The New York Times
Maïa de la Baume profiles Valérie Trierweiler, whose partner, François Hollande, was just elected president of France. Trierweiler (her last name will henceforth serve as a useful shibboleth for sorting out who was paying attention in high-school French) has covered politics for Paris Match and continues to do so for French TV channel Direct 8. That’s “not widely regarded in France as posing a potential conflict of interest,” de la Baume writes. “I haven’t been raised to serve a husband,” Trierweiler told de la Baume. “I built my entire life on the idea of independence.”
Journalist-politician pairings occur stateside, despite the former profession’s well-documented handwringing over whether reporters should even register with political parties. Columnist Connie Schultz, who is married to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), saluted Trierweiler on Twitter:
This journalist married to a U.S. senator cheers French journalist and First Lady Valerie Trierweiler. Great attitude. tinyurl.com/7kn8arn
— Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) May 16, 2012
Schultz took a leave of absence from The Plain Dealer in 2006 when her husband, Sherrod Brown, ran for the Senate; she returned after he won the seat. But she decided to resign in September as her husband’s re-election campaign ramped up. She told colleagues in an email:
In recent weeks, it has become painfully clear that my independence, professionally and personally, is possible only if I’m no longer writing for the newspaper that covers my husband’s senate race on a daily basis.
She continues to write for Creators Syndicate and Parade.
Gail Huff is a reporter at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., where I used to work; she’s married to U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.). When she was hired, the station said she wouldn’t cover politics. Their daughter Ayla is a special correspondent for CBS’ “Early Show.”
In Washington, other journalist-politico pairings have included Andrea Mitchell and Alan Greenspan, and Barbara Walters and Sen. Edward Brooke.
Earlier: Romancing the Source (AJR)
