Subrata De is joining ABC News as VP of newsgathering, TVNewser has learned. De takes over for Kate O’Brian who left ABC last year after being named president of Al Jazeera America.
De joins from MSNBC where she had been the EP of “Andrea Mitchell Reports” since January 2012. “It has been an extraordinary privilege to work with her,” Mitchell said on De’s final show May 23. Before joining MSNBC, De was Brian Williams’ producer, traveling with him across the country and around the world.
De started at NBC News in 1998.
More: A note from ABC News president James Goldston, which includes expanded roles for two other ABCNewsers, after the jump…
Team,
I’m writing to share important news about our newsgathering operation, the life blood of our organization, that will help us better serve every program and platform around the clock.
Our number one priority this year has been to move more quickly to the creation of a true One ABC News operation. Today we’re taking an important step to combine our newsgathering efforts into a unified, more powerful whole.
I am delighted to tell you that Subrata De is joining ABC News as Vice President, Multi-Platform Newsgathering, with oversight of our domestic, foreign, digital and social media newsgathering. Subrata’s new role will unify our editorial operation—expanding cooperation across our broadcast and digital platforms to improve our reporting and to use our resources more effectively.
Under her leadership we will become a more cohesive, flexible and responsive organization, which will enhance our ability to do what we do best – combine the most important and meaningful journalism with the very best in modern storytelling.
Subrata is a very talented journalist who for the last 15 years has worked for NBC News and MSNBC, most recently as the executive producer of “Andrea Mitchell Reports” and senior producer for “Nightly News.”
She has traveled the world with Brian Williams, often tasked with getting in and out of chaotic and dangerous places while covering major news events with distinction. She has overseen remotes from 20 countries, including Indonesia, Egypt, Israel, China, Iraq, Iran, Haiti and Afghanistan, and all over the U.S.
Subrata has produced 17 presidential interviews and orchestrated NBC’s primetime special “Inside the Situation Room” detailing the minute-by-minute drama of the night the Osama bin Laden raid unfolded. She is a smart and experienced reporter, producer and manager who has earned an impressive array of awards, including 2 duPonts, 4 Emmys, the RFK Journalism award and the Gracie Award for Individual Achievement.
Subrata starts in New York on Monday. Please join me in welcoming her to ABC News.
I am also pleased to let you know that as part of this plan David Reiter and Wendy Fisher are taking on expanded roles. David and Wendy, who have deep ties throughout the news division, will help centralize all our various newsgathering operations as part of our One ABC News strategy.
David has been a terrific leader for all of our breaking news coverage. He’s played a vitally important role in every major news story over the last decade. Most recently, David ably guided our teams through the shooting at UC Santa Barbara, and he coordinated our coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines flight #370, the Olympics and World Cup with characteristic intelligence and a steady hand. I am delighted he’ll now help Subrata make One ABC News into an even more effective newsgathering force.
Wendy has been a significant part of our television newsgathering operation for over 15 years. She has a unique ability to effectively manage the competing needs of all our platforms with an even hand and good judgment. With a calm that often defied the circumstances, Wendy’s excellent work on the desk was a model for us all during our coverage of Hurricane Sandy and the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. And she has an uncanny sixth sense for stories that has served us incredibly well over the years.
Wendy has been a mentor and friend to so many of us in the News Division. I am very pleased she’s taking on a new leadership role.
The incomparable Jon Williams will continue to chart our course for global news gathering across all our platforms. Over the last 12 months Jon has spearheaded major changes in how we cover international news, reorganizing our bureaus and adding talented new journalists to our ranks. Jon’s passion for the stories he covers is nothing less than inspirational, and his understanding of how to integrate digital, social and broadcast is an outstanding roadmap for the organization.
It is an incredibly exciting time at ABC News. Under the leadership of Subrata, David, Jon and Wendy, I am confident we are building the news organization of the future, an ABC News that is even more unified, powerful and better serves our audience. We have much more to do, and we will need everybody’s dedication, smarts and imagination in getting us there.
Thank you.
James