Rashida Jones will be the new face of MSNBC with a new position as the president. She is set to take her position in 2021 fully.
What We Know:
- Rashida Jones is set to become the president of MSNBC starting February 1st. She will be succeeding long-time president Phil Griffin, who has been with the station since the beginning in 1996 and has been the president since 2008. According to the Washington Post, a statement was made by Cesar Conde, the chairman of the NBCUniversal Newsgroup. He said in a memo to staff members on Monday afternoon that Griffin conveyed his desire to leave the network “at a time of his choosing and when he felt confident about the strength of the network he loves.” Griffin reportedly approached Conde about leaving his position after the November election.
- Jones will be the first Black woman to head a major cable news network and is set to become the highest-ranking Black woman on television. Joining MSNBC in 1996, Jones currently serves as a senior vice president for the 24-hour cable channel as well as NBC News. She also joined NBCUniversal in 2013. In that position, she oversaw coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, the social unrest over police violence in Black communities, and the 2020 presidential election. As announced by Cesar Conde, chairperson of NBCUniversal, “Jones has ‘masterfully’ guided NBC News coverage of the pandemic, the social justice protests and unrest, and the election.”
- Before joining NBC News, Rashida Jones served as the news director for the NBC affiliate in South Carolina and as director of live programming for the Weather Channel. After working there, Jones joined MSNBC as an executive producer in 2013, rising to the level of senior vice president before being named to the top job the following year.
- These changes come after The Journal reported that Phil Griffin challenged the organization to set a future goal of 50 percent or more of its staff to be women or people of color. In addition, Joy Reid has been moved to MSNBC’s 7 p.m. time slot, left open by the departure of host Chris Matthews. According to BET, her weekend slots are being filled by journalists Tiffany Cross and Jonathan Capehart, both African Americans. Nicolle Wallace’s afternoon show has been doubled in length, and Alicia Menendez has been hired as a weekend news anchor.
Rashida Jones has made history and is setting an example for all future news reports and television anchors.
