By Laura Barr Martin Holmes TV Insider
Big changes are happening at MSNBC as the network prepares to split from NBC News — and in anticipation, a group of new correspondents has been brought on board.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, MSNBC has hired four correspondents, including one familiar face to NBC News viewers. NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard will transition to MSNBC, where he will continue as a White House correspondent. Hillyard, who has covered three presidential elections for NBC, has regularly appeared on MSNBC programming over the past few years.
He will be joined by Laura Barrón-López, who will also serve as a White House correspondent. Barrón-López previously served as a White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and as a political analyst for CNN.
Additionally, NBC News national correspondent David Noriega has been tapped by MSNBC to serve as a Los Angeles-based correspondent. And NBC 4 New York reporter Marc Santia has been hired as an investigative correspondent; in his previous role, Santia covered criminal justice, security issues and investigations.
The hires come as MSNBC is set to separate from Comcast and NBCUniversal later this year, becoming a new company, Versant. The new company will also house CNBC, USA, Syfy, Golf Channel, and other media brands.
Unlike in the past, when NBC News shared resources and reporters with its sister channel, MSNBC will now operate independently with its own lineup of regular reporters and correspondents.
The split has seen key moves and decisions across both MSNBC and NBC News. It was previously revealed that Ken Dilanian and Antonia Hylton will be part of the new MSNBC, while Andrea Mitchell, Steve Kornacki, and José DÃaz-Balart will remain with NBC News.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Brandy Zadrozny will join MSNBC as a senior enterprise reporter, based in New York. She previously served as a senior reporter at NBC News, covering various topics related to the internet, including politics, tech, and extremism.
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