Ed Chen… Is a Lobbyist?

Well shiver me timbers. This is one you don’t see everyday. The illustrious Ed Chen, who had previously announced that he’s leaving the White House beat for the LA Times where he’s performed admirably for oh so long, is leaving journalism altogether — and becoming a tree-hugging flack.* Here’s the email he wrote to the fellow members of the White House Correspondents Association Board this afternoon:

Dear Fellow Board members,

Alas, I must resign from the board after all…

I’ve decided to leave the LATimes, leave TribuneWorld, leave the newspaper industry…for a movement that protects trees instead of killing them…

Am taking a newly created job, Washington communications director, for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

So you may soon see me, on your way into work, outside picketing…

Cheers,

Ed

What’s next? Carl Cameron becoming a lobbyist for AstraZeneca? April Ryan heading over to ATLA? Or maybe Anderson Cooper becoming executive director of HRC?

* And we mean “tree hugging flack” in the nicest possible way.

MEDIABISTRO EVENTS

Get Social Media Marketing Secrets from Experts

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.