On Friday, NBC News formally announced its new media news coverage team, led by Claire Atkinson formally of the New York Post. The team is a part of NBC News’s digital arm, but it will contribute coverage to all platforms, including television.
MSNBC is the only of the big three cable news to not have a media program (CNN’s Reliable Sources and Fox News’s Media Buzz), but a NBC spokesperson says that there are currently no plans for a television program. However, Atkinson and the team’s contributors will appear on television.
In addition to Atkinson, there are two additional reporters within NBC News for the team, Jim Rainey and Jo Ling Kent. Furthermore, the team has six individuals from outside NBC News who will contribute reporting, Kara Swisher, Ben Smith, John Huey, Gabriel Sherman, Steven Brill, Peter Kafka.
The move comes as a series of news organizations are expanding their media coverage. CNN recently built up a media desk and the New York Times and Politico both also boast media desks.
Read the internal memo from MSNBC head Phil Griffin, NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, and NBC News digital head Nick Ascheim:
All,
We’re pleased to announce the creation of a brand new team at NBC News & MSNBC covering media.
Media is one of the biggest stories of 2017, cutting across the busy intersection of politics, technology, business and culture. From Silicon Valley to the White House to your smartphone, the landscape is changing dramatically. We see it every day. Competition for attention on screens is fierce. Credibility is under attack. Innovation is constant.
And we want to cover this moment – in our own unique way.
Led by senior editor and reporter Claire Atkinson – who joined us earlier this month from the New York Post where she covered the media business – the team brings together outstanding in-house NBC News & MSNBC talent with outside contributors who are among the most respected and most followed editors and journalists in this space.
The media team will be housed inside NBC News digital, reporting to Catherine Kim. But they will be tasked with providing coverage to all NBC News and MSNBC platforms.
This is an all-star group that we’re proud to share with you today:
- Claire Atkinson will be senior media editor and lead the team. Prior to her seven years at the New York Post, Claire was business editor at Broadcasting & Cable, a media reporter for Advertising Age and media editor at PRWeek. She has also freelanced for the New York Times and Condé Nast Portfolio.
- Internal contributors include:
o Jim Rainey, who joined NBC News in April as a news reporter based in Los Angeles. Prior to joining us, Jim covered the film and entertainment industry at Variety and politics and media at the Los Angeles Times.
o Jo Ling Kent, an NBC News and MSNBC correspondent, who reports on the business of media, the technology giants, and social media platforms.
- External contributors include:
o Kara Swisher, executive editor at Recode, is a definitive source on Silicon Valley and the tech industry.
o Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, joins as an on-air contributor, bringing his team’s groundbreaking reporting on the intersection of tech and politics as well as the perspective of a digital native.
o John Huey, former editor-in-chief of TIME Inc, joins as a contributor for our digital and broadcast platforms.
o Gabriel Sherman, special correspondent at Vanity Fair, continues as an NBC News & MSNBC contributor.
o Steven Brill, Journalist and Author – and Founder of Court TV, The American Lawyer Magazine, Brill’s Content Magazine, Journalism Online, and The Yale Journalism Initiative – continues as an NBC News & MSNBC contributor.
o Peter Kafka, senior editor of media at Recode, joins as a contributor.
Our coverage (with a name to be announced soon), will begin in the coming weeks on NBCNews.com and all of our platforms.
Please join us in welcoming the new team!
Noah, Phil & Nick