These are uncertain times at MSNBC, and they just got a tad more uncertain. On Tuesday, Rashida Jones stepped down as president of the network.

The news doesn’t come as a total shock. Media writer Oliver Darcy reported in his “Status” newsletter last month that Jones was weighing an exit from MSNBC sometime in 2025.

So while it is not necessarily surprising, it is significant. Jones was named president of MSNBC in 2021, becoming the first Black woman to lead a major television news network. During her time, she helped push MSNBC past CNN in the ratings.

The timing, however, is notable. Jones steps away less than a week before Donald Trump returns to the White House in what surely will kick off a furious news cycle. More significantly, Jones leaves as Comcast, which owns MSNBC, looks to spin off the network and its other cable channels into a separate publicly traded company.

Jones told staff in a memo that she is to “pursue new opportunities.” Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s senior vice president of content strategy, will serve as interim president. Jones is expected to stay on to help with the transition to a new president.

Mark Lazarus, who will oversee MSNBC’s new parent spin-off company, reportedly told staff in a meeting, “When Rashida shared this with me at the end of last week, I was surprised. I was a little saddened for the company but very happy for her to be able to come to grips with a hard decision — a very personal decision.”

That would seem to indicate that it truly was Jones’ decision.

The Associated Press’ David Bauder wrote, “MSNBC’s viewership has dropped 57% since Trump’s election. The network notes that the post-election audience for cable networks closely associated with a losing candidate typically sinks, and that there are already signs that things are picking up again. Whether it will to the extent that it happened for MSNBC in 2017 is an open question, particularly with more people eliminating their cable service.”

The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr reported, “MSNBC’s prime-time audience last week averaged 950,000 total viewers, an increase of 36 percent from the network’s performance in December. MSNBC averaged 1.22 million prime-time viewers in 2023.”

However, Barr added, “A person with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said Jones’s departure is not tied to the ratings drop and that it was her decision.”

It was only a day earlier when MSNBC announced that prime-time star Rachel Maddow would return to hosting her weeknight show five days a week for the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. Maddow said it was Jones who approached her about that plan. That, it would appear, was Jones’ final big move as head of the network.

But it was far from her only significant move. In what might have been her biggest on-air transaction, Jones lured former Joe Biden press secretary Jen Psaki to the network, where Psaki has become a solid broadcaster.

Overall, Jones’ stint as president should be considered a successful one. In addition, it’s believed she was liked and respected by those at the network, particularly on-air talent.

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and John Koblin reported, “On Tuesday’s call, Ms. Maddow said Ms. Jones had served as a ‘heat shield’ that protected MSNBC’s anchors from pressure that would have otherwise been brought down on them. ‘Other companies don’t run that way, and it is because you’ve been insistent that we treat each other respectfully and that you’ll be the one who takes the outside heat,’ Ms. Maddow said.”

As far as Jones’ interim replacement, CNN’s Brian Stelter writes, “Kutler spent 20 years at CNN, first as an intern for one of anchor Wolf Blitzer’s programs in the Washington, DC, bureau. She later became a key producer, launched several shows for CNN, oversaw a roster of analysts and commentators, and headed up programming for CNN+, the short-lived streaming news service.”

In his note to staff, Lazarus wrote, “Rebecca is the ideal leader to guide us through this moment, and I look forward to collaborating with her as we shape our collective future together.”

Speaking of MSNBC …

Dave Bauder of the AP reported, “Lazarus also told employees Tuesday that MSNBC will keep its name. There had been some talk that it would be changed under new corporate leadership; the name was a result of a partnership with Microsoft when the network started in 1996. There have been few other indications of visible change for viewers yet due to the uncoupling from NBC News.”

The story of Baltimore

If you’re interested in media, then you must check out this story by my Poynter colleague, Angela Fu: “A rare newspaper war was brewing in Baltimore. Then a billionaire owner began meddling.”

Fu tells the story of the intriguing newspaper battle in Baltimore between The Baltimore Sun and the relatively new Baltimore Banner. The good old-fashioned newspaper war especially came into focus during the Francis Scott Key Bridge accident in March 2024.

