Our friends over at WebNewser report that Kathy O’Hearn is ditching TV news for the VP role at the newly formed Newsweek Daily Beast company.  O’Hearn most recently worked at CNN where, among other roles, she was executive producer of both Campbell Brown’s and Christiane Amanpour’s shows.

O’Hearn also served as executive producer of This Week before leaving in 2008 to manage ABC’s special event politics coverage.

Last evening, Forbes released their annual ranking of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women on their official website, Forbes.com.  The list included 18 media and publishing personalities and made it clear that the women controlling the industry have no shortage of creativity, wealth, and executive power.  Take a look at the major players that Forbes recognized this year:

Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and media mogul, #3
Arianna Huffington, editor and co-Founder, Huffington Post, #28
Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief, Vogue, #56
Tina Brown, The Daily Beast, #34
Cathleen Black, chair, Hearst Magazines, #67
Janet Robinson, CEO, The New York Times, #85
Nikki Finke, founder, Deadline Hollywood Daily, #79
Suze Orman, author, CNBC host, #61
Rachael Ray, talk show host and author, #78
Meredith Viera, co-anchor, The Today Show, #40
Ellen DeGeneres, talk show host,  #10
Christiane Amanpour, news anchor, ABC’s This Week, #73
Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks; President,Disney/ABC TV Group #69
Katie Couric, anchor, CBS Evening News, #22
Diane Sawyer, news anchor, ABC’s World News, #46
Sarah Palin, television commentator, Fox News, #16
Rachel Maddow,  anchor, The Rachel Maddow Show, #50
Martha Stewart, talk show host, author, #99

The full list can be viewed in the Forbes October 25 issue, on newsstands today. 

CNN: Watch The Daily Beast‘s Tina Brown and her husband, Sir Harold Evans, this Sunday on Christiane Amanpour‘s CNN show.

Wall Street Journal: Media scandal of the day: The Wall Street Journal published a story today about Tiger Woods‘ shady deal with Men’s Fitness publisher American Media Inc. without giving any credit to New York Post columnist Keith Kelly, who broke the story two weeks ago.

WWD: Hearst Magazines‘ Chuck Cordray promises a new digital vertical to launch next year “is not one you’d expect from us.” Also, Hearst is planning to relaunch its teen network over the summer.

Huffington Post: Editor & Publisher editor Greg Mitchell blogs about the demise of his magazine, and says there is a “decent chance” that it will be resurrected.

Los Angeles Times: James Rainey profiles The Huffington Post and the challenge of making money on the Web.

TVNewser: CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour celebrated the launch of her new show “Amanpour” at Michael’s yesterday, and chatted with Kevin Allocca. Says Kevin: “After the interview, Amanpour remarked, ‘That’s the tiniest lens I’ve every looked into.’”

FishbowlLA/Folio: Nikki Finke reports that The Hollywood Reporter will be going online only next year, while another entertainment trade Variety will be erecting pay walls. But Folio reports that THR owner Nielsen Business Media says it has no plans to shut down the trade pub’s print edition.

GalleyCat: Back in August, GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan correctly predicted that Oprah Winfrey‘s next book club selection would be Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan. The Washington Post made it official this afternoon, citing unintentionally leaked info. Winfrey is set to announce her book club choice during her show tomorrow.

Ad Age: The Wall Street Journal has announced plans to start charging for its mobile app available on iPhones and Blackberrys, and the cost is surprisingly high. Readers that don’t subscribe to the WSJ either in print or online will have to pay $2 per week for the app — or $104 a year. Subscribers to either medium will only be charged $1 a year and those who subscribe to both will get mobile access for free.

Bloomberg: IAC CEO Barry Diller says he will use his cash to repurchase stock, not invest in other companies like NBC Universal.

TVNewser: The strangest mea culpa press conference ever: Gov. Mark Sanford admits to affair.

FishbowlLA: W‘s Gabe Doppelt is moving to Tina Brown‘s The Daily Beast‘s LA bureau. This is the first time Doppelt and Brown have worked together — Doppelt started her career as Brown’s assistant at Tatler and also worked as an editor at large at Brown’s Talk magazine.

New York Magazine: We were blown away by the in-depth reporting that went into Matthew Cole‘s account of New York Times reporter David Rohde‘s kidnapping and the measures taken to try to get him out.

wowOwow: “60 Minutes” contributor Lesley Stahl interviewed CNN‘s Christiane Amanpour about foreign reporting and the crisis in Iran. “If I’m kidnapped I want you, personally, to lead the charge and make sure people know about it,” Amanpour told Stahl, in response to the David Rohde kidnapping.

Vanity Fair: Matt Pressman examines why the public hates the media

TVNewser: CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and Candy Crowley and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow are among the women to be honored next month by the Women’s Media Center.

