Meghan McCain, Chelsea Clinton and TV's Shameful Love Affair with Political Daughters (Opinion)

This story appears in the Dec. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Wanted: Reporter for regular feature segments on NBC Nightly News. No journalists need apply. NBC sent its viewers a miserable message about its brand with the addition of Chelsea Clinton (qualification: onetime residency in the White House, boldface parents) as a reporter for Making a Difference, its segment about volunteerism and community service. The quality of journalism that we deliver, NBC News implicitly states, is of such a low standard that a rank amateur is qualified to stand in front of our cameras, just as long as she has a famous last name. Chelsea the newswoman joins colleagues Meghan McCain, whose father was the Republican nominee for president, and Jenna Bush Hager, a double threat as both former first daughter and first granddaughter. NBC News did not initiate this trend: Former first son Ron Reagan's qualification to be a contributor for ABC's Good Morning America during the 1980s and '90s was as a professional dancer (and that famous name). PHOTOS: The Clinton Foundation's Decade of Difference Fundraiser This Clinton scion's hiring means that every former president since 1980 has a network TV journalist in the household or extended family. Why? The urge to hire from political families is an example of what NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen calls the "quest for innocence" in the political press. News organizations try to square a circle by asserting that they are inside players with access to the corridors of political power while at the same time remaining neutral outsiders, "innocent," without a partisan ax to grind. Hiring someone whose access derives from blood rather than political activism solves this problem. Clinton certainly has an insider's knowledge about West Wing crises, but as a reporter, she carries none of the ideological baggage that hiring a converted political operative (Tim Russert), onetime White House press secretary (George Stephanopoulos), former presidential aide (Diane Sawyer) or ex-speechwriter (Chris Matthews) entails. The other benefit of hiring a political heir is the freshness of telegenic youth: Chelsea, 31, is less grizzled than James Carville and has a less risque résumé than Eliot Spitzer. Nightly News likely hopes to improve its aging demographic with an on-air face in the target demo, a shift from 15 years ago when inspirational segments were filed by another nonjournalist impostor, "Stormin' " Norman Schwarzkopf. Nevertheless, this particular choice is peculiar: Clinton might know what an inside-the-White-House crisis feels like, but she has zero knowledge of how such a crisis -- or any news event, for that matter -- is covered by working journalists. Her parents kept her in a reporter-free bubble throughout her childhood; she stonewalled reporters when she stumped for her mother during Campaign 2008; and as recently as 16 months ago, she tried to block the press from covering her wedding, keeping the location secret in an attempt to thwart the paparazzi; and she wouldn't even give interviews in connection with her hiring by NBC. STORY: Chelsea Clinton Joins NBC News as Special Correspondent And the hiring of the hedge fund alumna reveals NBC News to have a particularly tin ear at a time when mainstream media stand accused by Occupy Wall Street of being complicit in an undemocratic political system as members and mouthpieces of the "one percent," rather than watchdogs scrutinizing corruption. NBC News has enough baggage with its CNBC brand; now imagine Clinton and Andrea Mitchell appearing on Nightly News during coverage of the next financial crisis: the daughter of the president who deregulated high finance with the wife of central banker Alan Greenspan, who allowed it to run amok. NBC News is reporting from that worldview rather than on it. You could say Clinton, Hagen and McCain are being exploited as eye-catching props by powerful men projecting an image of insider access. You could say this amounted to their being "pimped out" -- unless, of course, you happen to work for NBC News, in which case you would be suspended. Just ask David Shuster, who was suspended from MSNBC in 2008 for using that phrase in connection with Clinton. There is one group of professional journalists that should feel gratified by her arrival: field producers. Their reporting chops are all the more indispensable as the figures in front of their cameras become purely symbolic. Andrew Tyndall is publisher of Tyndall Report, which monitors network TV news. Related Topics NBC ABC News Good Morning America Today

