Last year, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki committed to leaving the Biden administration sometime in 2022.
She’s quickly approaching that deadline, and she may pivot to another industry: cable news.
Psaki finds herself “feverishly courted by CNN and MSNBC, among others,” the newsletter Puck reported Wednesday.
“Is she the next Maddow or Anderson?”
According to Puck, Psaki has spent the month meeting with CNN interim co-president Amy Entelis and CNN+ programming lead Rebecca Kutler, as part of a “top-secret and mission-critical recruitment assignment.”
She has also NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde and MSNBC President Rashida Jones, Puck reported.
Each network finds itself imperiled… and lagging behind Fox News.
MSNBC is scheduled to lose its star anchor, Rachel Maddow, who plans to go on hiatus and pursue other projects later this month. MSNBC will need to replace her.
CNN has been melting down more publicly. The network has parted with CEO Jeff Zucker, anchor Chris Cuomo, and producer John Griffin — over three different sex scandals.
Lately, the network has been investing in new projects. For example, it recruited NPR star Audie Cornish for its streaming service CNN+, and it presumably gave her a massive raise, compared to NPR.
However, the network has still damaged its public image.
Over the year 2021, CNN lost 38 percent of its viewership. With only 1.1 million daily viewers, it no longer places among the 10 most-watched channels.
MSNBC has fared slightly better, with 1.5 million daily viewers and a 28 percent loss in viewership.
Still, Fox News remained the most-watched cable network, taking a 34 percent loss but retaining 2.3 million daily viewers.
Psaki has long planned to leave Biden’s White House after a year, in order to let other P.R. professionals gain experience as the president’s press secretary.
“I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job, in a year from now or about a year from now,” she said on a podcast in May 2021.
If Psaki jumps from press secretary to cable news host, then she will be following the path forged by figures like Nicole Wallace, Kayleigh McEnany, and George Stephanopoulos.
However, all these figures waited until their old bosses left office.
Is Psaki starts hosting a cable news program during Biden’s reign, then she may resort to asking softball questions to Biden’s staff.
She may break the barrier between broadcast journalism and presidential P.R.
Flashback: MSNBC signs shocking new host; Fox News makes 2022 primetime change
The Horn editorial team