Media Stars Shine for Obama's Inauguration

Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post reports that the media stars are out in full force today for President Barack Obama's inauguration:

It's turning into the royal wedding, isn't it?" asks Tina Brown, who threw a brunch Sunday at the Council on Foreign Relations with MSNBC's Joe Scarborough.

Every inauguration is a major media moment, with nonstop television coverage, newspapers churning out special editions and correspondents parachuting in from around the globe. But it is hard to envision this level of intensity if John McCain were taking the oath of office. All the hoopla has left the impression that many in journalism are thrilled by Obama's swearing-in.

"We wanted to celebrate the key themes of the Obama era," says Arianna Huffington, who hosted more than 1,500 guests at the Newseum last night at a bash featuring massive computer screens -- and live-blogging stations -- and entertainment by Will.I.Am, Sheryl Crow and Sting. These include "the rise of the Internet and new media and the role they had in getting him elected, and the way he's going to use it to govern."

At times, the line between celebrity and journalist seemed to vanish. Sharon Stone began interviewing 11-year-old Adrian Kali Turner, one of a group of kids picked to sing with Will.I.Am, on a reporter's behalf.

Why was she excited by Obama? "It's a benchmark in history," Adrian said. Can we get past color? "We're all the same inside," she said.

Beaming at her journalistic handiwork, Stone declared: "It wasn't Will.I.Am who said that. It was a little girl who said that."

Bill Press, a radio host at WWRC (1260 AM) -- now renamed "OBAMA 1260" -- arranged for other liberal hosts, including Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes, to join a radio and television broadcast on Sunday at George Washington University, complete with a live band. "We wanted to celebrate the inauguration of someone we all worked hard to get elected, and the role that progressive talk radio played," he says.