When Chelsea Clinton was announced as a contributor to NBC’s news magazine show Rock Center with Brian Williams, there was a mixture of guffawing and curiosity among many media circles. Ms. Clinton is perhaps the least controversial of the Clinton trio, and her closely-guarded private life has always been something that people respected, compared to other famous political progeny eager to cash in on their family name. That has likely contributed to a sense of bewilderment that someone with next to no journalistic chops would get such a plum gig, simply because of her last name.

Earlier in the week, NBC announced it would hire Chelsea Clinton as a correspondent for its “Making a Difference” series, a decision that clearly did not go over well for some. On CNN’s Reliable Sources today, Howard Kurtz‘s panel tore into the “Nepotism Broadcasting Company” for depriving someone without connections of such a job, with one panelist particularly noting it was offensive to “young people who played by the rules.”

Hillary Clinton spoke with NBC senior political correspondent Chuck Todd about her daughter Chelsea Clinton becoming his new news colleague at the network. “What – what did you think when she said, ‘I want to become a member of the fourth estate,’ this side of the line here?” Todd asked. “Well, I was a little surprised!” Clinton exclaimed. “But, you know, she -– she decided to go for it, and I’m very excited for her.”

According to a story by Bill Carter in Monday’s New York Times, NBC will announce today that Chelsea Clinton has been hired to work on the station’s “Making a Difference” series, which highlights the good deeds and works of everyday people. Steve Capus, president of NBC News, told Carter that Clinton will begin work immediately.

From time to time, our readers will challenge us to cover a story they think we’ve missed, so when one such reader alerted us that First Lady Michelle Obama thanked “CNN and the rest of the mainstream media for all its support and kindness,” we got right on the case. Sure enough, Real Clear Politics had the goods, under the headline Michelle Obama: “Fortunately, We Have Help From The Media.”

Aha! Proof that the in-the-tank lamestream media is in the tank, right? Not so much.

Bill Clinton has joined the ranks of those publicly supporting the movement to legalize gay marriage. Clinton has released a statement via the Human Rights Campaign, an organization “working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.” His statement, sent to the group last week and released this morning, describes marriage equality as another step in fulfilling America’s “permanent mission” to “form a ‘more perfect union.’”

Every late summer, public officials and news makers disappear from public life and go on vacation, making it hard for the news media to find interesting stories to cover. So how does the respected cultural commentator Jon Stewart deal with the seasonal dearth of interesting news items? Mock the cable news media’s efforts to fill 24 hours of live coverage, especially when there is nothing to report. Like the recent wedding of Chelsea Clinton in Rhinebeck, NY, or as Stewart called it, the event that “set the record for most amount of media gaining the least amount of information.

Meet the Press not only devoted some time to discussing Chelsea Clinton‘s wedding this morning, they brought in resident historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to add in her two cents. Joking aside, it is rather astounding how much attention Chelsea’s wedding has received. Goodwin thinks it demonstrates how far we have come as a county (though she neglects to mention in which direction).

The details of Chelsea Clinton‘s wedding have been subject to much speculation — including the make of Chelsea’s wedding dress! — as well as confirmed attendees and the estimated cost of the lavish affair. A few photos from the event were released to select media outlets, including the Times, as well as the Washington Post and Politico, showing a smiling Chelsea with Mezvinsky, Secretary of State Clinton radiant in fuschia, and a very slim-looking President Bill Clinton walking his daughter down the aisle.

Something strange is going on here: Conservatives don’t like money. That’s the message I’m getting from the extreme distaste some conservative critics have shown for Chelsea Clinton‘s wedding. Forget about Rush Limbaugh’s $54 million Gulfstream jet, Mitt Romney’s $42 million donation to his own presidential campaign, John McCain’s seven or eight houses, the RNC’s vacations [...]

Chelsea Clinton is getting married this weekend, some which has lead me to wonder whether Chelsea Clinton’s wedding is the new Shark Week. How else to explain the level of attention being devoted to a woman whose major public achievement has been managing to stay out of the harsh spotlight that has been focused on her family for the past 20 years. To be clear, all things considered, this was no small achievement.

Think you’re important? Oh, really? Have your parties ever caused the FAA to declare the skies above your house a no-fly zone? No? Then you’re clearly not as cool as Chelsea Clinton, who weds this Saturday, July 31st to Mark Mezvinsky (who may or may not be distantly related to Amar’e Stoudemire but not Mel [...]

Hillary Clinton sat down with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell in Pakistan recently to discuss her current efforts in the region to gain government support against terrorist groups. However, thanks to a statement about her daughter’s upcoming wedding, the takeaway from the extensive interview about her time in the Middle East is a short soundbite in which she seems to forget that gay Americans still can’t legally wed.

More sad news from the Al Gore camp, who is starting to look more and more like the new John Edwards every day: Gore and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Tipper, will not be attending Chelsea Clinton‘s wedding, and event they had reported been “looking forward to” a year ago, before the Gores hit this recent unfortunate patch of events.