NBC News announced this morning that they have hired Chelsea Clinton as a correspondent and she will report on the Making A Difference series for the show. As far as I know she has never done any reporting and never even interviewed someone but NBC decided to hire her for their national news program? I know networks are all about making money and she will provide a ratings boost for her first report, but after that? Will anyone really care and in the meantime you have taken away a job from someone who is probably more talented and worked a lot harder to get a job on the evening news.
Well they hired the Russert kid, and he's not a good journalist. It will be interesting to see how she does at this job considering she's mostly avoided the spotlight in her adult life.
ReplyDeleteShe has degrees in history, international relations, and public health. She's working on a doctorate. By all accounts, she's very smart and the few times I've heard her speak, she's articulate. For something like this, which seems charity oriented, I can see Chelsea doing well.
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ReplyDeleteHaving gone to journalism school and worked on and off in different parts of the business (wires, newspapers, TV), it's annoying to me that people think they can do my job without any training.
ReplyDeleteOne of my many, many gigs was working briefly at JFK Jr.'s political magazine, "George", in the 1990s. I didn't work directly with John, although he was supposedly a very nice guy, but from the articles that appeared under his name it was clear he was no journalist. He'd come to an interview armed with a list of questions and then read them off like a laundry list, instead of listening to the answers and creating new questions on the fly the way a pro would.
"George" was also a huge hit for the first couple of issues, and then people quickly lost interest.
She still has her day job working for one of the biggest hedge funds on the planet (Avenue Capital Group) and her husband is launching a hedge fund as we speak with friends from Goldman Sachs. Usually that would be considered, you know, a conflict of interest in being a correspondent. But let me guess: One of her first profiles will be of Occupy Wall Street protesters who will be clueless about all this and she won't be required to disclose it.
ReplyDeleteI can also see her doing really well with this, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders, she's smart and she works hard. I like her.
ReplyDeleteAs a recovering journalist who spent (yes I admit it, but I started young) more than 30 years in the business, I have to say that having a journalism degree while having been a requirement in the past few years, doesn't guarantee you know squat about interviewing. Case in point: Guilana DePanderer. She's got two degrees and have you ever noticed the depth of questioning she ever does? She's got to be one of the worst interviewers on the planet.
ReplyDeleteA lot depends on the school you go to, as well.
Used to be you didn't need a j-school degree to work as a reporter. But you needed the right brainpower.
I say, "Give Chelsea a chance. She can't hurt the profession like the so-called professionals have hurt journalism over the last couple of decades."
:-)
Jenna Bush Hager is a correspondant for the Today Show and she is AWFUL, so I can't imagine that Chelsea would be worse than she is.
ReplyDeleteChelsea is going to surprise a lot of people...she'll be great.
ReplyDelete@Nutty_flavor: Couldn't agree with you more. Just because you can dance, doesn't mean you are a choreographer, and just because you can read doesn't mean you can write. I work in an international newsroom, and I love watching cocky people who've "done other things" but are extremely self-confident in their "writing" fall on their faces. When there are no real journalists left, people will wonder why the news is written so badly. That said, I believe there is a place for blogs in the media world (especially this one!). After writing about death and destruction all day, it's nice to read Enty and all the fabulous guesses that the readers here make on blind items.
ReplyDeleteI say give her a chance...if she even has half her fathers charisma, she will do well.
ReplyDeleteShe's actually done some public speaking and interviewed her parents in front of a live audience. Not the greatest credentials, but she doesn't seem to be the type to do something for the fame. I imagine this was well thought out and that Chelsea will succeed.
ReplyDeleteJenna Bush is AWFUL. It constantly sounds like she is reading a script. The Russert kid's better, but he seems to have disappeared. Is he still around?
Personally, I would have knowing I was hired because of my last name. And she is a smart woman, I am sure she knows it.
ReplyDelete*hate
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Chelsea knows why they hired her, but she'll make the most of it. That girl is a smart cookie, and is plenty media-savvy after the lifetime she's led in the public eye.
ReplyDeleteI like Chelsea and wish her the best. But it is annoying to see "journalism" being reduced to scripts read by people with no credentials, but with famous relatives.
ReplyDeleteWhat Layna Day said. The girl is no idiot.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be some perk for being the daughter of a president, right?
ReplyDeleteChildren of the wealthy and powerful who just magically qualify for entrance to great universities and great jobs. It's not a coincidence. I do not wish her ill. I assume that she's a nice kid and not stupid BUT that alone doesn't qualify her for this good fortune. The truth is she got this job, and other nice jobs, and probably the degrees as well, because of her dad.
ReplyDeleteI'm grow so weary of the bullshit train.
sussique - No, there doesn't. Why would there "have to be?"
ReplyDeleteI always thought Chelsea would grow up to do something, I dunno...wonderful. Hedge funds? Consulting firms? Correspondent? Not so great.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to see her in action before I decide whether it is a mistake.
ReplyDeleteShe's a smart girl, though.
Nepotism exists, though so there is no debate that her political family helped her with this connection.
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ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind this one at all. The girl is smart, and she works hard. She's kept her nose clean, and she's done everything as well as anyone could hope. She knows pressure like most of couldn't, and she's always been graceful about it. Doors will open for her the same way some will close. She is in a unique position of access to knowledge and experience that the other applicants don't have, and that's valuable. It's foolish to overlook that, regardless of whether you think it is "fair." (And, since when is life?!) There are spots in this world reserved for people who are handed them; at least, this girl has earned stripes, is smart and works hard. I also find it interesting that she would get trashed if she sat back on her laurels, ate bon bons and shopped all the time ... but, she's out, working hard, earning degrees, staying clean, doing everything as right as can be, forging a career of interest to her, and ... she gets trashed. What do you want from her? I say Bravo, and thank you for not being another Paris / Kartrashian.
ReplyDeleteI don't think she inherited her father's (that might be questionable)charisma. She can't be any worse than Jenna Bush though.
ReplyDeleteI agree Amatel and Amy.
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