MSNBC.com is staffing up ahead of a major relaunch later this year. The relaunched site will focus on the world of politics and the personalities that populate MSNBC’s programming. There will also, however, be plenty of political news and information.
To that end, the channel is adding a number of reporters, including Talking Points Memo’s Benjy Sarlin, who joins as a political reporter in Washington, The Washington Post‘s Suzy Khimm, who joins as a reporter at “All In,” and Rothenberg Political Reports’ Jessica Taylor, who joins the team of “The Daily Rundown” and NBC Politics. Other additions include Adam Serwer as a national reporter focusing on civil rights issues, Amy Pereira as director of photography, Jason Fields as director of design, Emma Margolin, Evan Puschak and Michele Richinick.
MSNBC.com executive editor Richard Wolffe’s memo to staff is below.
From: MSNBC Communications (NBCUniversal)
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2013 5:25 PM
To: @MSNBC Everyone
Subject: Note from Richard Wolffe
From Richard Wolffe, Vice President and Executive Editor of MSNBC.com:
We’re continuing to build an exceptionally talented and accomplished digital team as we approach the launch of msnbc.com later this year.
To keep everyone in the loop, I wanted to share with you the latest on our new hires:
Amy Pereira joins us as director of photography. She is an award-winning editor who specializes in real world reportage, social documentary and long-form visual storytelling. She was senior photo editor at Newsweek for close to a decade, previously worked for Time, and has also focused on special projects on human rights.
Jason Fields is our director of design, leading creative development. He was head of design for Huffington Post, re-crafting the site after its merger with AOL. Previously, Jason ran user-experience design at the BBC in London, where he worked on the iPlayer video experience.
Adam Serwer joins us as a national reporter focusing on civil rights, social justice and equality. Serwer is an award-winning journalist whose passionate reporting rose to national prominence at Mother Jones. He was previously a staff writer for The American Prospect and is one of the only reporters of his generation to be included in The Root 100.
Benjy Sarlin joins us as a political reporter based in Washington. Benjy covered the 2012 presidential race for Talking Points Memo, producing memorable stories on the candidates from the campaign trail. He served as The Daily Beast’s first Washington Correspondent and began his career covering politics for the New York Sun. He will work with the Hardball team alongside Aliyah Frumin.
Suzy Khimm joins our reporting ranks from The Washington Post where she was a founding writer for Wonkblog, the paper’s most popular blog. Her coverage drove the national debate on the budget, fiscal cliff, sequester and immigration reform. Suzy is a former staff member at Mother Jones and The New Republic. She will work with Ned Resnikoff as part of the team that is All In with Chris Hayes.
Jessica Taylor joins us as a reporter working with The Daily Rundown and the NBC Politics team. She was a senior reporter at the Rothenberg Political Report where she covered House, Senate, and gubernatorial elections, as well as the 2012 presidential contest. She also served as an editor and staff writer at National Journal and assistant editor at Politico.
Michele Richinick is the author of MSNBC.com’s moving series “Too Young To Die,” chronicling the lives of children lost to gun violence. She also writes and shepherds Morning Joe’s new web series, Afternoon Mo’Joe, on newsmakers and innovators.
Emma Margolin has joined us to work with both the Thomas Roberts team and Tamron Hall’s News Nation. Emma previously spent two years as an associate producer for Hardball and was a production assistant at MSNBC.
Evan Puschak has joined our multimedia team, taking care of The Last Word. He also shoots and edits the web special that is The Very Last Word, working closely with Sarah Muller and Claire Kim.
If you need someone smart to help report a story; if you need someone with reporting chops to go on air; or if you want the best advice on building your social media profile, please let us know.
Feel free to email/call if you have any questions, concerns or comments.
All best
Richard