Lester Holt is announcing some news amid recent media shakeups and stunning exits. The longtime anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, announced Monday he will be stepping away from the broadcast at the beginning of the summer.
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NBC News broke the announcement Monday, noting that the Emmy-winning journalist, who has guided viewers through some of the most defining moments of the past decade, isn’t leaving NBC News entirely. Instead, he will assume a full-time role at Dateline, where he has served as principal anchor since 2011.
NBC News has yet to name Holt’s successor.
“A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history,” Holt, who is 65 and has been anchoring the show for 10 years, said in an official note to staffers. “As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”
In a statement, Janelle Rodriguez, the executive vice president of programming at NBC News, praised Holt’s “steady and thoughtful leadership” during his decade on “Nightly News.” She said he helped the broadcast sustain its “perch as a trusted and top news destination for millions of viewers across America.”
“He’s taken viewers to the frontlines of every major story and sat down with world leaders, skillfully eliciting answers on consequential issues,” she added. “Quite simply, Lester is the beating heart of this news organization.”
Lester Holt is the latest high-profile TV news personality to exit or have their show canceled altogether.
Joy Reid’s The ReidOut Canceled, Shakeups Confirmed For Ayman Mohyeldin, Jonathan Capehart & Katie Phang
On Sunday, news broke that Joy Reid’s The ReidOut had been canceled.
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The network plans to replace her show with a new one led by three co-anchors: Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez, and Michael Steele, who has been co-hosting MSNBC’s The Weekend Show.
The Guardian is now reporting that MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin is also stepping down from his namesake weekend evening show. Similarly, it’s being reported that Katie Phang and Jonathan Capehart’s shows will also be canceled. The Daily Beast reports that Mohyeldin, Capehart, and Phang will remain on the network, with the two men hosting shows in new time slots. Phang will remain a legal correspondent.
While there has not been any confirmation, social media is speculating that Trump’s administration’s crackdown on DEI is at play in the media landscape. We pray that isn’t true, but our eyes are wide open.
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