Former Postmedia columnist Michael Den Tandt has joined the senior ranks of the Liberal government as a communications adviser for Canada-U.S. relations, joining an increasing number of political journalists who are jumping ship to work for the Prime Minister’s Office and Liberal cabinet ministers.

Kate Purchase, director of communications in the PMO, announced the ex-journalist’s new posting on Twitter Wednesday morning — a week and a half after Den Tandt announced his departure from the Toronto-based newspaper chain on February 10.

Very pleased to announce @mdentandt has joined our team as a comms advisor on Can-US relations. Welcome to the team! — Kate Purchase (@katepurchase) February 22, 2017

I am very pleased and honoured to be aboard! https://t.co/j7bgm5vl4t — Michael Den Tandt (@mdentandt) February 22, 2017

In the month leading up to his exit from Postmedia, Den Tandt wrote six columns about Canada-U.S. affairs, including pieces on Canadian politicians’ responses to President Donald Trump’s travel ban and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approach to the Trump administration. In several of the columns, Den Tandt argued in favour of Trudeau’s “calm response” to the Trump administration, which may hint at how Den Tandt might advise the PMO moving forward.

“The Canadian response to this looming earthquake, and the potentially even greater one of U.S. trade war with China, has so far been as sensible as anyone could have hoped,” Den Tandt wrote on January 26.

Den Tandt’s last column for Postmedia, published the day before he advertised his departure, was a dig at the New Democratic Party’s recent moves.

Purchase told iPolitics Wednesday afternoon that Den Tandt applied for the PMO position and that “formal negotiations began several days before his departure from Postmedia.

“When he received our offer, he gave notice and stopped writing columns,” she wrote in an email.

iPolitics also reached out to Den Tandt for comment.

The former columnist joins a growing line of seasoned political journalists who are making the leap from their newsrooms predominantly to communications jobs in the Trudeau government. Many argue the trend raises some ethical questions, particularly when it comes to the speed of the transition.

While he said this has occurred with past governments, Carleton journalism professor Chris Waddell says it’s “reasonable and fair” for readers and viewers of news media to raise an eyebrow when “someone is reporting one day and then two days later shows up working for somebody (in government).”

“It’s reasonable to assume if someone leaves a journalism job and goes immediately into … working for a politician, that there were negotiations underway prior to that,” Waddell said. “So the question becomes: During that period of time, while the person was negotiating with the possibility of changing jobs, what were they doing in journalism?

“How were they covering whatever they were covering and did the possibility of their future job colour the sort of journalism they were doing? Retrospectively, (the audience) may think they’ve been somehow tricked — which, collectively, doesn’t play well on journalism.”

Waddell argued in favour of a longer “cooling off period” between when a journalist leaves the news industry and when they go on to work for a political party or government. When asked Wednesday whether the topics of Den Tandt’s most recent columns were questionable in retrospect, Waddell said no, given that many political columnists were writing about how Trudeau would act with the Trump administration at the time.

Journalists have always gone on to work for federal politicians and taken Senate appointments, but Waddell said he thinks a few factors are behind the current pattern. He said the Liberals, whether the party has been in power or not, historically have maintained positive relationships with the media — while the relationship between the Harper government and journalists was more strained — and he doesn’t find it surprising that reporters might want to work for Liberal ministers.

In addition, Waddell said the current climate in Canada’s struggling news industry is likely playing a part in the growing number of journalists landing jobs in the federal government.

“The number of people that are losing their jobs … or being offered buy-outs or early retirements … makes it a little bit different, too,” he said. “It’s kind of like leaving the sinking ship when in previous periods it didn’t seem to be so much. And so I think that’s coloured a little bit of it too.”

News of Den Tandt’s new position prompted mixed reaction from Ottawa politicos — including journalists and (mostly Conservative) government relations consultants — on Twitter Wednesday.

There’s no clear evidence of compromised reporting, but journalists need a cooling off period between covering the govt and working for it. — Don Martin (@DonMartinCTV) February 22, 2017

I agree, Don.

Hard to escape conclusion that this could have something to do with the erosion of public trust in media and government. https://t.co/Is76B3NWPK — Shay Purdy (@Shay_Purdy) February 22, 2017

How many columns about Ottawa politics did @mdentandt write while in employment contract negotiations with @gmbutts? — Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) February 22, 2017

The steady stream of journalists running to the Liberal Party is mind boggling. Hard to escape the public trust in media fury. — Michele Austin (@MicheleOttawa) February 22, 2017

Do you have quorum in PMO for a full on media party now? https://t.co/gpM03W7ckN — Brian Lilley (@brianlilley) February 22, 2017

People make their own decisions on what’s best for them, but yeah, this whole thing is super uncomfortable for the rest of us. https://t.co/UXMqRSZSPZ — Alex Boutilier (@alexboutilier) February 22, 2017

The government of Canada now has one of the best bureaus in Ottawa. — Aaron Wherry (@AaronWherry) February 22, 2017

Some Conservatives, however, like the director of communications for Michael Chong’s leadership campaign, tweeted their support for Den Tandt and pushed back against other Tories’ comments.

@katepurchase @mdentandt Conservative here. I don’t know @mdentandt but he was excellent, never biased. Dumb slur, public service important — Chisholm Pothier (@chisholmp) February 22, 2017

Den Tandt, a centrist political commentator, worked for Postmedia from 2011 to 2017 and prior to that, with Quebec news agency QMI and the Globe and Mail. He announced on social media February 10 that he was leaving Postmedia.

Five other notable Parliament Hill journalists have jumped ship to work for the Liberals — predominantly cabinet ministers — since the 2015 federal election. James Cudmore — currently director of policy in Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s office — and former Ottawa Citizen bureau chief Mark Kennedy, who initially started out as a communications advisor on democratic reform in the PMO, were the first to make the leap.

Other journalists the Liberals have hired since include former CTV National News editor David Taylor — now director of communications for Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould — and long-time CBC reporter James Fitz-Morris, who initially was hired to work as director of communications for Bardish Chagger, the government house leader and minister of small business and tourism.

Most recently, Treasury Board President Scott Brison hired former Canadian Press reporter Bruce Cheadle as his director of communications. Cheadle announced his new job on Twitter on February 6 — three weeks after his last day at the Canadian Press.

Earlier this week, Kennedy moved from the PMO to replace Fitz-Morris as Chagger’s communications director. Fitz-Morris is now director of communications for Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.

A handful of journalists also joined the ranks of the former Conservative government. Scott Anderson and Derek Shelly, both former editors at the Ottawa Citizen, hopped from journalism to Stephen Harper’s office. And former Canadian Press reporter Dan Dugas and ex-Sun Media reporter Bill Rodgers also left news to work for Tory cabinet ministers.

After leaving Harper’s office to found the now-defunct Sun News network, Kory Teneycke and Dennis Matthews returned to politics in 2015, both landing jobs in the Conservative party’s headquarters. Ex-Sun News reporters Kris Sims and Daniel Proussalidis also went on to work for former cabinet ministers Erin O’Toole and Jason Kenney, respectively.