After a four-year tenure as president of MSNBC, the corporate introduced that Rashida Jones can be resigning from her place, in keeping with The New York Occasions. Jones made historical past as the primary Black lady to steer a cable information community.
In a memo to staffers, Jones shared that she shall be stepping down from her publish on the community.
“I got here to this determination over the vacations whereas reflecting on our exceptional journey and the numerous successes we’ve achieved collectively as a crew,” she wrote. “This has been essentially the most rewarding chapter of my skilled profession and I’m immensely happy with what we have now completed, which has been made potential solely by you.”
Mark Lazarus, the incoming chief govt of SpinCo, lauded Jones for her profitable tenure.
“Rashida has expertly navigated MSNBC by way of a years-long, unrelenting, and unprecedented information cycle, all whereas driving the community to report viewership and making investments in nonlinear companies. MSNBC is well-positioned for the longer term,” Lazarus stated in a memo to employees.
In keeping with the community, Rebecca Kutler, senior vp for content material technique at MSNBC, will function interim president, efficient instantly.
“Rebecca is the perfect chief to information us by way of this second, and I stay up for collaborating together with her as we form our collective future collectively,” Lazarus stated. Jones will stick with the community as an advisor earlier than formally leaving in March.
Taking the helm of MSNBC in February 2021, Jones assumed the management place following the inauguration of President Joe Biden and the January 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol. MSNBC’s rankings grew exponentially because the community lined the newest political information below her management. The community was the second most-watched cable community throughout her presidential tenure, behind longtime rankings chief Fox Information.
Jones’ different accomplishments embody signing new long-term offers with the community’s prime expertise, akin to Rachel Maddow. She oversaw a dwell occasion sequence and relaunched a brand new cellular app and premium subscription sequence.
Beforehand, Jones was senior vp of NBC Information and MSNBC, the place she led the manufacturing of “cross-network particular occasions, together with election evening protection and presidential debates.” She joined NBC in 2013 as an govt producer. Earlier than that, she served as information director for the NBC affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina.
Jones’ resignation comes after the announcement that MSNBC is amongst a number of cable channels that Comcast, its mother or father firm, plans to reconfigure into a brand new firm. USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and the Golf Channel are additionally part of the change in Comcast’s portfolio.
