You know you’re one hell of a flack when a flock of journos bust their midday beat to break bread in your honor.  And such is the case of Kelley McCormick,  former partner at Qorvis Communications and Reese Witherspoon lookalike.  McCormick and her new role as Gibraltar Associates COO were toasted yesterday at a swanky lunch hosted by “Meet the Press” EP Betsy Fischer and the one and only Tammy Haddad.

Nearly 40 guests mingled over champagne before sitting down to a three-course wine luncheon of split pea soup with creme fraiche, bacon-garnished crab cake and tasty dessert.  Both Fischer and Haddad shared kind words about their friend before Gibraltar CEO Eric Bovim raised a glass to McCormick, gushing “I can’t imagine doing this without her.”

Attendees of the fancy-pants lunch fete included Politico’s Mike Allen, NBC White House producer Alicia Jennings, WaPo’s Amy Argetsinger, Examiner’s Nikki Schwab, The Hill’s Kate Oczypok, DC’s Karen Sommer Shalett, Janet Donovan, Cap File’s Kate Bennett and Sarah Schaffer, Huffington Post’s Christina Wilkie, Kiki Ryan, Bloomberg’s Ha Chan, Tracy Sefl, Washingtonian’s Sophie Gilbert, Washington Life‘s Michael Clements, Emily Lenzner, Poshbrood’s Elizabeth Thorp, Twitter’s Adam Sharp, WBJ‘s Jen Nycz-Conner and SELF‘s Marc Adleman.  Congrats to Kelley!

L to R: Betsy Fischer, Mike Allen, Kate Bennett, Halle Mayes, Tammy Haddad, Marc Adelman, Kelley McCormick.

*All photos courtesy of Haddad Media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Licht, Brzezinski, Mike Allen, Mark Leibovich, Louis Burgdorf

If the idea of Mark Leibovich‘s impending book release strikes fear in your heart, we’ve got some bad news for you.  You’re sleepless nights won’t end anytime soon.  “I’ve finished about five pages,” the star scribe told FishbowlDC last night at a book party for “Morning Joe” EP- turned-CBS News VP, Chris Licht.

Hosted by Tammy Haddad, Constance Milstein, Jon Meacham and Kevin Sheekey, the event packed the parlor of the Jefferson Hotel with a guest list that included MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, CBS’s Chris Isham, HuffPo’s Howard Fineman, Bob Woodruff, Hilary Rosen, Politico’s Jim VandeHei, Patrick Gavin and Mike Allen, WaPo’s Jonathan Capehart, Sally Quinn, MSNBC’s Louis Burgdorf, Kelley McCormick, MTP’s Betsy Fischer, Janet Donovan, Wash Life’s Kevin Chaffee and John Arundel, Examiner’s Nikki Schwab and Anne Schroeder Mullins.

FishbowlDC also caught up with a delightful David Shuster who shared a few secrets about his investigative website project after we swore to keep the info offline for now.  But the most interesting insight of the night was gleaned from what wasn’t said:  When asked if “Morning Joe” might follow him to CBS, Licht swerved and ultimately dodged the question, leaving guests to wonder if the show’s rumored move is more than simple speculation.

For info on Licht’s book, “What I Learned When I Almost Died,” click here and check out video from his bash here.

L: Anne Mullins, Patrick Gavin, Brzezinski, Scarborough R: Licht & David Shuster

Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos asks a question during Q&A.

*All images by Bruce Vartan Boyajian/Haddad Media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Before appearing at last night’s Congressional Correspondents Dinner, Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan lunched with Washington media types at Cafe Milano. Hosted Milano owner Franco Nuschese, Tammy Haddad, Regina Hopper (former Miss Arkansas and president of America’s Natural Gas Alliance), and Kelley McCormick, the midday event offered journos a chance to spend some personal time with the pageant winner. Guests included WJLA’s Pamela Brown, Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne from TLC’s “DC Cupcakes,” Meet the Press’ Betsy Fischer, ABC News’ Polson Kanneth, Politico‘s Patrick Gavin, Cap File‘s Kate Bennett, Janet Donovan, and The Hill‘s Emily Goodin.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Kelley McCormick

Make that five…  Five partners who have left Qorvis Communications in the past four months.  The latest partner to exit the firm is Kelley McCormick.  It was announced today that she has been named partner and chief operating officer of Gibraltar Associates.

“I am thrilled to join the GA team. It is a fresh, nimble agency that is entering into a period of intense growth and success,” said McCormick in a press release. “I look forward to applying all that I have learned in my 20 years of agency life and putting it towards the continued success of GA.”

With the loss of Kelley, nearly half of Qorvis’s management seats are either vacant or brand new. Don Goldberg, Michael Quint and Jason Siegel recently resigned to start a competitive practice.  Their exits follow that of Maura Corbett who left the firm in November to launch the Glen Echo Group.

