Andrew Breslau, who for eight years ending in 2006 toiled at CNN “as a senior manager and producer,” has been named President of New York City-based The Nation Institute, affiliated with the far-left The Nation magazine run by frequent MSNBC guest Katrina vanden Heuvel, and home to Christopher Hayes, Rachel Maddow's fill-in host.

The institute's August 18 press release described Breslau's CNN duties: “Tasked with managing a team of journalists covering the U.S economy, he also helped cover events overseas that ranged from the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”

Prior to joining CNN, Breslau was quite active with a series of left-wing enterprises, starting in the mid-1980s writing for Mother Jones magazine and then helping to found Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting as its first associate director, the release from the institute's Communications Director, Ruth Baldwin, recounted.

Following several years in the early 1990s as “director of public affairs for Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger,” during the 1996 election cycle “he was the director of special projects for the Democratic National Committee, where he handled press relations and organized artists and celebrities on behalf of President Clinton and Democrats across the country.”

Indeed, a  July 26, 1996, USA Today item by Jeannie Williams reported Breslau's creation of “Artists for a Democratic Victory Committee.”

Apparently, CNN decided that partisan activism qualified him for a slot as a producer and guest-booker.  

Last week: “AP White House Reporter Loven Jumps to Liberal Democratic Political PR/Lobbying Shop.” (My complete Obama-journalism revolving door list.)

Since leaving CNN in 2006, Baldwin relayed, “Breslau has served as the Executive Director of City Futures, the parent organization of the public policy think tank, Center for an Urban Future.”

The Nation Institute's self-description:

The Nation Institute's dynamic range of programs include a bestselling book publishing imprint, Nation Books; the award-winning Investigative Fund, which supports groundbreaking investigative journalism; nationally televised town hall meetings and debates; the widely read and syndicated website TomDispatch; an internship program at The Nation magazine; Journalism Fellowships that fund up to 25 high-profile reporters every year and the prestigious Puffin/Nation and Ridenhour prizes that honor outstanding public citizenship and acts of truth-telling. Work produced by The Nation Institute has sparked Congressional hearings, new legislation, FBI investigations and the resignation of government officials, has changed the debate and has a powerful impact on the most urgent social and political issues of our day.

— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.