MediaJobsDaily: Hearst said that SeattlePI.com, Seattle’s online-only paper, has shown an increase in traffic.

Folio: AARP showed the largest readership growth among magazines in Mediamark Research Inc.’s spring 2009 report.

C-SPAN: BookTv highlights Pulitzer Prize winning Lincoln biographer David Herbert Donald (left), who passed away this weekend.

The News & Observer: The owners of North Carolina local paper The Carrboro Citizen have asked for a $50,000 loan from the town of Carrboro.

Christiane Amanpour, who won an award for her reportage on Gods Warriors, spoke at the duPont Awards Winners’ Circle earlier this week about the importance of getting out in the field and reporting facts over opinions. “There is an endangered species feature feeling about what we do,” she says. “Don’t fall into the trap of believing that you can be experts sitting here in New York…without ever going out there…You might have your opinions…but never mistake that for getting the actual facts.”

— DIANE CLEHANE

The mood was festive at Michael’s today, with plenty of Obama buttons on display and lots of talk about the president’s stirring inaugural address. Jack Kliger told me, “I thought the whole thing was inspiring. His speech was terrific.” Jack had a good laugh about Barack Obama‘s heartfelt thanks to George W. Bush for his “years of service,” only to then turn around and basically rip the departing administration to shreds — in the nicest possible way. A speech for the ages, indeed.

While everyone agreed the president was near perfection in every possible way, the verdict was somewhat mixed on the First Lady’s fashion sense. A few media mavens told me they were less than thrilled with Michelle Obama‘s Isabel Toledo dress and coat (“A little dowdy,” sniped one stylista), but gave her higher marks for her Jason Wu ivory gown. I admit, I didn’t love the “lemongrass” lace daytime look at first, but by day’s end it had grown on me. I will say that Sasha and Malia looked darling in their custom J.Crew Crewcuts coats. When my good pal Fern Mallis, looking sleek and chic in her Tracy Reese Obama shirt, stopped at the bar for a chat, I asked her what she thought about Michelle’s fashion choices for the big day. “I’d give her a 10,” said Fern. “I could not think of a better ambassador for the fashion industry right now. She looked great.”

Today I was lunching with Lisa Silhanek and Justin Brown, CEO of First Global Xpress. Lisa, who knows everyone in the fashion biz, is working with Justin as his relationship manager, helping to broaden the business within the industry. Justin, whose clients include HBO, ICM and Conde Nast, has built an impressive business (that will be profiled in next month’s Business Week and the March issue of Inc.) by catering to companies that care about reducing their carbon footprint with smart shipping that lops off miles using direct flights. And, perhaps just as important, Justin says: “We deal with divas very well.” He’s shipped everything from a helicopter (New York to Eastern Europe) to Marilyn Monroe’s velvet headboard bought at auction by an adoring fan, so chances are he can handle whatever daunting task Seventh Avenue can serve up.

Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:

1. The Imber Gang: Dr. Gerry Imber, Jeff Greenfield, Andy Bergman and Jerry Della Femina. I asked Jerry about the awful news about the demise of Full Frontal Fashion. His wife, the tireless Judy Licht, made the show a must-see for fashionistas and civilians alike with its wall-to-wall coverage of Fashion Week. (Truth be told, I’ve skipped a show or two knowing that I could watch the whole shebang from my living room without having to battle the crowds). “It’s true,” reports Jerry. “But Judy has a lot of things going and will be covering Fashion Week for The Huffington Post.” You heard it here first, folks. Smart move, Arianna.

2. Peggy Siegal dining with a mystery gal. Clever Peggy ordered her lunch in advance so as not to waste a minute.

3. ‘Mayor’ Joe Armstrong and uber-agent Ed Victor

4. Jack Kliger, Tom Donahue and a gent named Nick, so we’re told.

Read more

Today at New York Women In Communications’ annual Matrix Awards Luncheon (from left): Presenter and ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff; honoree and Disney Media Networks co-chair/Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney; honoree and Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts; and presenter and co-anchor of Good Morning America Diane Sawyer

Emcee and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi (pictured below the jump), when complimented on her “amazing appetite,” gave away why “I’m uniquely qualified to do my job: I sit on my ass, I eat, and I talk”; honoree and playwright Anna Deavere Smith did her best Studs Terkel impression; Good Morning America co-host and ABC News co-anchor and presenter Diane Sawyer divulged that GMA co-anchor and honoree Robin Roberts is a friend “made for margaritas and dancing,” while Roberts confessed to the crowd that she calls Sawyer “Thelma,” as in half of the eponymous duo that drove the 80′s girls-gone-liberated buddy flick Thelma and Louise because “sometimes in the morning [hosting GMA], we feel like we’re about to go over that cliff holding hands.” More heartstring-pulling, hand-holding, hijinks and pictures from the event after the jump…

Read more