Trouble in paradise?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Journos flooded the Landmark E St. Cinema last night for the Washington premiere of “Casino Jack,” the late George Hickenlooper‘s film about power lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon who famously defrauded several Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.  Starring Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey who played Abramoff, the film featured well-known Washington journos Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews while Washington Post reporter Susan Schmidt and Emily Miller, now of Human Events, were portrayed by actresses Ruth Marshall and Rachelle Lefevre. 

The premiere, presented by Lani Hay of Lanmark Technology and the Creative Coalition, was hosted by NBC’s Chris Matthews who couldn’t help  himself from dinging the GOP during his intro, saying “the Republicans are back in office and they did foster the career of Jack Abramoff.”  He then told the theater, “If you come to Washington without a moral compass, you’re not going to find one here.” 

Following the screening, Spacey and Matthews took questions and comments from an audience that included MSNBC’s Luke Russert and Andrea Mitchell, WaPo‘s Amy Argetsinger, Politics Daily’s Annie Groer, Elizabeth Thorpe, Qorvis’ Kelley McCormick, Tammy Haddad, The Hill’s Christina Wilkie, Politico’s Kiki Ryan, CBS’s Christine Delargy, WaPo‘s Garance Franke-Ruta, Janet Donovan, Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley and Vicki Kennedy. 

A man who claimed to know the Abramoff family for fifteen years took the Q & A session as an opportunity to commend Spacey for “capturing Jack so perfectly.”  Surprisingly, the actor’s portrayal did not demonize the fallen K Street wonderboy.  He instead presented Abramoff as an almost lovable nerd who found himself too wrapped up in the game – ironic for a lobbyist whose sweet spot was casino gambling, no?

My only beef with the film was the casting and performance of Rachelle Lefevre who played Emily Miller, the Human Events editor and Michael Scanlon’s former fiancee who allegedly alerted the FBI of the fraud after learning that Scanlon was sleeping with another woman.  The character was underdeveloped, disjointed and quite frankly, nothing like Ms. Miller. 

Check out “Casino Jack” when it hits theaters on December 17th.  Spacey’s performance is a must-see.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Guests at the bash joked that Polson must have promised people Diane Sawyer would attend to get them to turn out - truth is, Qorvis’ Kelley McCormick just knows how to throw a great party!

Spotted at Panache: ABC’s Rick Klein and Amy Walter, Dewey Square’s Courtney Cohen, SKDKnickerbocker’s Emily Lenzner, Kevin Madden, Alex Conant, Michael Steel, Tim Burger, Politico’s Kiki Ryan, CBS’ Christine Delargy and Huffington Post’s Peter Cherukuri.

Congrats to Polson on his new gig.  We’ll miss you!

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

National Journal’s Matt Cooper hides from the paparazzi behind one of Arianna’s book-themed pillows. 

Arianna Huffington made a splash last night at the home of Tammy Haddad.  Guests such as actress Geena Davis, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Rep. Dennis Kucnich and wife Elizabeth, Richard Wolffe, Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, Hilary Rosen and  MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan flooded Haddad’s Foxhall backyard to toast Huffington’s new book, “Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning The Middle Class and Betraying The American Dream.” 

The event, which Huffington joked was like an “Obama backyard party” played host to hundreds of the city’s political and media set who mingled over cocktails in the brisk fall weather.  One of the most popular topics of conversation was Howie Kurtz‘s recent announcement that he will leave the Washington Post for a new gig at the Daily Beast.  Several guests agreed that Yahoo’s Michael Calderone seemed like the only viable option to replace WaPo’s longtime media beat writer. 

We caught up with Calderone who admitted that he wouldn’t spill to Fishbowl if he was in talks with the Post but joked that, “Marcus [Brauchli] hasn’t even returned my calls about Kurtz leaving so it’s safe to assume that he hasn’t pursued me to replace him.” 

Also spotted at the backyard book bash were HuffPost’s Peter Cherukuri, Sam Stein and Mario Ruiz, Qorvis’ Kelley McCormick, SKDKnickerbocker’s Emily Lenzner, National Journal’s Matt Cooper and Taylor West, Janet Donovan, Tim Burger, Bloomberg’s Ha Chan, Politico’s Kiki Ryan, NYT’s Jeff Zeleny, Daily Beast’s Kirsten Powers and Dr. Marty Makary, Pamela’s Punch blogger Pamela Sorensen, ABC’sPolson Kanneth, Jim Courtovich, CBS’s Christine Delargy and The Hill’s Emily Goodin.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Arianna Huffington. 

Geena Davis, Michael Calderone and more after the jump. 

