Not too long ago, Jen Psaki spent her days trying to explain the inner machinations of Washington to a crowd of skeptical journalists. On Sunday, she will become part of that horde. But if the former White House press secretary has her way, her new MSNBC program, Inside With Jen Psaki, won’t be as grizzled or as cynical as the reporters with whom she often parried. Instead, she says in an interview, “the hope is that when people watch the show, they come away and they learn something they didn’t know before, whether it’s about a person or an issue.”
The former White House press secretary joined NBC News and MSNBC as a contributor last year. She will host a weekly series for the cable news channel called Inside with Jen Psaki, beginning Sunday, March 19. The show will run at noon on Sundays, and will stream on Peacock the following day.
Stop Hiring Flaks To Do The Work Of Journalists
MSNBC’s decision to bring Jen Psaki onto its network isn’t much better than CBS hiring Mick Mulvaney.
As expected, she make appearances on the network’s cable and streaming programs as well as host a new original show set to debut in the first quarter of 2023.
Primaries are now well underway, and the 2022 midterm elections are a focus for news organizations already preparing for what’s certain to be a contentious 2024 presidential campaign. With that in mind, The Hollywood Reporter highlights some of the Beltway-based news personalities and executives poised to play a leading role in the months (and years) ahead.
Exclusives
Jen Psaki held her last briefing as White House press secretary on Friday as she prepares to become the highest-profile White House official to depart the Biden administration.
Psaki, whose last day on the job is Friday, has answered reporters’ questions nearly every weekday of the almost 500 days that Biden has been in office. That makes her a top White House communicator and perhaps the administration’s most public face, behind only the president and Vice President Kamala Harris. Her departure could complicate how Biden’s message gets out at a critical time for him, at least in the short term.
Jen Psaki’s Puny Conflict Of Interest
Jen Psaki assures us that she has nailed down the ethics of her impending departure as White House press secretary and move to MSNBC. “I took steps and have taken steps, as I’ve had any discussions with any future employer, that go over and above any requirements by government, recusing myself of any discussions as well, and I’m proud of that,” Psaki said on Sunday. Now, Psaki is a phenomenal talent, but not even she can wish away the unmistakable conflict of interest at play here. How to ensure fair treatment of media outlets when one of them is a prospective employer?
Discontent emerged over CBS’s hiring of former Trump administration official Mick Mulvaney as a commentator and discussions about current White House press secretary Jen Psaki working at MSNBC when her time in the Biden administration is through.
No, Jen Psaki’s Move To MSNBC Won’t Taint NBC News
Jack Shafer: Biden’s press secretary is just another in a long line of political operatives who have turned broadcaster.
NBC News journalists are troubled by and have expressed dismay to network executives about MSNBC’s intention to hire White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki when she exits the Biden administration, people familiar with the matter say. Noah Oppenheim, the NBC News president, even held an impromptu phone call Friday so that he could address the matter with vexed staffers from the Washington bureau, some of whom have complained to their superiors that the tentative hiring tarnishes the NBC News brand.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki is in exclusive talks with MSNBC to join the network after she leaves the White House around May, according to a source close to the matter. It’s been speculated for weeks that Psaki would leave the White House for a TV gig. White House communications staffers often negotiate TV jobs once they leave an administration.
President Biden’s spokesperson, who plans to leave the White House this year, is being feverishly courted by CNN and MSNBC, among others.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that she has tested positive for Covid-19. She issued a statement on Sunday in which she said that she last saw President Joe Biden on Tuesday, “when we sat outside more than six-feet apart, and wore masks.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was questioned at Wednesday’s briefing about a new report on media access at the border. NBC News reported that the Biden administration is “restricting the information Border Patrol agents and sector chiefs can share with the media” and that Customs and Border Protection Officials are saying they’ve “been told to deny all media requests for ‘ride-alongs’ with agents along the southern land border.” Fox News White House reporter Kristin Fisher asked Psaki: “Is the White House or DHS instructing border agents to refuse ride-along requests from reporters? Because that’s what a lot of our folks on the ground are hearing.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s first news conference with reporters on Wednesday stood in stark contrast to Sean Spicer’s first time before reporters four years earlier. Spicer made the plainly false claim that President Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd was the largest in history, which he later said he regretted. Psaki’s session was sedate, even boring at times, due at least in part to the newness of the administration.
Biden campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield will serve as Biden’s White House communications director. Jen Psaki, a longtime Democratic spokeswoman, will be his press secretary.
