MSNBC has named Rashida Jones its next president, making her the first Black executive to run a major general news cable network, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Jones, who currently serves as the senior vice president of NBC News and MSNBC, will replace longtime president Phil Griffin, who is stepping down after leading the network since 2008, the network announced Monday.
In her current role, Jones has led programming for major recent events, including the coronavirus pandemic, the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump and two 2020 Democratic presidential debates. She leads MSNBC daytime and weekend programming, and oversees a number of NBC News series, including “Justice for All.”
Before joining MSNBC, Jones served as the news director for the NBC affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina. She also served as The Weather Channel’s director of live programming, her NBC profile states.
Jones is a graduate of Hampton University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs. She will begin her new role as MSNBC president on Feb. 1.
News media professionals celebrated Jones’ appointment on Twitter.
CNN White House correspondent April D. Ryan wrote that Jones “is everything!”
“We will [be] watching with pride as she becomes President of MSNBC!” Ryan added.
Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for “PBS Newshour,” tweeted a congratulatory note to Jones on Monday.
NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff tweeted about Jones’ new role, writing that “good things happen to good people.”
Other Twitter users who joined in the celebration of Jones also recognized that an HBCU grad is, yet again, making headlines for breaking barriers this year.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is notably a graduate of Howard University – also an HBCU.
“Let this be another reminder of the impact of HBCUs,” wrote Spectrum News journalist Shakari Briggs.
“HBCUs continue to come up with wins in 2020,” wrote Candace Amos, The Daily Beast’s deputy director of audience development.
In an email memo to NBC News staff, NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde wrote that Jones “knows and understands MSNBC, in part because it’s where she started when she first joined NBCU seven years ago.”
“She leads with a laser-like focus and grace under pressure,” Conde said about Jones, The Associated Press reported.