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Glamour’s Linda Kramer Jenning, Reliable Source’s Amy Argetsinger, Examiner’s Tara Palmeri, MTP’s Betsy Fischer, The Hill’s Emily Goodin, Politics Daily’s Annie Groer are a few of the names that joined Franco Nuschese and Tammy Haddad for a lunch with Miss America Caressa Cameron and Miss DC Jennifer Corey today at Cafe Milano.

Bubbly flowed while Haddad and friends shared stories of Miss Americas past, offered up pageant trivia and traded gossip from Kitty Kelley‘s new Oprah biography (okay, maybe that part was me). Just before dessert, Nuschese presented Cameron, who intends to pursue a career in media, with a Miss America sculpture made of chocolate.

Other notables in attendance included Qorvis’ Kelley McCormick, Verizon’s Edward Senn, Susan G. Komen’s Pam Stevens and Miss America Tour Manager Karen Nocella.

Miss DC and more after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

GQ editor Jim Nelson welcomed some of DC’s official “Most Powerful” and some of DC’s most powerful media types to 701 last night for good food, flowing wine and Orszag sightings.

In attendance: the White House’s Bill Burton, Jen Psaki, Ebs Burnough, CNN’s Ed Henry, Suzanne Malveaux, Edie Emery, Megan Grant, Kristi Slafka, ABC’s Emily Lenzner, Polson Kanneth, NBC’s Alicia Jennings, CBS’ Rita Braver, BJ D’Elia, Politico‘s Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Jonathan Martin, Nia-Malika Henderson, WaPo‘s Roxanne Roberts, Washingtonian‘s Garrett Graff, Newsweek‘s Howard Fineman, Holly Bailey, Bloomberg’s Tim Burger, Margaret Carlson, the Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab, Tara Palmeri, TPM‘s Christina Bellantoni, Josh Marshall, NJ‘s Erin McPike, Urban Daddy’s Jeff Dufour, Jayne Sandman, Peter Cherukuri, Ana Marie Cox, Matthew Cooper, Kevin Madden, Bill Press, Mark Ein, Elizabeth Thorp, Kevin Chaffee, Jay Newton-Small, Jessica Gibson, Pamela Sorensen, Mark Paustenbach, Mark Leibovich, Emily Goodin, the Glover sisters- Juleanna Glover, Becca Glover and Liz Glover and team Qorvis- Kelley McCormick, Chelsea Cummings and Katie Young.

Pics to come…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The two were being honored by “Mothers Day Every Day,” a campaign founded by the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE that boasts big name board members like Haddad, Dana Perino, Mary Matalin, Donna Shalala and Arianna Huffington.

Spotted at the event were NBC’s Mark Whitaker, Andrea Mitchell and Savannah Guthrie, Politico’s Patrick Gavin, Mike Allen and Anne Shroeder Mullins as well as Pamela Sorensen from Pamela’s Punch and Qorvis’ gal-about-town, Kelley McCormick to name just a few.

Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

Hostess with the mostest, Tammy Haddad

Politico posse (Patrick Gavin, Mike Allen and Anne Schroeder Mullins) chat up guests…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Actress Fran Drescher was in town last week to promote some of the work she’s doing with her charity Cancer Schmancer. The cancer survivor just launched FranBrand, an all natural, carcingoten-free line of skin care to raise awareness for cancer prevention, and has even been rumored to be considering a run for office…

DC media-types Betsy Fischer, Kelley McCormick, Christina Wilke, Rich Leiby, Linda Kramer and Kiki Ryan all joined host Janet Donovan for a dinner in Drescher’s honor at Teatro Goldoni.

Another photo after the jump…

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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.

Catching up on the Morning Reading List after a week out sick… Belated Happy Birthdays to Nora McAlvanah, Kelley McCormick and Sol Levine who celebrated last week. Happy Birthday today to Ron Bonjean! What know and what we’re reading this Monday morning…

NEWSPAPERS | TV | ONLINE | WEST WING REPORTAGE | NEWS NOTES | JOBS

NEWSPAPERS

The Boston Globe takes a look at filling the void of a city paper after it closes.

Is the Tribune‘s boss Sam Zell on his way out?

TV

The Daily Beast brings us the 7 Best Moments from Sunday Talk.

On CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with Howard Kurtz yesterday: “I always thought that he should have gone on “Oprah,” because, you know, Oprah is a dog lover herself.” -sports columnist Drew Sharp on Michael Vick seeking forgiveness through the media.

For the fourth time this year, Fox News beat the combined totals of MSNBC, CNN, HLN and CNBC in primetime in both Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo. More on how Fox is flourishing during the Obama administration on FBDC later today.

President Obama had a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colorado Saturday, where he commented on TV coverage. “Yesterday I held a town hall in Belgrade, Montana. And we had a pretty good crowd. Some were big supporters of reform, some had concerns and questions, some were completely skeptical. And I got tough questions, but even though Montanans had strong opinions, they didn’t shout at one another, they were there to listen and that reflects the American people and what our democracy is about. A lot more than what’s been covered on TV the last several days.”

