Brian Stelter-Led Panel Calls Out Jen Psaki for Keeping WH Gig Amid MSNBC Negotiations: ‘Very, Very Wrong’
Reports that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki could be leaving her position to enter the media game have kicked up plenty of controversies recently. The potential move is something even CNN analysts admitted has been causing issues within NBC News, the brand Psaki would allegedly be joining when she jumps from pushing back against negative press about the current administration to covering it along with the other journalists she often gets into heated exchanges with.
Psaki leaving her position to join a Peacock streaming series has “ruffled some feathers” at the network, according to a CNN panel.
Some within NBC News, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported during a panel discussion on Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources, feel such a quick transition from the White House to private news would “tarnish the NBC News brand.” The switch has created an “awkward dynamic” within NBC News, Darcy reported, mainly because of the lack of a “transition period” for Psaki.
News that she could be ditching her White House gig for a private media job broke in February, and she has continued to serve as the White House press secretary during the time rumors are flying she could jump from being in the administration to presumably trying to cover it in some fair, non-biased way.
Journalist Claire Atkinson, who covers the media for Insider, called the move “very, very wrong” in her analysis.
“There should be a period of time where you off into industry and then you come back and perhaps then you go to TV,” she said, “but this move seems too fast to me.” She added that she has heard from sources there could be a break of sorts worked into Psaki’s contract so there would be “less questions about the ethics.” She is still, however, being paid “presumably millions of dollars” to “opine” on soon-to-be former boss President Joe Biden, which Atkinson chalks up to “very, very wrong.”
Psaki has yet to confirm the move herself. An Axios report from earlier this month suggested she could be joining the likes of hosts like Rachel Maddow at MSNBC, which is under the same corporate umbrella as Peacock. Psaki’s MSNBC show would reportedly stream on Peacock. The move would come sometime in May.
It’s not unusual for White House officials to move into media careers, but Psaki’s swift transition would be something of note as she would very quickly go from being the spokesperson for the administration to being on the airwaves covering the same conferences she used to host and spin.
On Friday, Psaki was asked about reports of her departure during a White House briefing. She refused to confirm the rumors, but said if she did make the move there would be no conflicts of interest, though she did not explain how there would be no conflict of interest.
“I have done – have taken the ethics legal requirements, to the highest, very seriously, in any discussions in any considerations of any future employment, just as any White House official would, and I’ve taken steps beyond that to ensure there’s no conflicts,” she said.
Watch above, via CNN.
