NEW YORK — Maria Shriver, trying to balance her roles as a television journalist and as active first lady of California, announced Tuesday that she was leaving her job at NBC News.
The announcement capped weeks of back-and-forth between the network and Shriver, who has been contributing anchor on the newsmagazine "Dateline," and came after three difficult months of juggling the unusual dual roles.
Shriver had grappled publicly and privately with being both a journalist and a political figure, describing herself as a "work in progress."
"I was in uncharted territory for a journalist," Shriver said in a statement released Tuesday. NBC said Shriver, who had talked to numerous colleagues in recent weeks about what she would do, would not otherwise comment.
"I have no doubt that I could report now and in the future for NBC News with total objectivity, independence and without conflict, as I have for the last 18 years," she added in her statement. But after "much soul searching" she decided it wasn't possible to maintain her journalistic credentials and still be an active first lady, she said, adding that it had become clear that "my journalistic integrity and that of NBC News will be constantly scrutinized."
Still to be determined is whether this decision will allow Shriver more time for her role as a key political advisor to her Republican husband, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He credited her with drawing Democratic and independent votes during the fall's recall election. The final agreement hammered out between NBC and Shriver leaves open the possibility that she could still appear on television.
Time permitting, she said in her statement, she will work on documentaries and special projects for NBC-owned cable channels or even the NBC network itself, just not under the NBC News banner. NBC has rights of first refusal on any projects, and if they are rejected, Shriver can take them to other cable channels or PBS, with the exception of rival cable news networks. One possible project relates to her children's books, the latest of which, on Alzheimer's, will be published in May.
In recent weeks, there has been talk among Schwarzenegger's political advisors that Shriver might campaign publicly for Propositions 57 and 58, the deficit bond issue and balanced budget amendment that will appear on the March 2 ballot. As of Tuesday, no campaign event for Shriver had been scheduled.
