NBC News announced Wednesday that digital editorial chief Catherine Kim has been promoted to senior vice president, NBC News Editorial. In this expanded role, Kim will oversee newsgathering operations across NBC News platforms — digital and TV alike.
“In the newly expanded role of Senior Vice President, NBC News Editorial, Catherine will have oversight of our editorial units – including Business, Tech & Innovation, Climate, Health and Race, Equality & Justice – leading our journalistic efforts across digital and television,” NBC News president Noah Oppenheim said in a memo to news division staff.
Prior to this appointment, Kim was NBC’s head of global digital news, having been named to the position in March 2021. She has been responsible for all digital newsroom activities for NBC News and MSNBC. Now, she adds oversight of TV newsgathering to her portfolio.
With this move, NBC’s senior leadership, comprised of Nicole Childers, Erin McGarry, Susan Wagner, and Tracey Eyers, will now report to Kim, while Tom Namako, the executive editor of NBC News Digital, will report to both Kim and Oppenheim.
Oppenheim also announced the retirements of two longtime NBC News employees — Rich Greenberg, vp and executive editor of NBC News Investigations, and Soraya Gage, the vp and general manager of NBC News audio.
Greenberg has been with NBC News for the past 22 years leading its investigative unit, while Gage has been with the network for the past 33 years – her highlights include building NBC News’ audio division from the ground up.
Liz Cole, the president of NBC News Studios and the executive producer of Dateline, will now add oversight of NBC News’ audio unit to her duties.
Cole’s magic touch with the Dateline franchise on audio will now, perhaps, be extended to the other NBC News properties.
.@NBCUniversal News Group dominates today’s @ApplePodcasts charts 👀 pic.twitter.com/UBIEuJIzvM
— NBC News PR (@NBCNewsPR) November 23, 2022
In addition to Greenburg and Gage, NBC News is also saying goodbye to Madeline Haeringer, the longtime NBC News executive who is leaving at the end of the year. Haeringer has served as senior vp of editorial for NBC News in January 2021, overseeing the news division’s Business & Technology, Climate, Health, and Race & Inequality units, as well as cross-platform initiatives. She has also worked with NBC News Studios on long form and has been the editorial leader for NBC News audio during that time.
Read Oppenheim’s memo to staff below
All,
As you know, we’ve been working thoughtfully to break down the walls between linear and digital as NBC News continues to evolve into a robust multiplatform news organization. To advance that effort, I am pleased to announce that Catherine Kim has agreed to build on her impressive achievements at NBC News Digital by taking on responsibility for editorial across all NBC News platforms.
In the newly expanded role of Senior Vice President, NBC News Editorial, Catherine will have oversight of our editorial units – including Business, Tech & Innovation, Climate, Health and Race, Equality & Justice – leading our journalistic efforts across digital and television. It will mean a return to a medium she knows well, having spent nearly 20 years as a producer spanning primetime newsmagazines, live programming, and Nightly News. With this change, our talented unit leads, Nicole Childers, Erin McGarry, Susan Wagner, and Tracey Eyers, will now report into Catherine. Tom Namako will continue to lead Digital News under her as well, with a dotted line to me.
With mixed feelings, I also want to let you know that Rich Greenberg, who has skillfully led the Investigative unit, recently announced his plans to retire at the end of March following 22 years at NBC News. Until then, he will continue to report into me, and the two of us, together with Catherine, will work closely to align the Investigative unit alongside the others above, before passing the leadership reins to Catherine.
Additionally, as some of you have heard, Soraya Gage, the General Manager of the Audio unit, also recently announced her retirement plans following a remarkable 33-year tenure at the network. Soraya helped build the Audio Unit from the ground up, and among her many accomplishments, also launched NBC Learn.
Finally, Liz Cole, who already wears many hats, successfully driving our long-form efforts as President of NBC News Studios and Executive Producer of Dateline, will gain yet another. She will now oversee our growing Audio unit as it moves under the Studio umbrella. Liz, a masterful storyteller, already has enormous visibility into the podcast business. Under both her and David Corvo, Dateline has propelled NBC News into the top five of all podcast publishers.
Madeleine Haeringer, who graciously agreed to stay with us during this transition, will work with Catherine and Liz until she officially signs off next month.
Please join me in congratulating Catherine and Liz, and wishing the very best to Rich and Soraya as they begin to prepare for their next chapters.
Noah