What we almost missed today…

• Above, William Shatner does Sarah Palin on Conan O’Brien.

• We’re all wondering what Palin will do next… “Inside Radio” just can’t “quit making things up,” speculating that she could take to the airwaves next.

• We told you yesterday about changes that NPR had made to its website and mobile apps. Today, Mediaite catches up with NPR News executive editor and editorial director for digital media Dick Meyer.

• ABC’s senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas has landed an exclusive with Attorney General Eric Holder. The interview, which will include questions on closing Guantanamo and the Bush administration’s interrogation practices, will air tomorrow on Nightline. You’ll also see excerpts on GMA and World News.

• CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is launching a show on CNN International, aptly named Amanpour, to air weekdays at 3pm and on Sundays at 2pm. “I want this show to stir the global conscience. I have witnessed so much that it’s time to start making real sense of it all,” she said in a release.

• And more news at CNN tonight- Latino in America, anchored by Soledad O’Brien, will air this October.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We think the President said it best- “The jokes may not be as good, but neither is the guest list.”

There were no TomKat or Ashton and Demi sightings. The biggest star (and highest dress slit) in the room was former Miss California Carrie Prejean, followed in star power by actor Tate Donovan and Angelina Jolie‘s brother James Haven.

But the 2009 RTCA dinner did light up the Washington Convention Center with DC journo star power- those attending included Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews, Lara Logan, Chip Reid, Major Garrett (check him out with Prejean in a photo after the jump), Chuck Todd, Jonathan Karl, Bill Plante, Savannah Guthrie, Ed Henry, Bill Press, Contessa Brewer, Luke Russert, Maureen Orth, Willie Geist, Mika and Joe, Judy Woodruff, Lawrence O’Donnell (and Norah and Kelly), Nancy Cordes, Steve Capus, David Bohrman, Robin Sproul, Heidi Collins, Carl Cameron, John Harwood, Mike Allen and Mark Whitaker to name a few.

As well as Robert Gibbs, Bill Burton and Laura Capps, Michael Steele (actually seated at a CBS table with Burton), Dana Perino, Samantha Powers, Ken Salazar (donning a cowboy hat), Austan Goolsbee, Gordon Johndroe, David Axelrod, Eric Holder, Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Leon Panetta and Rep. Glenn Nye.

The dinner was a little unconventional than most. Before dinner was served, there were various performances by JibJab, the Onion News Network and Sweet Honey on the Rocks (a favorite of Michelle Obama, though she did not attend). RTCA chair and the evening’s emcee Heather Dahl introduced President Obama, who left soon after this remarks. The date of the dinner actually changed a few times to accommodate the President’s schedule.

The Joan S. Barone Award was presented by CBS’ Bill Plante to NBC congressional correspondent Mike Viqueira for his coverage of the bailout story on the Hill. Viqueira dedicated his award to Mary Dorman, the NBC Washington bureau’s longtime assignment desk manager who died early this year of cancer. The Bloom daughters also presented an award in their father David Bloom‘s memory. BBC’s Rome Hartman accepted on behalf of Orla Guerin. A video tribute to Bill Headline, Tony Snow and Tim Russert, all who passed this year, was also shown.

More photos after the jump…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• CBS News is hosting a pre-party on the second floor of the convention center. There will be a live band and expected CBS guests include RNC Chairman Michael Steele, WH Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, also CBS-ers Lara Logan, Chip Reid and Nancy Cordes, among others.

• Those sitting at the dinner’s head table include President Obama and his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Congressional leaders Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn and Louise Slaughter. RTCA dinner chair Heather Dahl will emcee the night and there are, of course, two awards given at this dinner- the David Bloom and Joan Barone Awards.

• If you were lucky enough to score an “absolutely non-transferable” invitation to Phil Griffin‘s MSNBC after-party at the Historical Society of Washington, you might also be lucky enough to get served a drink by guest bartender Rachel Maddow. We hear she’ll be mixing drinks at a special upstairs bar. You can also get a preview of her bartending skills after the jump.

• And just who’s on the guest list for this exclusive after-party? We hear David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, Sen. Susan Collins, Eric Holder, Larry Summers, Rep. Aaron Schock and Ken Salazar- all guests of NBC and MSNBC- may make appearances post-dinner.

And NBC and MSNBC-ers Steve Capus, Mark Whitaker, Contessa Brewer, Mika Brzezinski, Savannah Guthrie, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, Luke Russert, Joe Scarborough, Ed Schultz, Carlos Watson, Chuck Todd and more.

