Rashida Jones is an American TV executive who is currently serving as the senior Vice President at NBC News and MSNBC.
In December 2020, it was announced that Jones would be replacing Phil Griffin as the President of MSNBC from February 1, 2021. With that she is slated to become the top-ranking black woman in the television news sector as well as the first black woman to head a major cable news network.
After the announcement, actress and director Rashida Jones hailed her promotion and congratulated her on Instagram “’Congrats to Rashida Jones!! The FIRST BLACK PERSON EVER to run a major cable news network!! I’m so proud to share a name with you’.”
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Rashida Jones – Career in MSNBC and NBC as Senior VP
As the senior VP at the cable news channel, Rashida was in charge of and served as the executive producer of major events and breaking news at both MSNBC and NBC News. This included network-wide reporting for events like President Trump’s impeachment trial, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Decision 2020 coverage of the network which included presidential debates, primaries, town halls, forums and special election nights, and days of on-the-ground coverage.
Under her tutelage, the network produced two of the most viewed Democratic presidential debates in TV history. The Feb 2020 presidential debate held in Las Vegas had an average audience of almost 20 million spectators as well as over 13 million views on live-stream.
Rashida is also in charge of MSNBC Dayside programming, live programming management and newsgathering with increased focus on live reporting, breaking news, and improvement in NBC News’ journalism and resources.
Additionally, Jones supervises network-wide NBC News’ series such as Kids Under Pressure and Justice For All, etc.; the NBC News Decision Desk which comprised of data scientists tasked with making election calls on primary and presidential election nights; and the 2019 new streaming network launch of NBC News, i.e., NBC News Now.
Past Career
- From November 2000 to May 2004, she worked as morning show producer at WTKR-TV located in Norfolk, Virginia.
- From May 2004 to July 2011, she worked as a weekend producer, then as senior producer, and later as director of live programming at The Weather Channel. As director she led the channel’s most historical coverage of climatic events like Hurricane Katrina, debilitating snow storms, and widespread tornado outbreaks.
- From Jul 2011 to Jul 2013, she worked as News Director at WIS-TV, an affiliate of NBC News located at Columbia, South Carolina.
- In August 2013, Jones moved to New York and joined MSNBC as an executive producer for its daytime shows. She was promoted to Managing Editor in February 2014 and as senior vice president of specials in March 2017.
- In addition to her job at NBC News and MSNBC, Rashida is also a Coach/Non-Teaching Adjunct at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism since August 2017.
Rashida Jones – Net Worth, Education, Personal Life
- Jones attended Hampton University from 1998 to 2002. She graduated from there with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Mass Media Arts-Broadcast. She has now been inducted into the Scripps Howard Journalism Hall of Fame.
- She is a non-resident senior fellow with the Fox Leadership Program of the University of Pennsylvania.
- She is the co-chair of Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications Advisory Board at Hampton University. She is a board member in the organization “Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism”.
- She is a member of the Alliance for Women in Media, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the National Association of Black Journalists.
- Jones is 5 ft 6 inches tall. She is a very private person and not much is known about her personal life. Her mother passed away a few years ago and his father was apparently a boxer.
- She is currently single. It is not known whether she is in a relationship or not. It is rumored that she has a daughter who is named Laila.
- As of 2020, her net worth is estimated to be around $3 million.