By Joe Coscarelli, NY Mag

In case anyone was wondering how Chelsea Clinton’s cushy “special correspondent” “job” at NBC is going, the answer is awesome, if you like fake interviews about advertising that really just serve as advertising. On Rock Center With Brian Williams, the former first daughter delivered a stilted voice-over for a hard-hitting chat with a cartoon pitchman, as part of a series ostensibly examining “some of the most popular television advertisements.”

But that’s not all!

She also interviewed the people behind those admittedly adorable AT&T commercials with the little kids, which just so happen to be directed by Booth Jonathan from the show Girls (where he awkwardly slept with Brian Williams’s daughter). In case this strangle circle of incestuous privilege weren’t weird enough already.

For more on this story and to view Chelsea talking to Geico’s Gecko (iNews Editor: personally I don’t} please go to: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/this-is-what-chelsea-clinton-does-at-nbc.html

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Chelsea Clinton at NBC: when nepotism goes wrong

By Joe Coscarelli NY Mag

NBC’s hiring of Chelsea Clinton as a “special correspondent” was initially received with a fair amount of eye-rolling because of the network’s history of employing famous progeny and Clinton’s own tentative, even nonexistent, relationship with journalists. Now, she’s renewed her original three-month contract despite doing just three fluffy segments in five months, and NBC insiders have taken the opportunity to complain anonymously to Buzzfeed.

But the network knew going in that Clinton wasn’t interested in being a real reporter, and they even doubted her screen presence from the start. What they wanted, of course, was her celebrity potential, and as of yet, she’s been disappointing in that regard too. It’s just hard to feel bad for anyone involved.

According to the report by Buzzfeed’s Michael Hastings, Clinton was “horrible” in the nominal interview process, where it felt like Clinton was the one calling the shots. “There were ground rules, what she could and couldn’t report, only good news, no politics,” said a source. And hopes weren’t high — one NBC staffer told coworkers she would be “terrible” on television. And so far? “What’s she giving us?” asked an NBC executive. “There’s that wall that needs to be torn down. She sounds like a smart and intelligent woman, but there are lots of smart and intelligent women.”

Hastings writes, “The days of Chelsea having it both ways are over. It’s one thing to want your total privacy, and stay totally private; it’s another thing to want your total privacy while reaping all the rewards and privileges that contemporary celebrity has to offer.”

Reading between the lines is easy: The network wants access to Clinton’s eventual tell-all about the Monica Lewinsky years, and the sympathetic character she could become if or when she chooses to open up. But hiring her as a long-term celebrity investment under the thin pretense of broadcast journalism — knowing full well she’s not particularly charismatic — and then sniping publicly about the results in the meantime just seems like bad form.

At the close of her first appearance, Brian Williams said tellingly to Clinton, “In the months to come, we want to hear about you and your life.” Those with something to gain may be frustrated that day hasn’t arrived, but don’t expect outsiders to sympathize with a network whose nepotism gamble hasn’t paid off yet.

For more on this story go to:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/04/chelsea-clinton-at-nbc-when-nepotism-goes-wrong.html