Although Psaki has worked almost exclusively in political press relations, she did join CNN as a contributor in February 2017 and worked there until the Biden transition hired her in November 2020. (Sanders has also worked as a CNN contributor.) If you can’t remember anything Psaki said on CNN, don’t blame yourself. In her on-air appearances, she filed only the most anodyne comments, either because she had nothing to say or because she anticipated that the revolving door would sweep her back into politics someday and she didn’t want to offend her future bosses. Based on her CNN work, she could be a wonderful MSNBC or Peacock host or a wretched one. It looks like an easy job, but it’s not. Back in 1997, CBS News recruited and groomed Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., for an anchor position. She cratered in nine months and left the network.

As with the Mulvaney hoo-ha, the rage over the prospective hiring of Psaki gives us an MRI scan of journalist insecurities. They imagine themselves “professionals” doing a “professional” if not credentialed job and resent anybody who enters their profession without advanced degrees or years of experience. Psaki’s hiring has become a crime against journalism in the eyes of journalists because it places somebody they consider to be an amateur (or even an anti-journalist) in a place that should go to a professional. But perhaps the greatest thing about journalism is its observance of an open door. Anybody who wants to pick up a pen or a camera and wants to perform an act of journalism can be as much of a journo as the guy or gal who has covered city hall for 40 years. Journalism’s openness to new voices and new approaches distinguishes it from other professions, many of which discourage the entry of new competitors through licensing, credentialing, or other means. The only thing you must do to qualify as a journalist is to get the story.