The turnover of Black anchors in nightly news is continuing. Just 24 hours after it was announced that The ReidOut with Joy Reid was being canceled at MSNBC, Lester Holt made his own big announcement: he’s stepping down from NBC’s Nightly News.
On Monday, the 65-year-old news veteran shared the news with his colleagues in a memo, saying he’d be leaving Nightly News, where he’s been anchor and managing editor for the past decade.
A bit emotional, Holt wrote, “A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history.” He went on, “As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”
Holt’s been with NBC for over two decades and took over Nightly News in June 2015 after Brian Williams’ exit. Before that, he led the weekend editions of the news program for eight years and co-anchored Weekend TODAY for 12 years. He’s also been the principal anchor of Dateline since 2011.
When Holt steps down from Nightly News this summer, he’ll still remain with Dateline full-time.
Along with Reid and Holt’s departures, there’s been another shakeup at MSNBC. Jonathan Capehart, who hosted The Sunday Show, won’t be part of the weekend lineup anymore. However, a source confirmed to the New York Post that while his show has been canceled, Capehart will remain with the network and is just moving to a new time slot.
