Who is Rashida Jones? MSNBC's pick for Phil Griffin's successor will be first Black woman to run cable news network
Rashida Jones, the senior vice president for MSNBC will be the first Black woman president for a cable news network after her groundbreaking success in running the coverage of the Black Lives movement, Covid 19 reports and more. Jones, 39, will replace the longtime head of MSNBC, Phil Griffin, 64, who ran the show for 25 years, the Network reported. Jones currently leads the team of breaking news and major events coverage along with overseeing MSNBC's daytime and weekend programming. Jones will be taking over from February 1, NBC reported.
In an email sent by NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde to NBC, the chairman said, "Rashida knows and understands MSNBC, in part because it's where she started when she first joined NBCU seven years ago” adding, "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."
The mail further stated that Jones has been doing exemplary work in guiding the MSNBC team with the coverage of the Covid 19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter movement, presidential election 2020, and more. She also lent her expertise on two series of MSNBC including "Justice for All" and "Climate in Crisis." Conde also noted Jones’s remarkable help in preparing NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker for her role as moderator in the final presidential debate of 2020.
Conde has also praised Jones’s laser-like focus stating, “If you’ve worked with Rashida on any of those endeavors, you know that she has an outstanding track record and she leads with a laser-like focus and grace under pressure.” Rashida, a mother of two, son 14 and daughter 11, is on her path to making history but on the personal front, she rather leads a quiet life. There is no public information available on Jones’s spouses but she updates her Facebook profile with images of her son and daughter, and in one such post, Jones shared a selfie with her daughter sharing ‘My life, my world.” On another post, the mother-son-daughter trio can be seen on a day out in Grace lord park, spending a serene Saturday amidst nature.
Jones, a Hampton graduate, started working as a morning show producer at WTKR in Norfolk during her senior year of college. Later, she moved to The Weather Channel as a weekend producer and transitioned to director of live programming in 2009. Rashida joined WIS-TV in Columbia before moving in to New York as an executive producer for dayside shows at MSNBC. She gradually rose to managing editor at MSNBC and senior vice president of specials for NBC News and MSNBC. In 2021, Jones will write turn another page of history by becoming the first Black woman to lead a Cable News network.
MSNBC has reportedly shown an increased rating during the presidential election coverage. Chairman Conde has also noted Griffin’s exemplary leadership for 25 years stating "At MSNBC, Phil has built something remarkable," and added, "He leaves the network in the best shape it has ever been."