When Ann Curry announced her departure from “Today” this morning, reactions quickly poured in. On the “Today” Facebook page, every comment on the wall from visitors was about Ann, with most saying that they were not pleased with the decision. Within 4 minutes of posting the story about Ann’s new role, the story received over 2,500 comments:

Elsewhere, prominent figures in the TV news business shared their thoughts on Curry’s departure.

CNN “Piers Morgan Tonight” EP Jonathan Wald, who worked with Curry when he was EP of “Today” and “NBC Nightly News”:

Boy does Ann Curry look great today.

— Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) June 28, 2012

Godspeed Ann Curry.

— Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) June 28, 2012

“Today” correspondent Jenna Bush Hager:

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A Page Six item today:

It was a media powerhouse at Upper East Side Italian restaurant Elio’s on Wednesday night. At one table, “CBS This Morning” co-host Charlie Rose, Donny Deutsch, Piers Morgan and Morgan’s executive producer, Jonathan Wald, gathered for dinner, while “Today” co-anchor Matt Lauer and Bloomberg CEO Andy Lack, who was formerly president of NBC News, sat a few tables over. Observers in the room were waiting to see which of the morning show personalities would leave first, given their early morning call times. Lauer was first to call it an early night at 9 p.m., but stopped by the other table to say goodbye. Rose, Morgan and Wald left an hour later.

Hmmm… We wonder who the Post’s source is on that one….

ABC’s Barbara Walters is apologizing for using her influence to to help a former aide of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad find work in the U.S.

The Telegraph got a hold of several email exchanges between Walters and Sheherazad Jaafari (below) who helped set up Walters’ interview with Assad in December — an interview that Syrian officials were not pleased with.

“I am in so much trouble here,” she writes to Walters on Dec. 8, a day after the interview.

Jaafari then came to New York looking for an internship or a University placement. Walters says Jaafari asked her about a job at ABC. “I told her that was a serious conflict of interest and that we would not hire her,” Walters writes in a statement obtained by TVNewser.

But Walters thought Jaafari could be a good fit as an intern on “Piers Morgan Tonight.” Jaafari writes to Walters on January 24:

I also hope to hear from Piers Morgan and I am ready to start interning with him as soon as I come back on Feb 11th. I will buy you some jewelry from Syria. Let me know if you need anything else from there!

Two days later, Walters emailed Richard Wald, the former NBC News president now a professor at Columbia University and the father of Jonathan Wald, the EP of “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

She is only 21 but had his ear and his confidence. I have recommended her as an intern to your son for Piers Morgan. She is applying to Columbia School of Journalism. She is brilliant, beautiful, speaks five languages. Anything you can do to help?

Wald responded that he’d send her information onto the International Affairs school, adding, “I will get them to give her special attention.”

In the end, Jaafari did not get into Columbia and isn’t interning for “Piers Morgan Tonight.” In her statement, Walters apologizes for using her influence in any way: “I realize that this created a conflict and I regret that.”

The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter writes about a potential trial in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case, how big it has the potential to be, and why the media cares:

If the case goes to trial, “it has the potential to be as big as the O. J. Simpson trial — and just as divisive,” said Piers Morgan, the CNN interviewer.

Already, the fallout from the killing has become a prolonged and politically controversial news story. Along with giving Americans a shared national conversation, “it has filled the void left by a political process that lacks excitement or suspense,” said Jonathan Wald, the executive producer of Mr. Morgan’s program.

As Stelter notes, in today’s crowded media landscape, citizens increasingly don’t want to have to rely on media personalities to tell them what they think. They want to become involved:
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TVGuide’s Stephen Battaglio chats with FBN’s Melissa Francis whose penning a memoir due out later this year. Francis, who went from child star, to Harvard, to business network anchor, gets praise from a former boss:

“She has a playful yet inquisitive edge to her that makes her different than the die-cast cable anchors,” says “Piers Morgan Tonight” executive producer Jonathan Wald, who worked with Francis at CNBC.

