April 25, 2024

Media Decoder: Kelly Wallace to Return to CNN

CNN said it will announce on Monday the rehiring of Kelly Wallace, a former correspondent there, as it continues on a talent recruitment effort led by Jeff Zucker, who took over the cable news channel at the beginning of the year.

Ms. Wallace, 46, was a national correspondent on television when she last worked at CNN seven years ago.

In a sign of all that has changed since then, she will be a digital correspondent this time, working primarily for CNN.com and appearing regularly on television, CNN said. When she starts in July, her beat will be women’s issues.

“Kelly’s hiring signifies that CNN is increasingly packed with journalists who play across all platforms, delivering to our audiences the best story in the best format on the most convenient screen,” Meredith Artley, the vice president and managing editor of CNN.com, said in an e-mail message.

Ms. Wallace worked at CBS after leaving CNN, then in 2010 joined iVillage, the Web site aimed at women and owned by NBCUniversal, where Mr. Zucker was the chief executive at the time.

At iVillage, she produced and hosted online videos (including interviews with the first lady, Michelle Obama) and developed programming for advertisers.

Ms. Wallace said CNN would provide her a more prominent and more challenging role, including as a contributor to CNN Parents, a new section of CNN.com that will be added this month.

Ms. Wallace said Mr. Zucker, who took charge in January, instigated her return to the company: “With his energy, passion and vision, it already is a new CNN. He loves the news, and I love that. Plus, he totally gets digital, and he’s shown that for years.”

Mr. Zucker has mounted something of a hiring spree, bringing Jake Tapper and Chris Cuomo to CNN from ABC, Rachel Nichols from ESPN, and Michaela Pereira from KTLA in Los Angeles, among others.

In a statement, Mr. Zucker said the decision to have Ms. Wallace work principally for CNN’s Web sites “underscores our commitment to this space as clearly as ever.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/business/media/kelly-wallace-to-return-to-cnn.html?partner=rss&emc=rss