos waiting for him on his way to the House floor, so I think there is some optimism about having him on the campaign trail. (Of course, he’s never far from his iPod ear buds.)  That’s not to say journalists go easy on Paul Ryan, but the back-and-forth isn’t unsavory.”

But not all political journalists are so fired up about the Ryan choice. “Everyone loves Rob Portman,” said a longtime journalist on condition of anonymity. “He is a total leaking sieve. No one in D.C. really knows Pawlenty. Honestly, I don’t get the sense that anyone really cares about this pick. It’s neither exciting nor anti-climactic. It just sort of….sits there. Like, ‘Oh. Him. OK.’ I mean, now — Rick Perry. That would have been bold!”

Often what appeals to reporters most is the element of surprise. And for Real Clear Politics‘ political reporter Erin McPike, the Ryan pick has at least some of the elements Halperin spoke of this morning — the Press Corps’ ease with Ryan and the unexpected way the story broke. She’s hoping Ryan’s presence means media access will improve.

“It wasn’t what most reporters were expecting, so of course that makes it more exciting,” she told FishbowlDC. “Add to that how it broke – late on a Friday night, and you definitely get the press corps fired up. Paul Ryan is someone that the DC press corps has gotten to know well. We know what he listens to on his iPod when he’s walking through the Cannon tunnel, for one thing, because he talks to us. We know answers about the Ryan budget because he talks to us. And for a GOP campaign that has been inaccessible and has avoided answering specific policy questions, in some way it certainly changes the game.”

But Breitbart.com‘s Nolte is beyond skeptical.

“The media heckles and taunts Mitt Romney on sacred ground in Poland, the media reads Romney’s mind from 50 years ago so they can call him a prep school gay basher — the DAY AFTER Obama stops lying about his position on same-sex marriage,” he said. “So if Halperin thinks we’re going to in any way let our guard down now that our VP candidate is an attractive, unapologetic conservative threat to Their Precious One — I say nice try.”

Correction: The copy above initially had Hunt with WSJ. Clearly he’s Bloomberg.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The item…“Jen Psaki being feted at the Source restaurant Thursday night. The departing White House deputy communications director (headed to private sector PR) said goodbye to pals like Valerie Jarrett, Al Hunt, Norah O’Donnell, Gene Sperling, Jake Tapper, Chuck Todd and Mike Allen. All had sushi, dumplings, and a special drink in Psaki’s honor called ‘the prime directive.’”

As of today Tapper’s name is still included amongst the guests on the Sept. 23 item. We requested further comments from Tapper and WaPo‘s Amy Argetsinger. Tapper declined. Argetsinger replied, “A colleague called Jake’s concerns to our attention, and we’re investigating with the original witness to figure out what happened. I’ve since reached Jake and I believe him if he says he wasn’t there. A correction is in the works.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“For a guy my age it was really an adjustment,” Hunt, 68, mused.

He went on to joke, “I don’t want you to tell my wife that the first person I ever Tweeted was Margaret Brennan.”

So far he has tweeted 10 messages. One of which was to NBC’s Luke Russert congratulating him on his Weiner coverage: About an hour ago, he wrote, “Luke, helps my image to be associated with the crown prince of congressional reporters ! your stuff re weiner been great. luv to mom.”

Watch here. Hunt’s handle: @AlHuntDC.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Not to worry, Klein will keep his job at WaPo, as will Goldberg at the Atlantic.

Read more about the new section here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

HuffPost

The title of most ultimate of all ultimate media duos goes to ABC “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer and her husband, director Mike Nichols. In second place, Bloomberg News‘ Washington executive editor Al Hunt and PBS’ “Newshour” anchor Judy Woodruff. And, in third, host of ABC’s “This Week” Christiane Amanpour and Bloomberg‘s Jamie Rubin.

Among the couples not chosen: WaPo‘s Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, CNN contributors James Carville and Mary Matalin, CNN’s John King and Dana Bash, and Daily Beast‘s Tina Brown and her husband, former Sunday Times (London) editor Sir Harry Evans.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• NBC’s Meet the Press: Fmr. President Bill Clinton and Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.)Fmr. Secretary of State.

• ABC’s This Week: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Former President Bill Clinton, WaPo’s Michael Gerson and Republican Strategist Ed Rollins.

• CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz:  John Avlon, The Daily Beast; CNN political contributor; Craig Crawford, Congressional Quarterly; Debra Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle; Tina Brown, The Daily Beast.

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: Dan Balz of The Washington Post; Jeanne Cummings of POLITICO; John Dickerson of SLATE Magazine and CBS News; John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times.

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt: NRCC Chairman, Representative Pete Sessions. 

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria:  Noman Benotman, former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group; Chrystia Freeland, global editor-at-large for Reuters; Bernard-Henri Lévy, bestselling author; French philosopher; Kathleen Parker, co-host Parker Spitzer, syndicated columnist; Dan Senor, adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies, Council on Foreign Relations. 

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show:  Chuck Todd, NBC News Chief White House Correspondent; Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent; Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune Columnist; Gloria Borger, CNN Senior Political Analyst.

