Fox News’s Harris Faulkner and HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell (pictured) were among the cable news personalities in the crowd at last night’s Women of Media reception, held at the Armand de Brignac Champagne Loft in Soho.

The first-annual event, which was hosted by journalist China Osaki and publicist Annie Scranton, was also attended by Megyn Kelly, Cheryl Casone, Laura Ingle, Tamron Hall, Laurie Dhue, Tara Dowdell and Jehmu Greene.

See more pictures of the event after the jump.

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Author and journalist Susan Orlean (left) has written two nonfiction pieces that have been turned into films. She’ll discuss her new book, Rin Tin Tin, in Mediabistro’s first online Literary Festival & Workshops starting July 16. Other speakers include Rebecca Skloot, Jason Boog, and Jason Allen Ashlock. Register now.

Reporters assigned to the Romney campaign took to Twitter this morning after press aides and the U.S. Secret Service attempted to block the press from asking the GOP presidential candidate questions while he worked the rope line.

Romney campaign and Secret Service attempted to keep press off ropeline so no q’s to candidate on Bain

— Jim Acosta (@jimacostacnn) May 16, 2012

Most reporters still made it to the ropeline at the Romney event, despite USSS and campaign asking us to leave and stop, but no q’s answered — Emily Friedman (@EmilyABC) May 16, 2012

A spokesperson for the campaign told Politico, “This was an error on the part of the campaign staff and volunteers. We have reminded them that press is allowed on the rope line to record the governor’s interactions with voters.”

CNN’s video of the incident is after the jump.

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France’s new first lady is familiar to many in France, but not because she’s been on the arm of France’s incoming president for 7 years, it’s because she’s been on television at least that long. The New York Times catches up with Valérie Trierweiler, the twice divorced companion of Pres. François Hollande. Trierweiler has worked as a political journalist for Paris Match and, later, on TV on the privately-owned network Direct 8. And she plans to be the first French first lady to keep her day job. Which means covering the Hollande presidency, which seems to be just fine in France.

Ms. Trierweiler stopped covering politics for Paris Match in 2005 but continued her political programs on Direct 8, something that is not widely regarded in France as posing a potential conflict of interest.

“We need rules, they exist, but hypocrisy reigns,” she told Le Journal du Dimanche in 2010. “All journalists have opinions, they all vote, they all have sympathy, friendships. But they’re not asked to justify them. We believe in their integrity, we trust them and we’re right to do so.”

CNN’s Hala Gorani reported on Trierweiler. Her story after the jump…

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Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber are at the top of Forbes’ annual Most Powerful Celebrities list. Unveiled today, the list is compiled based on earnings as well as TV, press, web and social rankings. So while JLo took home a healthy $52 million last year, that’s chump change compared to Glenn Beck, who, while #23 on the list, is #11 (tied with Elton John) in pay, taking home an estimated $80 million, more than Leonardo DiCaprio ($37M), Brad Pitt ($25) and Julia Roberts ($16M) combined. Beck moves up seven spots from last year’s list.

And if you haven’t seen it, go here to find out how Glenn Beck got on his path to prosperity, in the mediabistroTV series “My First Big Break” including how he almost quit radio to become a chef.

Last night was night two of the “Jeopardy!” “Power Players” week, featuring TV news personalities and other prominent Washington DC types. The players were NBA legend and U.S. State Department cultural ambassador Kareem Abdul Jabar, former White House Press Secretary and current Fox News “The Five” co-host Dana Perino and CNBC anchor David Faber.

Faber owned this game, but both Perino and Abdul Jabar were strong players.

Categories in the first round played off of the three players’ careers, including “Lakers” (which was about lakes, not the NBA team that Abdul Jabar played for), “The Five” (about groups of five things, not the FNC show Perino co-hosts) and “Squawk on the Street” (which was naturally about birds, not the CNBC program).

There was no Chris Matthews level of wackiness, though Abdul Jabar got some laughs for asking, “What is X?” rather than the more family-friendly “What is G?” during a clue about movie ratings.

