Michelle Jaconi, Former "Meet The Press" Producer, To Be John King's Executive Producer

Michelle Jaconi, a 12-year veteran of NBC News' "Meet the Press," is joining CNN as Executive Producer of "State of the Union with John King," CNN announced Wednesday.

Jaconi served as producer and political analyst for Tim Russert's "Meet the Press," and will be charged with building CNN's new politics show into a similar Sunday morning powerhouse.

"Michelle is a perfect fit for our team and our mission," John King said. "Her deep experience in smart and aggressive Sunday morning television speaks for itself. And her passion for making things relevant to the people who matter most - the families and communities outside Washington - is what we're looking for in this key leadership role."

"Joining CNN and State of the Union at this moment in history is an extraordinary opportunity," Jaconi said. "CNN is at the top of its game, and John is the best political reporter of his time. I'm honored to work with John and his team to reinvent Sunday morning news. It's the right time, the right network and the right reporter. "

CNN Political Director Sam Feist said he's counting on Michelle to land newsmaker interviews.

"Michelle, with her experience in landing and producing brilliant interviews, will help us leverage the resources of CNN's political team and newsgathering operation to create a program unlike any other," he said.

Comments

[sebastiana]

05:44 PM on 02/13/2009

How about CNN's Candy Crowley as the moderator on Meet the Press?

[judyannh]

10:26 AM on 02/13/2009

guys, this is great news:
Dems target right-wing talk radio - bring back the fairness doctrine
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/13/dems-target-right-wing-talk-radio/

[postit2u]

06:58 PM on 02/12/2009

Gosh, I sure miss Russert.

[AlabamianForObama]

01:59 PM on 02/13/2009

me too...

[yodaraj]

06:40 PM on 02/12/2009

And oh, and I meant to second Lisbeth about Aaron Brown - replacing him with AC was such a goofy thing for CNN to do.

[yodaraj]

06:33 PM on 02/12/2009

Why do you guys think Russert was great ... He used gotcha journalism by flashing quotes out of context or only first or second half of the whole qoute. That was just taking advantage poor souls with questionable memory . Fortunately, BO has good memory and when Russert tried to do "his" thing on BO, his reply was to give the full quote from memory and not accept the partial quote Russert flashed on the screen as factual. AND .. wallah ... the great moderator had no come back because he found sitting across the table, somebody who could play his game better than he did. And he stopped playing that game of half quotes with BO.


Gregory, King, Todd or even Brokaw cannot match the dynamism - and equal opportunity destroyer character - of Russert, that is why MTP is languishing. Todd has a good mind and comes close to being a good moderator but needs a little more seasoning. Give him two years and he wil be right there. In the meanwhile MTP will have to survive on reputation.

[december30]

02:56 PM on 02/12/2009

Fareed Zakaria is the best on CNN Sunday Morning. I sure hope John King respect Michelle's input for a successful show. There is no one like Tim Russert. He is the best. However, State of the Union can be successful if John King does his homework, be nonbias and report the TRUTH. David Gregory really stinks on MTP I stopped watching it when it was confirmed that he would be the new moderator. What a joke. You should be objective when hosting anything. Gregory is too bias.

CNN really needs to get rid of Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer.

[meede]

02:35 PM on 02/12/2009

Why don't they just call the show what it is. He does the first hour and then there are other shows within it. Totally misrepresents itself for naming the show in time slot of 9 to 1. It's not

[Lisbeth35]

01:54 PM on 02/12/2009

MTP---needs Gwen Ifill or Aaron Brown.

CNN needs to loose Anderson Cooper. I haven't watch King's show yet, but might check it out if I have the opportunity.

[IowaKid]

02:19 PM on 02/12/2009

King is a lot better to watch than MTP. Anyway I find his show very interesting.

[Melissa]

03:33 AM on 02/13/2009

I've watched John King for the last couple of weeks and thought the show was very good.

[leftoflennon]

01:18 PM on 02/12/2009

I hate John King.

[KRYSTY]

10:56 AM on 02/12/2009

I have a good feeling that NBC will not renew Gregory's contract in the future. MTP used be respected by most, now it is a joke since Gregory took over. The only reason Gregory got that job is because of Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams. By the way, Gregory is a huge fan of the Clintons. So, you can consider him one the PUMAS.

[truthglow]

03:06 AM on 02/12/2009

With John King as moderator, she can only do so much. The entire Sunday lineup stinks!

[ena]

01:30 PM on 02/12/2009

I agree with you for the most part but the entire lineup does not stink. Fareed Zakaria's GPS is the best show on Sunday. Apart form Sunday Morning on CBS.

[swanie]

11:17 PM on 02/11/2009

Some day we'll find out her real reason for leaving - the arrogant new moderator sucks ! !

I can remember my favorite guy from Buffalo heaping compliments on her on-air.
.

[trendier]

09:41 PM on 02/11/2009

I prefer Wolf Blitzer. I stopped watching CNN on Sundays since John King took over. He is too boring for my taste.

[deanimal]

09:53 PM on 02/11/2009

Wolf Blitzer? Wolf Blitzer?

[meede]

02:32 PM on 02/12/2009

He figures he's a g o d in the reporting world. Thrilled he left Sunday morning but now he's on Saturday. Enough. He's proving to be a total looser. Speculates and tired of her personal opinions that he reports like facts.

[LynndaMaree]

10:47 PM on 02/11/2009

If he's boring, what on earth would you consider David Gregory too be?

[GGGGG]

09:36 PM on 02/11/2009

Great. John King will be next Tim Russert!

[ena]

01:31 PM on 02/12/2009

NOT

[IowaKid]

02:22 PM on 02/12/2009

No, no one could ever be the nex Tim Russert. But John King is a lot better to listen to than David Gregory.

[Palmz]

09:20 PM on 02/11/2009

I refuse to watch MTP.

The guy is just not qualified.... I really wanted to see Gwen Ifill in that role. Sometimes you are who you are and your growth stops.......I have visions of Gregory covering Afghanistan.