09.20.17

NBC News announced its plan to assemble a team of well-respected journalists and editors to cover the rapidly evolving media industry. The new unit aims to cover various topics, including how technology has changed the way content is distributed as well as the effects of the current national political climate on the way people get their news.

The new media team, which does not yet have a name, will be housed inside NBC News Digital and will provide additional coverage to all NBC News and MSNBC platforms.

Claire Atkinson, former journalist at the New York Post and one of NBC’s latest hires, will be the senior media editor for the new media hub. Jim Rainey, who joined NBC News in April, and NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jo Ling Kent will both serve as the new team’s in-house contributors. External contributors include executive editor at Recode Kara Swisher, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, former editor-in-chief of TIME Inc. John Huey, and the senior media editor at Recode Peter Kafka. Journalist and author Steven Brill and Vanity Fair media reporter Gabriel Sherman, who already report for MSNBC and NBC News, will also join the team. The external contributors will still continue their positions at their current outlets.

NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, MSNBC president Phil Griffin, and senior vice president of Digital at NBC News and MSNBC Nick Ascheim shared the news in a letter saying, “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…And we want to cover this moment—in our own unique way.”

Coverage will begin in the coming weeks on NBCNews.com and other NBC platforms.