Chelsea Clinton’s stint as a special correspondent for NBC News, and her feel-good, charismatic-less TV spots, are over.
Clinton, who announced Friday she was leaving NBC via People magazine and a gracious Facebook post, said her reporting days are over in order to “continue focusing on my work at the Clinton Foundation and as (husband Marc Mezvinsky) and I look forward to welcoming our first child.”
Clinton joined NBC News in November 2011 with exactly zero network news and reporting experience. Her standing with the network suffered a controversial blow when, in June, Politico revealed that Clinton had been earning an annual salary of $600,000 for her infrequent spots — nearly $27,000 for each minute of airtime and far above the pay level of an average network correspondent — before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year.
Clinton worked as part of NBC News’s “Making a Difference” franchise in order to “serve in the public good.” Her humanitarian-minded work for NBC included an interview with the Geico gecko, asking him about the downsides of fame.
Clinton’s last segment aired on August 1. It was about the efforts of actor Jeff Bridges and a nonprofit, Share Our Strength, to give meals to children during the summer months, when they can’t receive meals at school.
Of course, hiring Clinton was never about the stories she would tell, except her own. Brian Williams admitted as much during Clinton’s first appearance, telling her, “In the months to come, we want to hear about you and your life,” and then added, “We want to hear about the lives of the people you’re going to highlight.”
Clinton’s absence from the network will be more convenient for NBC when if Hillary Clinton runs for president.
But, like any Clinton worthy of the name, Chelsea has proven her shameless opportunism. And we are sure it won’t be long before she is back in the spotlight.