Fu wrote, “In a country pocked with ‘news deserts’ and grappling with a decadeslong decline in local journalism, Baltimore was experiencing the opposite. The aggressive growth of the startup Banner in the past two years meant that the city had not one, but two powerhouse newsrooms ready to cover that devastating night in March.”

“But,” Fu continued, “what appeared to be a burgeoning ‘newspaper war’ — offering Baltimorians a new era of in-depth, daily coverage — now faces an uncertain future.”

That’s where Fu’s must-read media story gets rolling.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to ask Fu about her story (she sits right next to me at work!). Here’s our quick Q&A:

Tom Jones: What was it about Baltimore that made you want to explore this story?

Angela Fu: Baltimore is pretty unique in that it has two large daily news operations. While many local news startups choose to launch in cities that already have legacy papers, they tend to be quite small, and few, if any, operate on the same scale as The Baltimore Banner. Within two years, the Banner’s editorial staff surpassed The Baltimore Sun’s in size. Add in all the change from the Sun’s new ownership, and Baltimore was a very interesting city to do a deep dive into.

Jones: The story focuses pretty exclusively on Baltimore. Why does it matter for people who live elsewhere?

Fu: I think the story touches on two ongoing stories in media. One is the precarity that comes with billionaire ownership. Last year, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times made headlines for their billionaire owners’ antics, and we’re seeing The Baltimore Sun grapple with its own challenges stemming from changes made by its new billionaire owner. The other is the longstanding struggle to find a sustainable model for local news. The Banner’s approach to that challenge is fairly unique among news startups, and I think people across the country are watching to see whether they succeed.

Jones: You went to Baltimore and talked to everyday people on the street about their news consumption habits. What was that like? What did you learn?

Fu: One of the most striking — but not surprising — things I noticed was how difficult it was to find people who read, much less subscribed, to either the Sun or the Banner. As has been reported by many studies and surveys, local news consumption is low. Among the news consumers I did talk to, it was especially difficult to find Sun subscribers. One of the story’s main theses is that readers are switching from the Sun to the Banner because of changes at the Sun. It was one thing to hear from journalists and media watchers theorizing that this was the case; it was another to hear directly from readers who had made the switch.

My thanks to Angela, and again, I highly recommend reading her story.

Guess who’s coming?

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, and X owner Elon Musk. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, Stephan Savoia)

Well, considering recent events, this comes as no surprise. Yet it still feels somewhat disconcerting.

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos — three giants in the tech industry, as well as three of the most prominent influences on media — will all attend Donald Trump’s inauguration next Monday.

NBC News’ Jake Traylor and David Ingram report, “They will have a prominent spot at the ceremony, seated together on the platform with other notable guests including Trump’s Cabinet nominees and elected officials.”

Musk, owner of X, has been practically joined at Trump’s hip since before the election, and seems to have a prominent voice in Trump’s universe these days. Zuckerberg, bending the knee to Trump and Republicans, just announced that his company Meta — which includes Facebook, Instagram and Threads — would drop its fact-checking program. And Bezos, who founded Amazon and owns The Washington Post, infamously killed a Post editorial that would have endorsed Kamala Harris for president.

Both Zuckerberg and Bezos donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Musk reportedly donated more than $250 million to Trump’s campaign.

Traylor and Ingram write, “The tech leaders have a significant amount at stake in Trump’s second term, not only because of potential tax and trade policy changes but also because of issues specific to their businesses.”

Maybe put the phone down for a bit

Trump is about to become president again next Monday. (Uh, that’s the president of the United States of America.) You would think he has more to worry about than … NBC late-night talk show Seth Meyers.

Yet, Trump went on an unhinged rant about Meyers on his Truth Social, posting:

How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a “network” run by a truly bad group of people – Remember, they also run MSDNC. I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I watch this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast. These guys should be paying a lot of money for the right to give these “in kind” contributions to the Radical Left Democrat Party. These are not shows or entertainment, they are simply political hits, 100% of the time, to me and the Republican Party. Comcast should pay a BIG price for this!

