Rashida Jones (; born ) is the president of the cable news network

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

, succeeding

Phil Griffin Philip T. Griffin (born November 27, 1956) is an American television executive, who from 2008 to 2021 served as president of MSNBC, a United States cable news channel. Early life The youngest of four children, Griffin grew up in Chappaqua, Ne ...

on February 1, 2021. Jones is the first Black woman to lead a cable news network.

Early life and education

Jones was born to Richard and Alice Adkins, the oldest of three children. She grew up in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

. The family later moved to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

where she attended

Henrico High School Henrico High School is a public high school located in Henrico County, Virginia and operated by the Henrico County Public Schools. It has two specialty centers — the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years/ Diploma Program and the Center ...

and became editor of the student newspaper. Jones attended

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

, majoring in broadcast journalism. She graduated from Hampton in 2002 with a degree in Mass Media Arts. In 2022, Jones established a scholarship fund at Hampton University for journalism students.

Career

In 2002, while a senior in college, she worked as a morning show producer at

WTKR WTKR (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed CW affiliate WGNT (channel 27). Bo ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. After several years there, she moved to

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

as a weekend producer, and became director of live programming in 2009. Jones later worked at

WIS-TV WIS (channel 10) is a television station in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on Bull and Gervais Streets ( US 1/US 378) in downtown Columbia ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

, as news director, then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as an executive producer for daytime shows at MSNBC. Later roles included managing editor at MSNBC and senior vice president of specials for NBC News and MSNBC, in which she managed dayside and weekend news programming on MSNBC, as well as leading coverage of breaking news and major events across NBC News and MSNBC. Jones expanded the town-hall concept to a wider audience, including a criminal justice special filmed at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

correctional facility. While a senior vice president at NBC News and MSNBC, she led a shift from election coverage to a focus on

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Jones became the first African-American woman to run a major cable news network.

Honors and awards

* Jones is a member of the

Scripps Howard The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

School of Journalism and Communications Hall of Fame. * In 2020, she was named in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

s 2020 New York Women's Impact Report *In October, 2022, Jones was the inaugural recipient of the Media Leadership Award from

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a Public university, public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls, New Jersey, Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, ...

School of Communication and Media.

Personal life

Jones is divorced and has two children, a son and daughter. Her partner is Edward Fisher, the community and government relations executive at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rashida Living people American television executives MSNBC people Women television executives African-American television producers American women television producers American television producers Hampton University alumni Henrico High School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)