Bella and Edward's 'Breaking Dawn' Mishap, and Other Movie Honeymoons Gone Awry

ZOMG, Bella and Edward are getting married! Their love has overcome all obstacles, and these two crazy kids (OK, one crazy kid and one sparkly old guy in a crazy kid's body) are finally gonna make the ultimate commitment in 'Breaking Dawn, Part 1.' To be followed, of course, by an extra-romantic super-sparkly honeymoon. Or not. Yes, as everyone who's read the books knows, it's not exactly smooth sailing for Bella and Edward as they head off on their romantic retreat to the private island of Esme. Their starry-eyed honeymoon comes to an abrupt halt when Bella realizes there's a little monster kicking inside of her belly. That's right -- a little half-human, half-vampire bundle of joy. Since it's not your average fetus, Bella's pregnancy accelerates at a rapid rate, effectively serving as a major buzzkill for their honeymoon as Edward frets about the effects on Bella's body. They have to say goodbye to exotic Esme early and rush back to scenic Forks. Bummer, huh? But theirs isn't the first movie honeymoon to go awry. In fact, movie honeymoons rarely go smoothly. Remember when Charlton Heston got totally sidetracked by work on his honeymoon in 'Touch of Evil'? It completely ruined their romantic getaway, and even put his lovely new bride (Janet Leigh) in danger! Bella and Edward's preempted honeymoon got us thinking about other movie honeymoons that don't go as planned. Movie Honeymoons Gone Awry Edward and Bella aren't the first movie newlyweds to have their honeymoons cut short. Don't you just hate it when candlelit dinners and walks on the beach are ruined by creepy propositions, flesh-eating zombies and murderous psychos? A Perfect GetawayZombie HoneymoonThe Heartbreak KidHaunted HoneymoonHoneymoon in Vegas See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Lionsgate Wants Gary Ross, Slumdog Writer for Hunger Games Sequel Catching Fire

The jury’s still out as far as I’m concerned on whether or not director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) was the right director to helm Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, even with the mostly-satisfying first trailer debut earlier this week. Lionsgate, however, seems more confident in Ross, as they want him to return to helm the second Hunger Games installment, 2013’s Catching Fire, with writer Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) reportedly in the running to script. From Deadline: I’m told that Gary Ross, who directed The Hunger Games, is coming back for the sequel. He originally intended to write the outline for the second film and script it with author Suzanne Collins (they teamed to do a lot of writing on the first film), but the post production schedule on The Hunger Games has made that difficult. The highly anticipated trailer debut on Monday revealed a solid visual sense for the world inhabited by teenage heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a working class girl in a future dystopia who winds up competing in a televised death match against 23 other youngsters. The trailer teased the events leading up to said Hunger Games and showed fans of Collins’ novel glimpses of the characters they know well, including Katniss, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Gale (Liam Hemsworth), and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz). What remains to be seen is if Ross and Co. capture the internal drama within Katniss as she begins to navigate the worlds of politics, love, and responsibility while trying to stay alive, not to mention how well Ross is able to evoke a sense of real danger and brutal violence in his tween and teen-oriented adventure. A more daring director would have been my preference — say Joe Wright, building off of the visceral action and style he lent to Hanna earlier this year — but Ross might be just safe enough to help make this the next MTV-safe franchise, a la Twilight. The Hunger Games as a story sets up the world of Panem and the inciting annual battle royale, but Catching Fire, the first of two sequels, expands Katniss’s world so much, and in such specific ways, that scripting it both for an established audience and for non-readers will be a trickier job. So while Collins adapting her own novel for the first film is a boon in many ways (a vote of confidence in the project, insurance against taking too much creative license or deviating from the material), it might take someone with more of a cinematic bent to translate the plot turns of Catching Fire to the screen. Is Beaufoy the right writer for the job? I don’t see why not; he’s notched solid films thus far, even if, as with Ross, there’s nothing in his resume that suggests he’s a particularly good match for a dystopian action adventure about a lethal teenage girl. Of course, Beaufoy’s Oscar statuette (and two additional writing nods) would give the Lionsgate series an added sheen of Oscar cred on top of Ross’s three nominations, so there’s that. Lionsgate Courts Simon Beaufoy To Script ‘The Hunger Games’ Sequel [Deadline]

Exclusive: Meredith Baxter to Guest-Star on Switched at Birth

Meredith Baxter Meredith Baxter will guest-star on ABC Family's Switched at Birth, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively. Baxter may have Bonnie Tamblyn Dixon, mother to Jum Thompson's character Kathryn and biological grandmother to Daphne (Katie LeClerc). Sparks fly and tension arrisses when she arrives for just about any family visit. ABC Family sets return dates for Pretty Little Liars, Lounging Game plus much more The guest place also marks a reunion between a few Michael J. Fox's imaginary moms Baxter was his mother on Family Ties while Thompson carried out his mother with the spine for the Future. Baxter look in one episode when the show returns Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 8/7c.

