Rashida Jones will take over as president of MSNBC starting early next year.
Phil Griffin, who has led MSNBC since it began almost 25 years ago, will retire at the end of January, and Jones will take the position on Feb. 1, the network announced on Monday.
“After the presidential election, Phil and I spoke about his desire to depart at a time of his choosing and when he felt confident about the strength of the network he loves,” Cesar Conde, who became chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group in May, said in a memo to the network’s employees.
Jones, who is a senior vice president at NBC News and MSNBC, will be the first black executive to lead a major cable news network.
“Rashida knows and understands MSNBC, in part because it’s where she started when she first joined NBCU seven years ago,” Conde wrote in the memo. “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.”
