MSNBC has named Crooked Media’s Madeleine Haeringer as its new senior vice president of digital, audio and longform.
Haeringer, who previously spent 22 years working across NBC News and MSNBC, returns to the latter network on May 7 and will report directly to president Rebecca Kutler.
In her new role, she will oversee MSNBC.com, the network’s social publishing, audio offerings and longform projects, partnering closely with Meredith Bennett-Smith, Brad Gold, Aisha Turner, Alisha Conley and their respective teams.
During her former stint at NBCUniversal, Haeringer served in several senior roles, including senior vice president of editorial for NBC News, where she managed the editorial agenda and coordinated coverage across all broadcast, cable, streaming and digital platforms. She also oversaw the network’s editorial units, including Business & Technology, Health, Race & Inequality and Climate. Under her leadership, NBC News and MSNBC’s audio business became a Top 5 audio publisher and she worked closely with NBC News Studios to develop premium documentaries, series and scripted projects.
She also worked as the executive producer of international news, where she managed NBC News and MSNBC’s foreign coverage. From 2010 to 2014, Haeringer was senior producer of NBC Worldwide News, where she oversaw breaking news stories and the coverage of major events across all NBC News platforms, including the Haiti earthquake, BP oil spill, the death of Osama Bin Laden, the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI, and the London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games.
Additionally, she was lead producer for NBC News’ coverage of the 2011 Arab Spring and served as the network’s Middle East bureau chief based in Beirut, Lebanon. She covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, including more than 50 embedded reporting trips with U.S. troops.
Most recently, she served as Crooked Media’s executive vice president and general manager, overseeing strategic planning, development, programming and editorial direction for the company’s content portfolio, including Pod Save America’s 2024 “Democracy or Else” election coverage. She also managed the expansion of Crooked’s content offerings across video, audio, social, live events, newsletters and their “Friends of the Pod” subscription plan.
Previously, she was also the executive producer of “Vice News Tonight” where she created, launched and managed the show, which earned 32 Emmy nominations and 10 wins during its first three seasons.
Haeringer’s return to MSNBC comes as the network has seen record-breaking engagement on YouTube, ranking as the No. 1 news brand on the platform. MSNBC.com has reached 36 million unique visitors and 864 million minutes, while MSNBC Audio saw over 12 million downloads across MSNBC showcasts and originals.
In addition to Haeringer, Kutler recently hired Scott Matthews, who joined MSNBC as newsgathering senior vice president, where he’s building and running the editorial and production newsgathering operation and looking to hire more than 100 journalists, including field producers, correspondents, photographers and more.
MSNBC is also planning to establish a new bureau in Washington, D.C., and will hire a Washington bureau chief, as well as domestic and international correspondents. It is also actively hiring a head of talent and content strategy.
On the talent side, MSNBC recently added Politico’s Eugene Daniels and The Washington Post’s Jackie Alemany and Catherine Rampell. Daniels and Alemany will be senior Washington and MSNBC correspondents, respectively, and will both co-host “The Weekend” on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 to 10 a.m. alongside Jonathan Capehart.
Rampell, meanwhile, will be a co-host of “The Weekend: Primetime” alongside Ayman Mohyeldin, current MSNBC and NBC News political analyst Elise Jordan, and current NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Antonia Hylton, on Saturdays and Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC.
Elsewhere, MSNBC will be spun off into a standalone, publicly traded entity, currently dubbed SpinCo, along with other cable NBCUniversal networks CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine.
Lauren Skowronski, who previously served as NBCU’s senior vice president of corporate communications and Snap Inc’s senior director of communications, will be CNBC’s senior vice president of global communications, TheWrap has learned. Richard Hudock, who has led press efforts behind NBC News and MSNBC’s midterm and presidential elections, debates and the launch of several shows since 2018, has been promoted to MSNBC’s senior vice president of communications.
Diana Rocco, who worked in various roles in NBCU’s corporate comms advertising and partnerships and on different MSNBC teams over the past 12 years, has been named SpinCo’s vice president of internal communications. Hollie Tracz, who most recently led communications for MSNBC dayside and weekend programming, MSNBC Digital and MSNBC Live, will serve as SpinCo’s vice president of media relations.
The four executives will report to SpinCo chief communications officer Keith Cocozza.
“While it’s still early days at SpinCo, momentum is building as we shape our structure and develop new ways of working together. This progress is beginning to take shape publicly, and I’m thrilled to make four leadership announcements within the communications team who will help tell the burgeoning story of who we are and where we’re headed,” Cocozza said in a memo to staff. “They will work in partnership with teams across the company to frame and strengthen our voice in the market, to help define and build our company’s culture and to support the overall goals of our brands.”
The spinoff is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
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