The career path of White House press secretary-turned-TV pundit isn’t new.
Tony Snow worked for Fox News and then moved to the George W. Bush White House. Dana Perino did the reverse. But never before has a chief press secretary for the president of the United States leveraged the position to negotiate a career move to cable news. That’s exactly what Jen Psaki has done, according to Axios. Psaki will soon be heading off to what’s likely a very lucrative contract with MSNBC.
The White House press secretary should have resigned last week when this news broke.
Let’s be clear — this is an unprecedented breach of public ethics. Unfortunately, most of Psaki’s colleagues in the press briefing room seem to be OK with it. Psaki was only questioned briefly by CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe on the possible ethical ramifications of these negotiations. Then everyone simply moved on.
Psaki’s move and the media’s nonchalant apathy about it explain so much about what is wrong with the incestuous nature of the Washington media’s relationship with the Biden White House. In turn, it helps explain why the public reputation of both institutions is hovering somewhere just above the popularity of bubbling street sewage. That media watchdogs such as CNN’s Brian Stelter see no conflict of interest here speaks more about corporate media’s agenda bias than it does about Psaki. It’s worth noting that Psaki is a former CNN contributor, serving the network after leaving the Obama administration’s State Department.
Psaki is not a free agent a la the world of sports. Her podium is not for sale to the highest media bidder. Any job in the executive branch is a job paid for by the people. But we know what comes next. Psaki will move from spinning for the Biden White House in the White House to spinning for the White House at MSNBC. And think about this: Psaki has been in her role as press secretary for just a little over a year. That means negotiations with MSNBC likely began not soon after she started!
Consider something else: What’s the likelihood that NBC White House reporters Peter Alexander or Kristen Welker will aggressively challenge someone they know that they’ll soon share office space with? The very possibility of this concern is outrageous by itself.
Equally absurd is the hypocrisy.
When CBS News announced last week that it would be hiring former Trump White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, some in the media got the Twitter vapors. Yet near none of them had a word about the ethical dilemma of the current White House press secretary. It’s relatively safe to assume that NBC’s White House reporters had background knowledge of Psaki’s negotiations with their employer. Did they raise concerns? Do they have concerns now?
We deserve to know.
Regardless, Psaki should have resigned. And those reporters in that briefing room, those whose job it is to serve the public’s access to political accountability, should take a hard look in the mirror.
Stephen L. Miller has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and currently hosts the Versus Media podcast. He can be found on Twitter @redsteeze.
