Shailagh Murray, Washington Post reporter, joins Biden staff

Vice President Joe Biden today named longtime political reporter Shailagh Murray as his new communications director. Murray replaces Jay Carney, who took over for Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary earlier this year.

"Shailagh's years of experience covering a broad array of issues ranging from domestic policy to foreign affairs make her uniquely positioned to lead our communications team," Biden said in a statement. "She is as well-respected among her peers as she is versed in the serious issues facing our nation and the world. Her leadership and counsel will be invaluable to me, and to the entire administration."

Murray has covered Congress and political campaigns for the Washington Post since 2005 after a long career at the Wall Street Journal, which included covering politics and campaigns from 1999 to 2005. Her addition to the staff means that Biden's communications team is now all women: Murray, Press Secretary Elizabeth Alexander, Deputy Press Secretary Amy Dudley and Assistant Press Secretary Liz Allen.

Murray is the latest in a long line of journalists who have crossed over and joined the White House. Carney is a former Time Washington bureau chief, and Tony Snow, a press secretary for the Bush administration, was a Fox News host.

Among them are Ron Nesson, who was Gerald Ford's press secretar and had been an NBC correspondent; his predecessor Jerald terHorst had been a newspaper reporter. (He resigned when Ford decided to pardon Richard Nixon.)

Also on the list are Bill Moyers, who was assistant news editor for KTCB radio and television stations before becoming Lyndon Johnson's press secretary, and Pierre Salinger, who was a newspaper reporter before becoming press secretary for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.