• While we’re sure NBC snagged plenty of tables for that guest list above, a few other shops in town have really cut back. Tammy Haddad‘s blog White House Correspondents Weekend Insider reports PBS is down to two tables (from 15 in years past) and ABC News just one. PBS was still able to land Gen. Jim Jones as a guest- he’ll be sitting with Judy Woodruff and PBS President CEO Paula Kerger. George Stephanopoulos can’t make it so Jonathan Karl will hold court at RTCA for ABC.

• Didn’t score a ticket, but dying to hear what jokes the other guy from the Mac commercials cracks? Don’t worry- C-SPAN will have live coverage.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Good morning FishbowlDC!

Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line.

It is day 115 covering the Obama administration and week 15 for us. Happy Birthday to David Gelles and Rebecca Adelman! What we know and what we’re reading this Thursday morning…

NEWSPAPERS | TV | RADIO | ONLINE | NEWS NOTES | AWARDS | JOBS | REVOLVING DOOR

NEWSPAPERS

NYT columnist and author Thomas Friedman returned a $75,000 speaker’s fee. LAT reports that the reversal came after a “misunderstanding” about the engagement with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew America.”

TV

One of the biggest stories this week was the murder of five American troops by a fellow sergeant at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. In her report, ABC’s senior foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz had video from inside the clinic where the shooting took place. “Just a few weeks earlier, on her 20th reporting trip to Iraq, she had spent an afternoon at Camp Liberty in Baghdad,” reports The New York Observer’s Felix Gillette. “Ms. Raddatz had spent an entire afternoon interviewing the clinic’s staff members for her report on how the military was coping with the recent uptick in suicides.”

TVNewser reports news orgs were asked not to name the “other woman” during interviews with Elizabeth Edwards. In three TV interviews, Hunter, “the other woman” in the John Edwards affair, Rielle Hunter, was not mentioned.

On the same note, AP reports that it was twice denied interviews with Edwards’ because it refused to omit the name of Edwards’ mistress from its articles about Elizabeth and her book. The article quotes Michael Oreskes, the AP’s vice president and senior managing editor who said simply, “We don’t let other people edit our wire.”

ABC financial correspondent Bianna Golodryga joined the Morning Media Menu today to talk about covering the financial crisis and the differences between working for network and cable news.

RADIO

In memoriam, from NYT: Robert R. Pauley, a former president of the ABC Radio network who championed radio at a time when television was replacing it as a dominant medium, died on May 2. When Pauley became the president of the network in 1961, he reinvigorated it, in part by emphasizing live events, especially sports.

ONLINE

NYT: Craigslist will close its erotic services category, which critics have said is a forum that fosters prostitution and other illegal activities. To replace it, the company has created a category called adult services, in which postings will be reviewed by employees.

NEWS NOTES

Reuters: North Korea said it would put two U.S. journalists it arrested in March on trial on June 4, ratcheting up tension with Washington. Analysts said the reclusive North sees the two reporters as bargaining chips to try to win concessions.

Time Mag asks, Dick Cheney: Why So Chatty All of a Sudden?

There was some confusion at Columbia University over whether Attorney General Eric Holder‘s Graduate School of Journalism commencement speech on May 19th would be open or closed to the press. Page Six caught up with a rep from the school- “There is nothing at all we want to hide.”

AWARDS

UCLA’s Anderson School of Management announced the finalists for its 2009 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. WSJ and NYT had the most finalists, with seven each across multiple categories. Bloomberg, “60 Minutes” and CBS were also recognized with a handful of nominations each, while now defunct magazine Portfolio received three nods. FishbowlNY has the complete list of awards here.

HAT TIPS: Mediabistro

JOBS and REVOLVING DOOR after the jump…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

No pics allowed so we’ll list the guests for you… Celebs-wise we have Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Rashida Jones, Jon Bon Jovi, Owen Wilson, Jason Bateman, Natalie Portman, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Brad Hall, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Dennis Leary, Tim Daly, Kerry Washington, Glenn Close and BJ Novak.

Journos: Katie Couric, Lara Logan, Chuck Todd, Savannah Guthrie, Dana Bash, John King, Charlie Rose, Graydon Carter, Rick Kaplan, Steve Kroft, Steve Chaggaris, Tammy Haddad, Bill Plante, Terry Moran, Jon Meacham, Andrea Mitchell, Richard Stengel, John Dickerson, Al Hunt, Michael Calderone, Roxanne Roberts, Amy Argetsinger, Edie Emery, David Gregory, Betsy Fischer, Maureen Orth, John Harris, Mike Allen, David Shuster, Jim VandeHei, Jake Tapper and Margaret Carlson.

Also Mayor Michael Bloomberg, David Axelrod, Jon Favreau, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Larry Summers, Mark Warner, Eric Holder, Desiree Rogers,

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.