MSNBC President Rashida Jones says she is stepping down after four years leading the liberal news network, her move coming on the eve of a second Trump administration and after changes in corporate ownership.
Jones, in a memo to staff on Tuesday, said that she is leaving to "pursue new opportunities." She'll be replaced on an interim basis by Rebecca Kutler, a former CNN executive who joined MSNBC in 2022.
In Jones' tenure, MSNBC has generally displaced CNN as the second-rated cable news-focused network behind Fox News Channel. Its ratings are sharply down since Donald Trump's election.
MSNBC's lineup has remained fairly consistent since Jones, the first Black executive to lead a cable news network, moved from NBC News to take over there in 2021. Former Biden administration press secretary Jen Psaki is her highest-profile addition .
In November, Comcast announced it was breaking MSNBC and CNBC away from NBC News into its own company , led by executive Mark Lazarus, meaning Jones was answering to new corporate leadership.
