Roberta Baskin Joins HHS as Adviser

The revolving door spins again!

This time it's former television reporter Roberta Baskin, who will join the Department of Health and Human Service's office of inspector general as a senior communications adviser in mid-August. Inspector General Daniel Levinson announced the hire in a memo to staffers today, according to spokesman Marc Wolfson.

Former television reporter Roberta Baskin, photographed in 2004 (Post)

Baskin will join the office for one year, according to Wolfson, to help drum up media attention for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, an HHS-Justice Department task force aimed at combating Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

Perhaps best known for her years at WJLA-TV in Washington, Baskin also worked for "NOW with Bill Moyers" on PBS, CBS's "48 Hours" and ABC's "20/20." She also served as executive director of the Center for Public Integrity.

While she's only serving in an advisory role, Baskin is at least the 13th former journalist now doing work for the Obama administration and the third journalist-turned-public-servant that previously worked at both ABC and CBS. The administration's health care spokeswoman-at-large Linda Douglass and Justice Department spokeswoman Beverley Lumpkin also worked for both networks.