The White House announced today that Washington Post reporter Shailagh Murray will become Vice President Biden’s Communications Director, starting next month. Murray will replace Jay Carney who of course left Biden’s office to become the White House press secretary.
Jay Carney, of course, was Time magazine’s DC bureau chief before he went to work for the Obama administration. So at least nine people from the mainstream media have gone to work for Obama in one capacity or another, by ABC’s count:
Murray joins the ranks of many former journalists who have joined the administration. Chicago Tribune correspondent Jill Zuckman became assistant to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and director of public affairs, former Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Gosselin who is now a speechwriter for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and former Washington Post deputy editor Warren Bass who is an adviser to United Nations Ambassador Dr. Susan Rice. Former ABC News congressional correspondent Linda Douglass became a senior strategist for the Obama campaign, while other campaign officials included former CNN producer Kate Albright-Hanna and former CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman.
What’s really puzzling here is how Team Obama ever get the idea in the first place that these objective reporters might be interested in working for a Democratic administration. Any guesses?