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“NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams made one of his regular pilgrimages to the Ed Sullivan Theater to appear on CBS’ “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

Williams is a regular on the late night comedy circuit, appearing with frequency on Letterman, “The Daily Show” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

This time, Letterman asked Williams to talk about his competitors, “CBS Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley, and “ABC World News” anchor Diane Sawyer.

WATCH:

After the jump, Williams steals cookies.

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CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront,” which is still trying to gain traction among viewers, is trying to spice up the show by adding a recurring segment featuring a “Political Strike Team” (Note: not to be confused with The Best Political Team on Television, which is different, although some people are on both TBPOT and “Strike Team,” if that makes any sense).

What is the Political Strike Team? “The best political reporters and independent political observers that OutFront has put together, that will weigh in on issues that matter to undecided, independent and swing voters,” CNN says. Read about all the members of the team here.

“OutFront” has had an “Economic Strike Team” since shortly after launching, though the new group is obviously meant to be election-centric in this election year.

That said, we noticed a key flaw in the first question posed to the team. It asked the team about President Obama’s visit to “The View,” which is “part of a week-long appeal to women, including a commencement speech at Barnard College. Will it work or backfire?”

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• NBC Sports has slated its Olympics coverage for MSNBC and CNBC. MSNBC will broadcast up to 20 different sports, including basketball and soccer, over 155 hours from 9am-6pmET weekdays and more on weekends. CNBC will carry 73 hours of boxing from 5-8pmET weekdays, with six hours of live coverage on weekends. The London games open July 27 with preliminary matches on MSNBC beginning July 25.

• New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning made his first trip to CNN this morning, interviewed on “Starting Point” talking about his nonprofit Build Our Kids Success. On his brother Peyton Manning‘s move to Denver, Eli says, “I was with him last week for a little bit shooting a Reebok commercial. He’s doing great and loving it out there and working hard and excited to be playing football again.”

• NBC’s Ann Curry is in Cannes, France today giving viewers an inside look at the star-studded Cannes Film Festival. Curry reported live from Cannes this morning and will co-anchor split live shows tomorrow and Friday.

Mike of a Thousand Days he almost was. Mike Allen took a day off from Politico Playbook, the morning political-media-birthday daily digest. And if you noticed a few more links and mentions to ABC News than usual, it’s because ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl filled in.

BREAKING — After 990 consecutive days writing Playbook (including weekends and every holiday), Mike Allen has Gone Fishin’, taking his first day off since August 30, 2009.

This is Karl’s second go and putting together Playbook, the first without Allen virtually looking over his shoulder. The prep started last night, Karl tells TVNewser, “followed by an intense few hours of total-immersion into the day’s news beginning at 4am.”

“It’s great fun to do for a day, but mind-boggling to think Mike has done it for 990 consecutive days,” Karl says.

“Dateline,” formerly known as “Dateline NBC”, will mark 20 years on the air with a primetime special next week.

The show’s host, Lester Holt will present highlights of the last 20 years, including new interviews from some of the most memorable stories: Jane Pauley‘s 2003 chat with Michael J. Fox about his Parkinson’s and Tom Brokaw‘s 2005 profile of Aron Ralston, the hiker featured in the film 127 Hours.

From big interviews to murder mysteries, to hidden-camera investigations and documentaries, the show has seen many adjustments over the years.

“‘Dateline’ has gone through many changes,” says Senior EP David Corvo, “but one thing that hasn’t changed is the loyalty and enthusiasm of its audience. We are grateful for that.”

“Dateline NBC” made its debut in 1992 and suffered a serious black eye a few months in. In November 1992, Dateline aired a report titled “Waiting to Explode” about GM pickups allegedly exploding upon impact during accidents due to the poor design of fuel tanks. “Dateline” set up a low speed accident showing the the fuel tank explode. But, unbeknownst to viewers, NBC producers rigged the truck with an incendiary device. GM filed an anti-defamation/libel lawsuit against NBC which was settled. Dateline’s EP and two other producers were dismissed and NBC News president Michael Gartner resigned under pressure.

Dateline’s 20th Anniversary Special airs Tuesday at 10pmET/PT, 9pmCT Tuesday night.