Press-shy Chelsea Clinton is now press
From invisible to highly visible, welcome to Chelsea Clinton's coming-out week. Monday night marks her debut with NBC News' modestly rated news magazine, "Rock Center with Brian Williams," and on Wednesday, she hosts "Live from Lincoln Center's" telecast of "The Nutcracker" on PBS.
What's going on?
Not quite the Howard Hughes of presidential daughters, Clinton, 31, has still been something of a recluse during her public life, never granting interviews. Her allergy to the press has even spread to her new TV partners, who declined to comment on the Clinton hire. When her "special correspondent role" was announced in mid-November, she said in a carefully worded statement, "People who imagine and implement solutions to challenges in their own lives, in their communities, in our country and in our world have always inspired me." We do know that tonight's piece is about Annette Dove, an Arkansas social worker who helps impoverished children. But no further information nor a preview clip was provided by NBC.
Is there a journalistic ethics issue involved here?
Some critics pounced on the appointment, chiding NBC for the three "isms" -- nepotism, favoritism and cronyism. (President George W. Bush's daughter Jenna Hager has a gig for "Today.") However, Gerry Solomon, director of the journalism program at Queens College and a former longtime NBC News executive, says there's a long history of first children "making the transition into the communications area," adding, "she's a substantive person and will bring an intellectual curiosity . . . NBC was smart to hire her."
Other first children who went into media?
John F. Kennedy Jr. began his media career in 1994 as host of a WNYC series on volunteerism called "Heart of the City" (he later launched George magazine). Susan Ford was a photojournalist for many publications, as well as the AP. Ron Reagan worked as a magazine journalist, hosted a late-night TV show and had a radio show. Margaret Truman -- who married Clifton Daniel Jr., the future managing editor of The New York Times -- co-hosted a quasi-news radio show with Mike Wallace. Julie Nixon Eisenhower was once assistant managing editor of the Saturday Evening Post.
Who inspired Clinton to do this job?
Hard to say if she's not saying anything, but Clinton's mother-in-law, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a longtime reporter with WNBC and NBC News, may have had a role. "I do think she is perfect for this kind of job," Margolies-Mezvinsky said in an email. "She's smart, knowledgeable and very inquisitive."
