MSNBC is adding two Washington, D.C. journalists to its newsroom in editor positions in advance of the Versant split.
Rachel Van Dongen, who has been Congress editor at The Washington Post, is joining as managing editor for news, while Zack Stanton, who has been editor of Politico Playbook, will join as deputy managing editor for news. Van Dongen will join MSNBC on Oct. 6, reporting to Meredith Bennett-Smith, senior executive editor, and Stanton on Oct. 13, reporting to Van Dongen.
Before serving as Congress editor, Van Dongen was the Post’s first elections editor, and was the editor and founder of Power Post and the 202 newsletter franchise. Before working at the Post, she was campaign and Congress editor at Politico.
Stanton previously was digital editor of Politico magazine, and he helmed the widely read investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr.’s leadership at Liberty University.
“These two newly created and critical roles underscore our commitment to delivering best-in-class reporting from Washington and beyond,” wrote Madeleine Haeringer, senior vice president of digital, audio & longform. She noted that MSNBC.com had become “a go-to destination for thoughtful opinion writing,” and today “will also be home to distinct and exclusive original reporting.” She noted a scoop last weekend from Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, who reported that Tom Homan, before he became border czar, was investigated for accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents. the Trump administration dismissed the investigation, calling it baseless and politically motivated.
MSNBC has been recruiting to hire 100 roles in newsgathering, digital, audio, and specials.
MSNBC is preparing for a split from Comcast, into a spinoff of cable networks called Versant. With NBC News no longer a sister network, MSNBC will be renamed MS today. On Wednesday, MSNBC announced a new offer with Sky News to provide international reporting across its platforms.
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