Newbie MSNBC host Jen Psaki says there's a big blur between White House press secretary and MSNBC work. That sounds about right. Who can tell the difference in Democrat publicity between Psaki's podium and Psaki's program?
Speaking at the news website Semafor's Media Summit on Monday, Semafor co-founder Ben Smith asked Psaki if she considered herself a journalist, and she said "I do."
.@semaforben asks @jrpsaki if she considers herself a journalist:
— Semafor (@semafor) April 10, 2023
“I do ... To me, journalism is providing information to the public, helping make things clear, explaining things, having conversations with people that people want to learn more about.” pic.twitter.com/C8hL6666GZ
Journalism is a blur, says one of the people cashing in and blurring it:
Here's how I think about it. Journalism has changed dramatically. Semafor is an example of that I'm, of course, an example of that, right? And even when I was in the White House, working in government, it really was already all on a spectrum. It wasn't just the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, and then everything else wasn't considered part of journalism. It's all a big, broad scope of things.
And so to me, journalism is providing information to the public, helping make things clearer, explaining things, having conversations with people, people want to learn more about. And so I think there's a broad expansion of what that is.
Naturally, Psaki told Smith she asked former George W. Bush press secretary Dana Perino and former Clinton press secretary George Stephanopoulos for advice about moving from White House communications to TV news.