Jerry Seinfeld will be Jay Leno‘s first guest when his new show debuts on NBC Sept. 14th.

More funny guys in the media news this morning… Steve Harvey‘s joining ABC’s “GMA.”

ONLINE

HuffPost is launching a feature today called “HuffPost Social News” using Facebook Connect, which will allow readers to create a personalized social networking-like HuffPost news page.

Arianna Huffington needs some help picking 100 people who are using new media to change the world.

How’s AOL doing as print news is having a hard time? Pretty OK, according to the NYT.

WEST WING REPORTAGE

Is Gibbs too jolly? Former Nixon and Ford deputy press secretary Jerry Warren visited the White House Friday, where he told Politico White House press secretary Robert Gibbs can be “too jovial about serious things.” “That can be dangerous,” he said. “Otherwise, I think he’s a fine man.”

President Obama has issued an “informal edict” for White House profiles, in light of long pieces on Valerie Jarrett and other staffers in the NYT magazine. From Peter Baker and Jeff Zeleny online Saturday: “But when a New York Times Magazine profile of Ms. Jarrett last month explored the old scratchiness [between her and Emanuel], White House officials said the normally calm Mr. Obama erupted with anger. An informal edict went out: no more cooperating with staff profiles. As a result, Mr. Emanuel declined a formal interview for this article.” (h/t Politico‘s Calderone)

President Obama had this editorial “Why We Need Health Care Reform” in NYT Saturday.

NEWS NOTES

Laura Ling and Euna Lee posted a video to say thank you on CurrentTV.

And just for fun this morning… like “Mad Men?” Like media? Mediaite combines your loves here.

HAT TIPS: mediabistro, TVNewser

JOBS after the jump…

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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.

Check out Washington Examiner Yeas & Nays columnist Kiki Ryan enjoying truffle fries at Poste wrapped in her own column…

Speaking of good eats, Playbook spotted Wolf Blitzer dining with Rahm Emanuel at BLT last night. And for the newest edition of Washington Unplugged‘s series “Unplugged and Under 40,” CBS was at Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill yesterday to interview celebrity chef Spike.

Get ready to wish Qorvis’ Kelley McCormick a happy birthday tomorrow. Until then, what we know and what we’re reading this Tuesday morning…

NEWSPAPERS | TV | RADIO | BOOKS | NEWS NOTES | JOBS

NEWSPAPERS

NYT points out the downturn in print media is really hurting photojournalists. “Newspapers and magazines are cutting back sharply on picture budgets or going out of business altogether. Pictures and video shot by amateurs on cellphones are posted to Web sites minutes after events occur. Photographers trying to make a living from shooting the news are calling it a crisis.”

E&P has announced ten newspapers that “do it right,” including: Las Vegas Sun, Sioux City Journal (IA), Briefing (Dallas, TX), The Post-Star (Glen Falls, NY), East Bay Express (Emeryville, CA), Star Tribune Minneapolis, St. Petersburg Times (FL), The Daily Independent (Ridgecrest, CA), New Times (Phoenix) and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

More on saving newspapers in the Atlantic today.

TV

In last night’s “Talking Points Memo” segment, Bill O’Reilly highlighted Fox’s ratings surge. “Fox News explodes, while the liberal media burns.” He goes on, “A major reason is the healthcare debate… When we cover the town hall meetings we don’t describe the protesters as loons. We don’t denegrate people who disagree with Pres. Obama. That’s the difference between FOX News and all the others… The Factor also gives voice to both sides, something you will never see on NBC News.”

Meanwhile, on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann delivered a special comment on the healthcare debate, specifically the “orgy of fantasized violence and imagined revolution whose fires have been stoked for weeks, for months, for years by conservatives,” highlighting Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs.

(h/t TVNewser)

Octomom is packing up the kids and coming to primetime.

RADIO

Fox Business Network executives are in talks with Don Imus to bring his radio show to the 22-month-old network. AllYourTV.com, which first reported the news Friday night, reports the show “could make the move as early as September 1.” A FBN spokesperson said, “We’re always talking to interesting talent.” (h/t TVNewser)

BOOKS

Julia is beating Julie in book sales post opening weekend of “Julie & Julia.”

NEWS NOTES

Looking for something to do now that Congress is in recess? Past Tense yoga studio offers Congressional staffers and reporters a chance to unwind, with a special “restorative recess” of their own. The studio is extending a special discount to all journalists and Congressional staffers with a valid ID to take a single yoga class for $10, instead of the regular price of $15 a session. More info here.

HAT TIPS: mediabistro, TVNewser

JOBS after the jump…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.