LOS ANGELES — NBC’s newest correspondent fits the
profile of a lot of other network news hires — bright, articulate and
educated at America’s best colleges. She’s also unlike other network
news hires — having lived for eight years in the White House and done
little to veil her suspicion of the media.
So it
was with more than a little carping and some outright disdain that
professional journalists and other Washington observers greeted Chelsea
Clinton’s ascension to a prime-time television perch. Judging from
online comment boards after NBC announced Clinton’s hiring Monday, much
of the public will take a more generous, wait-and-see attitude toward a
hiring that has plenty of historic precedent.
Clinton
will appear as a “special correspondent” on the network’s Nightly News
as well as on its recently launched evening magazine, “Rock Center With
Brian Williams.” She will report stories about individuals and
organizations that perform good works, under NBC’s “Making a Difference”
banner.
“Chelsea is a remarkable woman who will
be a great addition to NBC News. Given her vast experiences, it’s as
though Chelsea has been preparing for this opportunity her entire life,”
Steve Capus, president of NBC News, said in a prepared statement. “We
are proud she will be bringing her considerable, unique talents and
dedication to NBC News.”
Clinton, 31, plans to
continue work toward a doctoral degree. She received a masters in public
health from Columbia University in New York last year, after earning a
bachelor’s degree in history at Stanford University. She previously
worked at the consulting firm McKinsey&Co. and serves on several
boards, including for her father’s foundation and the School of the
American Ballet.
NBC representatives did not say
when her first story would be broadcast or what it would be about. They
depicted the former first daughter’s relationship with the network as a
work in progress. It remains to be seen how often she will appear on the
nightly news and the magazine program.
Clinton
joins a couple of other political daughters under the NBC umbrella. In
2009, the network hired Jenna Bush Hager as a reporter for the “Today”
show. As with Clinton, producers have steered her toward topics unlikely
to provoke charges of political bias. The onetime school teacher has
delivered stories about a violin prodigy, a professional football
player’s charitable works, profiles of national parks and an interview
with “Twilight” movie heartthrob Robert Pattinson.
More
than a few other political progeny have delivered the news in some
fashion. President Harry Truman’s daughter, Margaret, hosted a radio
show, “Authors in the News.” John F. Kennedy Jr. co-founded the
political magazine “George.” Vice President Walter Mondale’s daughter,
Eleanor, worked as a television and radio host. Most recently, NBC’s
cable outlet, MSNBC, hired Meghan McCain — daughter of John McCain, the
U.S. senator and 2008 presidential candidate — to provide political
commentary.
True to her long-standing practice,
Clinton declined to speak to anyone in the media after NBC’s
announcement. She strenuously avoided interviews during Hillary Rodham
Clinton’s 2008 presidential run, even refusing to speak to a 9-year-old
reporter from Scholastic News. The child wanted to know what kind of
“First Man” Bill Clinton might be.
“Chelsea
Clinton has loathed the news media for most of her life,” Don Van Natta,
a New York Times reporter, wrote via Twitter. “So it makes sense she
has decided to join us and refuse to be interviewed.” The journalist
co-authored a book about Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Judy
Muller, a onetime ABC correspondent who now teaches at the University
of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication, said it is
hard not to see the Clinton hiring as a “gimmick.” She said it would be
hard to explain to her students that it sometimes takes more than hard
work and persistence to make it to national television.
But
Muller noted that some born into political families — Chris Cuomo, son
and brother of New York governors and an ABC correspondent, and Maria
Shriver, a Kennedy clan member and onetime network anchor — had staying
power.
“Those people lasted,” she said, “because they could do the work.”
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