Who knows what set Trump off this time? His post was at 1:24 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, so it was while Meyers’ show was still on the air. Meyers regularly pokes fun at Trump (and a million other people) during his talk show.

Normally, you could just roll your eyes at Trump’s comments, but it’s always a bit concerning when he starts talking about going after media companies and television networks just because a comedian told a joke about him.

Zirinsky returns

Susan Zirinsky, shown here in 2019. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Veteran journalist and former CBS News president Susan Zirinsky is returning to CBS News as executive editor on a temporary basis. The move is in response to criticisms of perceived bias within the news division, according to CBS co-CEO George Cheeks.

In a memo to staff, Cheeks wrote, “In today’s fast-moving news environment, it is critical for newsrooms to quickly and effectively deliver balanced, accurate, fair and timely reporting, including highly complex, sensitive issues like the war in the Middle East. CBS News takes this responsibility seriously. While there is no way to cover such sensitive issues without provoking some degree of criticism, we have a responsibility to address those concerns. This includes feedback regarding perceived bias in some CBS News coverage. We cannot let this negatively affect our legacy or our future, our mission or our connection to our viewers.”

As TheWrap’s Benjamin Lindsay noted, “On Sunday ‘60 Minutes’ aired a story about dissent in the State Department over US policy on Gaza on Sunday that drew the fury of Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, for being anti-Israel.”

In a lengthy statement on X, Greenblatt wrote, in part, “I’m outraged that @CBSnews’ @60minutes would air such a biased and one-sided piece, villainizing Israel and berating US support for its ally. 60 Minutes is supposed to be the gold standard for broadcast journalism, but they completely dropped the ball last night.”

He later added, “Even before this, CBS had a recent history of insensitivity on Jewish issues that was incredibly problematic. But they’re not alone. Major media outlets all need to do better.”

Zirinsky was a longtime producer at CBS News before taking over as president of the news division from 2019 to 2021. Since then, she has gone on to lead See It Now Studios, a production unit devoted to special projects and documentary programs for Paramount and CBS. She will continue in that role while being interim executive editor of CBS News until a permanent person is named. Zirinsky is one of the most respected journalists in television news history and, fun fact, Holly Hunter’s character in “Broadcast News” is loosely based on Zirinsky.

Cuts at Meta

Meta is cutting 5% of its staff, or about 3,600 employees.

Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin broke the news, which included a memo sent by Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg to employees that said, in part, “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster. We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”

Zuckerberg said in the memo that those cut will receive a “generous severance.”

The news comes on the heels of Meta’s controversial decision to end its fact-checking program.

Zuckerberg wrote in his memo, “Meta is working on building some of the most important technologies of the world. AI, glasses as the next computing platform and the future of social media. This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams.”

Media tidbits

• The Hollywood Reporter’s Seth Abramovitch with “How Ben Shapiro Conquered the MAGA-verse.”
• The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro with “Senate Democrat plans legislation to delay TikTok ban.”
• Mike Greenberg, who does like a thousand shows for ESPN, is actually giving up one of his gigs. He is stepping away from his ESPN Radio show “#Greeny,” which airs from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern. Clinton Yates will replace Greenberg on the radio with a show called “Clinton & Friends.” Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy, who broke the story, has more.
• The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch with always-interesting thoughts from a busy football weekend: “Jim Nantz’s 500th game, Brady getting better and more wild card media takeaways.”

Hot type

• Variety’s Cynthia Littleton with “What Hollywood Lost in the Fires.”
• The Washington Post’s Sonia Rao with “Why a new Munich Olympics movie targets the ethics of journalism, not war.”

More resources for journalists

• Transform Local Crime Coverage in your newsroom. Application period ends Jan. 17.
• Cover critical issues surrounding child protection and the foster care system. Apply by Feb. 14.
• Elevate your editing expertise with the Poynter ACES Advanced Certificate. Enroll now.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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