• C-SPAN’s Newsmakers: Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.  Guest reporters are Janet Adamy, Health Policy Reporter for Wall Street Journal, and Susan Heavey, Health Reporter for Reuters News Agency. 

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: Back from hiatus. Attorney General Eric Holder and House Majority Whip James Clyburn.   

•Politico’s “Turn the Table” after the jump. 

We’ll update as we get ‘em!

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The July 15 race for the at-large seat of the White House Correspondents’ Association is reaching a fevered pitch. The race has gotten so competitive that all three candidates — Politico‘s Carol Lee, Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols and WSJ‘s Laura Meckler — are being accused of a ballot box stuffing form of campaigning.

An e-mail letter circulating the past few days from the Washington Examiner‘s White House correspondent and WHCA at-large board member Julie Mason says all three candidates have been making sure that reporters and editors from their own publications get signed up for the WHCA to garner more votes.

Among those who have signed up in the course of the election: Bloomberg’s Al Hunt is now a member, as are Politico’s top Editors, Jim VandeHei and John Harris. WSJ‘s Gerald Seib is also now a member.

Sources tell FishbowlDC that each candidate has signed up several new WHCA members during this election. According to those familiar with the WHCA, the organization is supposed to be for grunty White House reporters who need a larger entity to give them a voice — not those they charge will do little more than give their own reporter a vote. Sources have also told FishbowlDC that all of the candidates have their downsides — with at least two of the candidates — Nichols and Meckler — having personality deficits that would make them unpalatable to voters.

Nichols had no comment, but instead this automatic e-mail response: “I am out today. Please contact White House editor Joe Sobczyk if it’s urgent.”

Meckler said she didn’t start the practice of encouraging journalists to sign up until she saw other candidates doing it: “I think membership in the WHCA should be limited to people who actually cover the White House,” she wrote in a statement to FishbowlDC. “However, in recent days and weeks, the membership requirements evidently have been relaxed, and many editors and others from Bloomberg and Politico were cleared for membership in the association. I reluctantly concluded that to say competitive in the race, I should inquire whether editors and others at my news organization who are involved in White House coverage were interested in joining the association, and a handful of them joined in the last day or so. I only did this after seeing that others had done it first, and I sincerely wish that none of this had occurred. It’s a huge waste of time and energy.”

Lee, in an e-mail: “Everyone who works at Politico and is a member of the Correspondents’ Association covers the White House, either as an editor or a reporter. The association has a process for approving members and renewing dues, and they went through that process.”

The e-mail written by Mason, who has two years remaining on the board, has been circulating around the bureaus. In it, she expresses her distaste for the campaign…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The hosts of “Face the Nation” and “Meet the Press” were both guests of NBC’s Russert for Stephen Strasburg’s pitching debut at Tuesday’s Nationals game. CNN contributor James Carville, Fox News’ Chris Wallace and Bloomberg’s Al Hunt were also spotted in the sold-out crowd — Carville actually has seats in the row behind Russert’s.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Broadcast News:
Dana Bash, CNN
Jonathan Karl, Senior Congressional Correspondent ABC News
Chuck Todd, NBC News
Judy Wooduff, The News Hour

Old School:
Chris Cillizza, Washington Post
Al Hunt, Bloomberg News
Stuart Rothenberg, Rothenberg Political Report
Karen Tumulty, Washington Post

Members Only:
Hon. Tom Davis (VA)
Hon. Sherrod Brown (OH)
TBD
TBD

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Read the story here.

With Glass’s story comes an accompanying video below. AP’s Edith Lederer is particularly outspoken and worth watching. Other journos chime in: CNN’s John King, ABC regular Sam Donaldson, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Last night, Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and Fiscal Times Founder Peter G. Peterson feted the launch of The Fiscal Times with a cocktail soiree at the Newseum.

Joining Fiscal Times EIC Jackie Leo and DC editor Eric Pianin were media power players like NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker, Examiner’s J.P. Freire, HuffPo’s Peter Cherukuri, ABC’s Emily Lenzner and Rick Klein, The Hill’s Christina Wilkie, Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson and Al Hunt, Politics Daily & Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet and Norah McAlvanah.

Also spotted mingling and partaking in the open bar were Dan and Meg Reilly, Amos Snead, Ron Bonjean, Michael Steel and media party circuit fixtures Politico’s Kiki Ryan, Tim Burger and CBS News’ Christine Delargy.

Check out the Fiscal Times here.

Fiscal Times’ Eric Pianin.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Spotted at Washington’s downtown upscale eatery Teatro Goldoni Wednesday night at about 10 p.m. were WaPo’s CEO Don Graham, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt and his wife, Judy Woodruff, of PBS’s “The Newshour” with Jim Lehrer. They sat in what the publicist of Teatro Goldoni calls a “power booth.”

Power booth 5, as it’s dubbed, “is where the heavy hitters sit”. The late Jack Valenti (longtime head of the Motion Picture Association) often sat there. Democratic radio host Bill Press has sat there as has Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

All those dining at table 5 Wednesday night appeared to be in fine spirits.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.