In a statement, a spokesperson for “The View” tells TVNewser, “Elisabeth Hasselbeck is a valued member of ‘The View’ and has a long term contract.”

When pressed on whether she would be returning next season, the spokesperson replied, “she has a long term contract.”

A contract certainly provides job security for talent, but as has been shown over and over (see Conan O’Brien vs. NBC), if someone wants there to be changes, changes can and will happen.

Hasselbeck has been a panelist on “The View” since 2003. She has served as a game foil to her co-hosts, representing not only a younger generation of women, but also serving as the show’s resident Republican. Given that the program routinely features discussions about politics, and interviews with newsmakers, she often made her political opinions known.

The news of Hasselbeck’s possible departure comes less than 24 hours after Joy Behar revealed that she will be leaving the show after more than 16 years at the end of the season. Co-creator Barbara Walters is the lone original host. The other co-hosts are Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On “ABC World News” last night, it was revealed that Joy Behar–the longest-running cast member outside of Walters–would be departing.

“And this just in, our friend Joy Behar has announced that she will be leaving ‘The View’ at the end of the season,” Diane Sawyer said. “After 16 and a half years alongside Barbara Walters and the gang she says “it seemed like the right time to move on.”

Behar has been with the show since 1997, and has also doubled as a cable news regular. She had a program on HLN for years, and moved to Current TV after parting ways with HLN. Her future at Current is unclear, with Al Jazeera set to change the channel to Al Jazeera America in the coming months.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Barbara has the chicken pox,” Whoopi Goldberg announced on “The View.” “She’d never had it as a child. So now she’s been told to rest, she’s not allowed any visitors. And we’re telling you, Barbara, no scratching.”

“That’s what you get for interviewing Honey Boo Boo,” added Joy Behar.

Chicken pox in older adults can be serious. ABC says they expect Walters, 83, to be home soon.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“16 years ago there was no Facebook, there was no Google and a tweet was something Barbara Walters gave her dog,” Kimmel quipped at the dinner, with the camera panning to Walters, who was smiling, but not laughing.

Walters discussed the joke on “The View” this morning.

“If you look at me, I was laughing too. But I did not like Jimmy Kimmel — who was very funny — but I did not like what he said about me.”

“It was a well-crafted joke!,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg said, noting that when she is mocked on “Saturday Night Live,” she is portrayed by a man.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Don’t believe us? Among the attendees were Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, Fox News anchors Brian Kilmeade and Jamie Colby, ABC’s Katie Couric and Andrea Canning, NBC’s Matt Lauer, Brian Williams and Savannah Guthrie, CNN’s Piers Morgan, CBS’ Chris Licht and Gayle King and, just for good measure, Whoopi Goldberg, Star Jones, singer John Mayer, John McEnroe, Cablevision CEO James Dolan and movie tycoon Harvey Weinstein, among many others.

You can see more names at the Michael’s New York Twitter feed.

Update: Our own Diane Clehane was there, and spotted Regis Philbin, Bill O’Reilly, former New York Governor George Pataki and plenty of others. Her report and photos are here.

In other words, it was quite the crowd. Couric and Ailes even had a nice chat, as Niche Media founder Jason Binn noted on Twitter.

(photo via Jason Binn)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On the morning shows:

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts participated, as did Ann Curry and Al Roker on NBC’s “Today.” All four co-hosts on “The View” — Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck — were decked out in purple as well.

After the jump, see who on the evening news and who on cable participated. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Then yesterday evening, O’Reilly returned to one of his favorite stomping grounds: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where they talked about just about everything in an extended interview, including O’Reilly’s threat to quit if President Obama’s tax plan passes:

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“This week is my first week at ABC News, I will be doing some pieces and profiles for the news division during my gap year, so to speak.”

As for the tone and subject matter her program will cover:

“I think it’s really going to be a little bit of everything. We’re going to tackle some serious subjects because the world, as we know is very complicated and confusing at times and then we’re going to have a lot of fun, too., so it’s a mix.”

“So it’s ‘The View’!” quipped Whoopi Goldberg.

Couric also talked more about her program in a behind-the-scenes video:

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Soon-to-be ABC News contributor Katie Couric will make her guest hosting debut on ABC’s “The View” Wednesday, August 3. Couric will co-host the program along with Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. Couric’s appearance is slated for the final week of season 14 of the long-running daytime show.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“What God does is God’s business, I have no idea. But I’ll tell you this — whether you call it Gaia or whether you call it Jesus, there’s a message being sent. And that is, ‘Hey you know that stuff we’re doing? Not really working out real well. Maybe we should stop doing some of it.’”

The comments got the ladies of “The View” going this morning. Whoopi Goldberg: “If this is because we’re misbehaving and God is pissed. I would check the mirror Glenn.” Also, HLN host Joy Behar was confused about whether Pat Robertson is still alive. He is.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

What the heck is this show doing on a top ten list, you ask? It’s here because the fourth hour of Today is the most enjoyable and viewer friendly live program on daytime television. Live with Regis and Kelly is too rigidly structured to permit true spontaneity, The View is just too distressing to sit through (it went fantastically off the rails when co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg gave in to their tempers and huffed off the set because guest Bill O’Reilly made a remark they objected to) and The Talk has yet to become anything special. In contrast, sparkling, self-deprecating co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb took the tail end of Today and turned it into an hour of fresh, fast-paced, irresistible fun.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“I don’t care about ‘The Simpsons,’ but I think it’s really funny that FOX broadcasting takes shots at Fox News, which basically is paying the bills. Fox News makes so much money that it caries a lot of the other divisions of News Corporation, including the broadcast division.”

The FNC personality also talked about making up with Whoopi Goldberg after “The View” walk-off : “I was never mad at Whoopi or Joy Behar,” O’Reilly told Don Imus, “It was the greatest thing that could’ve happened to ‘Pinheads and Patriots.’ Thank you guys.”

(h/t J$P)

The video from this morning is after the jump…
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“I heard myself say the B.S. word.  And I knew I had to get up,” Goldberg said, “I know that if I cross a line, which I crossed, because I heard myself say something I had no business saying.  I had to go.”

A preview of the interview is after the jump…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The last time Goldberg and “Factor” host Bill O’Reilly were in the same room, it made for great television.

That would be in October, during a now-infamous incident which saw Goldberg and her “The View” co-host Joy Behar stormed off the set when O’Reilly, who was a guest on the show, made comments about Muslims that they felt was offensive.

In her “O’Reilly Factor” interview, Goldberg will discuss the incident and the rhetoric behind it, as well as her latest book and film projects.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.