Sitting at a long table at the Landmarc restaurant in New York’s Time Warner Center, CNN host Piers Morgan looks quite relaxed. He says he feels it, too, having survived one year of his 9 PM program, a year that included earthquakes, tsunamis and revolutions.

Having to toggle between covering breaking news on CNN and judging dancing Christmas trees on “America’s Got Talent” began to take its toll however, and late last year Morgan was released from his NBC obligations, and focused his attention on his CNN program.

That program, “Piers Morgan Tonight,” will be undergoing a transformation this year.

“I think we will be evolving the show into a more structured format, bringing more of my personality into it,” Morgan said over a lunch with a small group of media reporters. “If you ask me what my favorite shows are on cable, it would be Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart, on network it would be [David] Letterman. The shows where they have a basic structure you get familiar with, stuff to look forward to.”

The goal is to make the program “a bit more mischievous, certainly more humor, more opinionated,” Morgan says.

“PMT” will be adding signature segments, and injecting more of Morgan’s personality into it.

“We will still have long-format interviews where appropriate, but less,” he says. “It will have a much newsier, and I hope humorous tone to it as well.”

While Morgan admires talent like Stewart and O’Reilly, he also says he has no intention of copying them. He wants to put his own stamp on it.

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CNN “Piers Morgan Tonight” EP Jonathan Wald speaks to B&C’s Andrea Morabito about the program, as well as CBS’ upcoming morning show revamp (subscription required). Among other things, Wald revealed who his surprising choice would be for a permanent guest-host:

Do you think you might eventually have a permanent guest host? Who might fill that role?

I actually thought Chelsea Handler did such a great job; she’d be ideal, although the sexual tension and the electricity in the air when she was on was matched only by Al Roker [on Dec. 5].

Will Piers travel to London for the Olympics this summer?

We’re talking about that, nothing has been decided yet.

You’re a former Today show producer, and CNN and CBS are launching new morning shows next year that are backing off the idea of trying to copy Today. Is that a good strategy?
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MSNBC is seeing an opportunity for some of its left-leaning talent in the coverage of Occupy Wall Street, writes Reuters’ Paul Thomasch.

“Big events turn careers, we’ve seen that throughout journalism history,” said Rich Stockwell, executive producer of Ed Schultz‘s show.

But former NBC News president and ABC News executive Richard Wald, (and the father of “Piers Morgan Tonight” EP Jonathan Wald), says MSNBC has a problem on its hands.

“MSNBC has a problem because of the apparent split in liberal ranks between those who believe Obama has stayed true to his message and those that think Obama has not been a great help to their causes. Once an audience splits, it isn’t as neatly predicable as it used to be.”

Former Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell walked out on CNN host Piers Morgan Wednesday night, and the channel is still talking about it two days later.

CNN will replay the interview on “Piers Morgan Tonight” this evening, as seen on promos running throughout the day (see the photo right). In addition, the channel continues to run segments on the walkout during its news programs, like the one below on the “Art of the Walkout” from Jeanne Moos.

Tonight, Morgan will discuss the walkout with Time TV critic James Poniewozik.

Update: “PMT” EP Jonathan Wald takes to Twitter to note that MSNBC and Fox News have also been “covering” the walkout as well. So take note cable news guests: if you want lots of free publicity to shill your book/movie/political campaign, be sure to insult the anchor interviewing you.

Piers Morgan, who was called out twice during the Murdoch hearings by MP Louise Mensch is not taking her “smear” lying down.

Mensch was on “The Situation Room” yesterday, and Morgan phoned in. Mensch says Parliamentary protections would keep her from repeating what she’d said about Morgan during the hearing.

Morgan wasn’t having it: “I call on you Ms. Mensch now to repeat it, show some balls, repeat what you said about me and then maybe go buy a copy of my book.”

Morgan then discussed the matter on his show, later.