MSNBC’s Ali Vitali Adds Capitol Hill Role As Network Makes Hires From CNN, Peacock

MSNBC’s Ali Vitali will add senior Capitol Hill correspondent to her duties as host of ‘Way Too Early with Ali Vitali’

MSNBC

MSNBC has named Ali Vitali as a senior Capitol Hill correspondent, adding that reporting role to her duties as anchor of the network’s Way Too Early with Ali Vitali, an early-morning newscast that launched in January. Vitali, a frequent fixture on Morning Joe, previously covered Congress for NBC News and wrote a book on the 2020 presidential election, “Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House…Yet.”

In addition to Vitali’s new duties, MSNBC has hired former CNN journalist Rosa Flores as a correspondent based in Houston. Flores will cover breaking news throughout Texas and the region and do enterprise reporting. In her time at CNN, Flores covered stories in Texas, Miami, Chicago and New York, including extensive coverage of immigration.

Dropping NBC and adopting a new name

The moves come as MSNBC beefs up its news staff–on and off camera–as the network prepares to separate from NBC News after 30 years. In addition to hiring familiar names like Eugene Daniels from Politico and Carol Leonnig from The Washington Post, the network has hired more than three dozen journalists from CNN, Bloomberg, Politico, ABC, NBC and PBS, and is actively recruiting for another 50 roles across the organization, including newsgathering, digital, audio and specials.

Later this year, the network will change its name to MS NOW, for My Source News Opinion World, dropping both the NBC from its name and the peacock from its logo as the network joins CNBC and other cable properties in the spinoff company, Versant.

MSNBC plucks leaders from Peacock, NOTUS

Off camera, MSNBC has named two new leaders, including Matt Fuller as director of the network’s Congressional unit. He joins MSNBC from NOTUS, where he currently serves as Congressional bureau chief.

The network has also hired Peacock vice president of brand development Melissa Beretta. She will become MSNBC’s vice president of direct-to-consumer, strategic growth and operations. She previously worked in corporate strategy and development at NBCUniversal.

As MSNBC builds out its own independent newsgathering and business operations, it has hired senior leaders from NBC News, ABC News, Crooked Media and elsewhere, including veterans with experience at CNN and The New York Times.

MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler said in a recent memo to staff that “while our name will be changing, who we are and what we do will not. Our commitment to our work and our audiences will not waiver from what the brand promise has been for three decades.”

The name change will come with a massive marketing push this fall, with MSNBC looking to extend its lead over CNN. With an average prime time audience of 1.2 million viewers, the network is doubling that of CNN, which trails in third place overall with 549,000 viewers. Fox News continues to dominate cable news–and has even outperformed all cable and broadcast networks throughout the summer.