Bill Carter of The New York Times writes this morning that Chelsea Clinton will be joining NBC News, effective immediately, as a full-time correspondent reporting feel-good features. (The offer sounds not entirely unlike the one that Jenna Hager, President George W. Bush’s daughter, received from NBC’s Today show in 2009.)
Cue predictable conservative whining about the liberal mainstream media. But another group that might be disgruntled by the news is aspiring journalists not related to an ex-president looking for a break. Here’s how NBC News President Steve Capus describes the talks that led to Clinton’s hiring:
Mr. Capus said an intermediary contacted him in July with word that “she was kicking around what she wanted to do next.”
Mr. Capus said he had met with Ms. Clinton and had a long conversation that began with a simple question. “I asked her: ‘What are you interested in doing?’ ”
The Times relied on Capus’s account because Clinton, who has long been famously (and justifiably, given how she was treated during her teen years) media-shy, “was not available for comment,” though she did issue a brief statement. Presumably, she’ll be more ready to field questions once she starts asking them for a living.
" Clinton, who has long been famously (and justifiably, given how she was treated during her teen years) media-shy"
You're kidding, right? When did the press give teen Chelsea a hard time? The answer is never.
#1 Posted by Alan Vanneman, CJR on Mon 14 Nov 2011 at 06:07 PM
"On his TV show, early in the Clinton administration, Limbaugh put up a picture of Socks, the White House cat, and asked, "Did you know there's a White House dog?" Then he put up a picture of Chelsea Clinton, who was 13 years old at the time..."
#2 Posted by Sergio, CJR on Tue 15 Nov 2011 at 02:31 PM
All hail the American meritocracy! We wish the millions of people without the same connections all the best in their careers during these difficult times.
#3 Posted by Mike H, CJR on Tue 15 Nov 2011 at 02:36 PM
Speaking of predictable, Greg seems to have the frozen vocabulary intact. 'Conservatives' do predictable 'whining', whereas, as we know, liberal pundits never 'whine'. (In the real world, I'm fairly certain, as one commentator on NPR's letter-writers noted recently, that middle-class liberals are the thinnest-skinned and whiniest writers in the public square.)
'Conservatives' are also 'disgruntled', which is an odorific-sounding word. Liberals are seldom 'disgruntled' in the vocabulary of the chattering classes. They may be 'disenchantled' or 'unhappy', etc., but not 'disgruntled'.
Greg did omit the media-blab which has angry 'conservatives' always 'engraged', whereas their opponents are 'outraged'. The former sounds like a personal, affected emotion, whereas the latter sounds like a detached reaction to injustice. But I'm sure the predictable, whiny vocabulary of the urban bourgeois media hasn't abandoned that particular usage.
#4 Posted by Mark Richard, CJR on Mon 21 Nov 2011 at 04:57 PM
Sorry, the word is 'enraged', not 'engraged'. Typo.
#5 Posted by Mark Richard, CJR on Mon 21 Nov 2011 at 04:59 PM
" Clinton, who has long been famously (and justifiably, given how she was treated during her teen years) media-shy"
You're kidding, right? When did the press give teen Chelsea a hard time? The answer is never.
#1 Posted by Alan Vanneman on Mon 14 Nov 2011 at 06:07 PM"
I'm with Sergio.
The Tailhook Pussy Shaver McCain made a remark about Chelsea that was universally said to be unrepeatable, so I can't quote it.
The treatment of Bush/Clinton was a Damn sight better than what Amy Carter got from the Media.
I believe it was the Jews at WaPo that printed," Boy that Amy Carter getting all those Parking Tickets in her,...car". In which they described Make, Year, color, Poster in the window and the dents.
I have NEVER seen the car of a prominent person described in such detail, they were, no doubt, hoping a Redneck from Georgia delivering a Semi load of chicken necks would kill her.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
#6 Posted by Monte Haun, CJR on Tue 27 Dec 2011 at 11:17 PM