Editor’s note: TKNN misreported the last name of ABC News’s President. It is Goldston, not Goldstein. TKNN regrets the error.
Politico’s Mike Allen broke the news today that ABC News Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny will be joining CNN and serving as their Senior Washington Correspondent alongside Joe Johns. Zeleny will join CNN later this month and do reporting on-air and online. The Senior Washington Correspondent role has been largely undefined by CNN which preferred to have correspondents covering certain beats in Washington, rather than just all of Washington. Johns has reported on a wide variety of stories in his role. Anchor Jake Tapper also serves as CNN’s Chief Washington Correspondent, although most of his time is spent in an an anchor manner. In a press release from CNN, Zeleny said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work for a world class news organization like CNN, and excited to be part of such a strong, dynamic and enterprising team of reporters and producers.” CNN Senior Vice President and Washington bureau chief Sam Feist added, “As we move into the upcoming presidential election year, having a reporter of Jeff’s stature and caliber joining our powerhouse team of D.C. correspondents is a tremendous asset to our network and our audience. Jeff is one of the nation’s most premier political journalists and we are thrilled to have him join the CNN family.”
Zeleny was at ABC News for just about two years, he joined in March of 2013. ABC News President James Goldston announced the news in a memo to staffers:
Team –
I’m writing with news that Jeff Zeleny is leaving ABC News.
For the past two years, he’s contributed greatly as our Senior Washington Correspondent covering politics and Congress, including his thoughtful coverage of the 2014 election and 16-day government shutdown. He scored “This Week” exclusives with Senators Al Franken and Tim Scott and had revealing interviews with Ann Romney and Rep. Aaron Schock, among others.
As we announced yesterday, Cecilia Vega and Tom Llamas already have joined our expanding team reporting on the 2016 election. And we will make more announcements about our election coverage in due course as we enter this exciting political cycle.
In the meantime, please join me in thanking Jeff and wishing him the best of luck on this new adventure.
James