Passion for Existence (Zui ai)

A Superb Mega Films, Hing Lung Worldwide Group, Beijing Harmony & Harvest Media, Beijing Forbidden City Film, Pioneer TV & Movie Push. of Chengdu Media Group production. (Worldwide sales: Edko Films, Hong Kong.) Produced by Gu Changwei, Chen Xiaodong. Executive producers, Qin Hong, Bill Kong, Ma Hefeng, Zhang Qiang, He Bing. Directed by Gu Changwei. Script, Yan Laoshi, Yang Weiwei, Gu Changwei.With: Zhang Ziyi, Aaron Kwok, Pu Cunxi, Jiang Wenli, Sun Haiying, Tao Zeru, Wang Baoqiang, Cai Guoqing, Li Jianhua, Li Danyang, Jiang Wen, Feng Xiaogang, Lu Chuan, Guo Yongzhang, Guo Zetao. (Mandarin dialogue)Where you live now China's first Helps-related pic, "Passion for Existence" is certainly an anemic mess, notwithstanding stars Zhang Ziyi and Aaron Kwok (neither inspired) and rising helmer Gu Changwei. It's possible the first 2 1/2-hour conception was more coherent, nevertheless the current version feels sliced up and set together by multiple editors with limited communication capabilities. Occur a web-based northern Chinese village, the pic functions as neither Helps tale nor love story, having a defunct 12-year-old boy narrating and several risible sex moments, the crowd is unclear. Even most fests will remain away. Narrator Xin (Guo Zetao) died from Helps, like many infected when his unscrupulous father (Pu Cunxi) offered the town tainted blood stream. The asymptomatic isolate themselves in the school, including uncle Deyi (Kwok). Forlorn Qinqin (Zhang) arrives began out by husband Xiao Hai (Cai Guoqing), and he or she and Deyi fall crazily for each other. Villagers succumb as if Helps might be the bubonic plague, as well as the script, definately not demystifying the problem, is tonally everywhere. Zhang's red-colored-colored clothes set her apart but, like the attractive pictures from lensers Yang Tao and Christopher Doyle, aren't meaningfully built-in to the story.Camera (color), Yang Tao, Christopher Doyle editor, Li Dianshi music, Zuoxiao Zuzhou production designers, Wang Weiyuan, Han Dahai costume designer, Zhang Yongyi. Examined at Rome Film Festival (competing), November. 1, 2011. Running time: 99 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Summit And Twilight Sagas Temple Hill Acquire Frankfurt Hit Novel Deadmail

EXCLUSIVE: Summit Entertainment has acquired feature rights to Deadmail, a novel by Laurie Frankel that created a stir at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair. Twilight Saga producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill will produce. The novel is a love story about letting go, where a computer genius invents a way for people to email loved ones who have passed on. When he unexpectedly loses the woman he loves, he must face his own creation to keep her close or lose her forever. Summit production president Erik Feig and exec Jeyun Choi will oversee it along with Temple Hill’s Adam Londy. The book won’t be published until next year by Doubleday, and Deadmail sold in 14 other territories at Frankfurt. That gives Summit and the producers a chance to be far along on a script when the book comes out. Summit and Temple Hill release Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 next Friday (fans already are camping out for it). The book deal was brokered by UTA for The Friedrich Agency. Deadmail is the second novel by Frankel, who debuted with The Atlas Of Love last year.

Sneak Peek: Glees Troubletones Perform an Adele Mash-Up

Naya Rivera and Amber Riley The Brit is back on Tuesday's Glee! While Adele's songs have been covered on the show before, The Troubletones' performance may very well be the best yet.Santana, (Naya Rivera), Mercedes (Amber Riley), Brittany (Heather Morris) and the rest of the newly formed girl group take on a mash-up of "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You." The performance is also the show's 300th musical number.Harry Potter, Glee lead People's Choice Awards nominationsCheck out the sneak peek: The Glee episode titled "Mash Off" airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.