If information breaks on the weekends, Raelyn Johnson is available to make sure that her community, MSNBC, is able to sort out it. 

Because the director of weekend programming at MSNBC, she is liable for the community’s total weekend slate, together with weekend expertise, govt producers, and present groups, in addition to managing each day content material and breaking information conditions.

Previous to her most up-to-date position, Johnson, who joined MSNBC in 2017, has held numerous senior positions on the firm, together with senior producer and govt producer, amongst others. She has additionally labored at Al Jazeera, CNN, and ABC Information. 

Her plate has been full in latest weekends as she has needed to cowl main information occasions, together with the ICE protests, the latest U.S. airstrikes in Iran, the murders of the Minnesota lawmakers, and the latest flooding tragedy in central Texas.

Along with overlaying the information, MSNBC has launched a number of new packages beneath her watch, together with the latest weekend programming revamp, which expanded The Weekend franchise with a night model, The Weekend: Primetime in Could.

Johnson, who can be operating for the vp broadcast place within the upcoming NABJ officer elections, answered TVNewser’s questions on what her position entails, in addition to the looming transition from the NBCUniversal Information Group and into the Versant household.

1. Please clarify what the Director of Weekend Programming’s tasks are.

I see my position as ensuring we’re arrange for achievement from an editorial standpoint each weekend. It means making certain now we have the suitable presence on air and inside the producing groups so we’re exhibiting up for our viewers, overlaying the tales impacting them, recapping the week, and searching forward at what’s to return. A lot of this position is about specializing in content material that feels genuine to every present and host and collaborating throughout platforms to uplift our journalism. Plus, it wouldn’t be a weekend if there weren’t breaking information, which requires common game-time selections that affect programming throughout each daypart and pivoting to stay aggressive. 

2. What was it like relaunching The Weekend and increasing it to the evenings?

We have been actually wanting so as to add to our wins, the panel exhibits that mirror the completely different views whereas staying on the information, and inspiring individuals to have curious conversations. We additionally discovered that we frequently develop our protection within the morning or at night time, so we’ve integrated that into the ecosystem now, with extra hosts to get up to or to ship us off within the night.  

We acknowledge that the enterprise is evolving, and we purpose to remain forward. These previous couple of months, we’ve requested everybody to problem themselves, and I made a decision probably the greatest issues for me to do was to place that very same duty on myself, which is why I’m operating for vp of broadcast for NABJ. Within the group’s fiftieth yr, I’ve been pondering a lot about legacy and the way grateful I’m to all of the mentors I’ve on this business, and I needed to pay it ahead. Each single day, I see small acts of kindness flip into partnerships, collaborations, or profession alternatives. Now greater than ever, it’s time to indicate up for broadcast journalists and arm ourselves with the instruments we have to proceed talking fact to energy.