While the battered denizens at the L.A. Times wait to hear whether their next editor will be a patsy for the publisher or an actual respected newsroom leader with independence and experience (and a severance package), deposed editor Jim O'Shea will go on KNBC "News Conference" Sunday morning to give his side of the story. Laurel Erickson hosts this week and "News Conference" airs at 9:30 am. * Update from Erickson: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mr. O'Shea was unable to join us." [Hmm. - LAO]

Also: KPFK's "Deadline L.A." will stage a reading of O'Shea's and publisher David Hiller's crossfire rhetoric on Saturday at noon on FM 90.7. Co-host Barbara Osborn will read O'Shea's words while co-host (and Times staff writer) Howard Blume will read for Hiller. Marc Haefele will moderate and comment.

More media happenings: The cast of Kitty Felde's short play "Journalist of the Year" (which opens Feb. 8 at the Stella Adler Theatre) plans to crash the cocktail party at Saturday's Golden Mikes banquet at the Universal Hilton to see how the broadcast media types they portray actually act while dressed up. Longtime Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrin and retired Channel 2 journalist Ruth Ashton Taylor are the lifetime honorees. Bizarrely, I'll be there too.