Helm in transition at MSNBC

TV news operation to be 1st in U.S. led by Black woman

Phil Griffin is leaving his post as president of NBCUniversal’s MSNBC and will be replaced by NBC News executive Rashida Jones, who will become the first Black woman to run a major TV news operation.

Griffin, 64, departs after leading MSNBC to the best year in its history thanks to heavy viewer interest in the 2020 presidential election and the covid-19 pandemic.

Jones, 39, has been senior vice president in charge of specials at NBC News since 2017. She leads coverage of breaking news and major events across NBC News and MSNBC and oversees daytime and weekends news programming on MSNBC.

Jones, who shares a name with a television and movie actress, previously spent seven years as a managing editor and executive producer at MSNBC. She takes over for Griffin on Feb. 1.

In a memo to staff sent Monday, NBC News Group Chairman Cesar Conde said Griffin asked to leave after the election, expressing a desire to exit while MSNBC is in a position of strength.

The network’s personalities in the late afternoon and evening — including Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace — have seen their popularity rise among progressive viewers riled up by the actions of the Trump administration.

“Phil is as much a part of the NBC News & MSNBC family as anyone in our storied history,” Conde wrote in the note obtained by The Times. “He started 25 years ago as a producer on ‘Today,’ and has been with MSNBC for 25 years — since its founding. At MSNBC, Phil has built something remarkable. He leaves the network in the best shape it has ever been. Six straight record years. Each one better than the last.”

Conde said Jones “has an outstanding track record and she leads with a laser-like focus and grace under pressure,” praising her management of the network’s coverage of the presidential election, the protests that stemmed from the killing of George Floyd, and the coronavirus epidemic in the United States.

“Rashida knows and understands MSNBC, in part because it’s where she started when she first joined NBCU seven years ago,” he said in the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post. “She knows that it is the people who work here that make it great, and she understands its culture. She also appreciates the impact and potential of the brand.”