Maya Wiley left a cushy contributor’s job at MSNBC in July so she could launch her campaign for NYC mayor, but you’d never know she exited the left-leaning network from all the airtime she continues to get.
Since departing from her official role at the channel, the former counsel to Mayor de Blasio has made no fewer than 18 appearances — enraging her mayoral primary rivals and earning criticism from media ethicists.
A Post review of clips found Wiley, 56, appears on shows across the network, mornings and evenings and on weekends. She is frequently introduced as a “legal expert” or professor at the New School. Her work for de Blasio comes up from time to time. But in some instances, she is identified by show anchors as a city mayoral candidate.
“She is getting more airtime than most of the other figures that have declared or said they’re interested. It’s a problematic leveraging of the relationship that she previously had with MSNBC,” NYU Journalism Professor Mohamad Bazzi told The Post. “As Donald Trump taught all of us, these appearances are a gold mine.”
Her arrangement on MSNBC has become a source of increasing irritation to Wiley’s rivals. At least one major campaign has already complained to network management about the Wiley situation, a rival campaign staffer told The Post, requesting anonymity.
The issue is delicate in the age of ranked-choice voting, as potential competitors struggle to take shots at opponents while still making themselves palatable as a second choice option to the supporters of those opponents.
Campaign reps for Wiley’s most serious rivals, Adams and Stringer, declined to comment.
“With New York facing so many challenges, all media outlets should make the effort to give equal time to all candidates so that New Yorkers can make informed decisions on their vote for mayor,” city Councilman Carlos Menchaca, another mayoral aspirant who’s gotten no MSNBC air time, told The Post.
