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** OPINION
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** Q&A: Antonia Hylton on balancing field reporting with her new role as co-host of MSNBC’s ‘The Weekend: Primetime’
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MSNBC’s Antonia Hylton. (Courtesy: MSNBC)

Antonia Hylton is 32 years old, but already has an extensive and impressive career in journalism.

The MSNBC correspondent was one of the driving forces behind NBC News’ “Southlake” podcast, the compelling story of Southlake, Texas, a suburb that became the epicenter of the growing national crusade against critical race theory. The pod was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Audio Reporting in 2022.

She has won an Emmy. She has won an Edward R. Murrow Award for her work as a co-host on the NBC News podcast “Grapevine.” She was once listed on Forbes’ “30 under 30.” She was a correspondent and producer on HBO’s “Vice News Tonight” and worked at Quibi, the short-form streaming platform that generated content for mobile devices.

Oh, and she is the author of the New York Times best seller “Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum.” ([link removed])

Now she is adding even more to her duties. Starting this weekend, she will co-host MSNBC’s “The Weekend: Primetime.” The new show — which Hylton will co-host with Washington Post syndicated opinion columnist Catherine Rampell and MSNBC contributor Elise Jordan — will air from 6 to 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays and Sundays.

This week, I had the opportunity to talk to Hylton via email. Here is our conversation:

Tom Jones: You’ve already had an impressive career as a reporter and doing investigative work in the field, and you’re going to continue doing that kind of work. But you’re also going to now be co-hosting behind the desk. What made you want to add that to your duties and how do you think that balance is going to work?

Antonia Hylton: I consider myself incredibly lucky to step into this hybrid, best-of-both-worlds role. Monday to Friday I’ll be dedicated to original and enterprise reporting for MSNBC. So that means I’ll still be covering politics, education, immigration and the culture war. I’ll still have a go-bag under my desk, ready for a sprint to the airport for breaking news. On “The Weekend: Primetime,” however, I’ll have the chance to take a breath, shape new conversations with my co-hosts and reflect on the reporting and interviews we’ve gathered throughout the week. I see it all as an extension, and not as a departure, from the body of work I’ve built in the field.

Jones: Do you think having such extensive experience in the field will help you as a co-host? If so, how?

Hylton: I really believe the best reporting and lasting relationships are built by traveling to new corners of the country and investing time in their people. The anchors I grew up admiring all dedicated years to meeting people where they were and running toward crises when others were fleeing them before they sat behind a desk. I hope I can speak from that experience, too, and I hope to demystify what reporting is and what reporting requires for our viewers.

I think people are eager to hear the behind-the-scenes, authentic story. They want us to stop talking at them and instead invite them in. As I step behind the desk, that’s the spirit I hope to bring with me. I can’t say too much about it now, but I’ve also been part of a team working on a cross-platform, multi-state investigation over these last few months … and we’ll have something to share with you all on our new show very soon.

Jones: What do you want viewers to take away from watching “The Weekend: Primetime?”

Hylton: I want you to go to bed (or go out to the bar!) feeling equipped, informed and often challenged. You’ll get to meet brilliant and creative people who aren’t already familiar faces on cable television. We’ll have three hours, so we’ll take our time with our guests and give them the platform to really tell their stories and to be understood.

We’ll assume you’ve heard all the same tired talking points by the time “The Weekend: Primetime” comes around — and we’ll set a new tone. Oh, and all those important stories that keep getting drowned out during the week? We'll elevate them.

Jones: One of the things I find interesting about your career is the variety of ways you’ve told stories. You’ve worked at Quibi and Vice — which told stories on different platforms. The podcast you worked on, “Southlake,” was terrific. You wrote a book. You’ve done quote-unquote traditional TV news stories. Now you’re adding hosting duties. Is there one thing you enjoy doing more than others, or do like the variety?

Hylton: Thank you! I love the variety, and I’ve always been drawn to the challenge of finding new ways to craft a good story. Learning to write for a long-form podcast like “Southlake” made me a more creative visual storyteller. When I wrote my book “Madness,” I organized my chapters using scene-building techniques taught to me by a documentarian. Training to cover live breaking news quickly and accurately on MSNBC made me a faster thinker and more confident interviewer for the work I have done on “NBC Nightly News.” Even Quibi (RIP), which lasted less than a year, taught me how to basically build a car while driving it. I think that every two years or so you should try something in your career that scares you a little bit. This new show is another one of those moments for me.

Jones: Obviously, the Trump administration is such a dominating story these days, and understandably so. Do you have other topics that you want to work on, or does Trump have to be the focus right now because of all that’s at stake?

Hylton: The stakes are incredibly high, and our show will never shy away from that. At the same time, there’s always a way to center people and their lived experiences over politicians or cults of personality. For me, success means spending more of my time reporting from schools, businesses, and churches than I spend with powerful people in D.C. MSNBC’s audience is deeply dedicated, and our viewers expect to see reporting and analysis that puts people first. “The Weekend: Primetime” will cover politics and foreign policy, of course, but we’ll also dig into pop culture, new books, and art. We have three hours and four open-minded hosts. I can’t wait to get started.

My thanks to Antonia Hylton. Now onto the rest of the newsletter.

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** Special guest, Jen Psaki
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Jen Psaki starts her new weeknight show — “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” — on MSNBC next Tuesday night at 9 p.m. (Psaki will host Tuesday through Friday.)

The former White House press secretary has become one of cable news’ biggest stars, and she talks about her TV career, her new show and covering Trump at this moment in the next episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast,” which drops on Monday. So be sure to check out a conversation I believe you will find interesting.

And about the name of the new show — “The Briefing.” It certainly plays off her former job, but it also is meant to send a message to the viewers.

Psaki told me, “One of my takeaways from the 2024 election was (that) insiders do not have all the answers. And I did not want to be projecting to our audience that — yes, I will talk to people who have extensive experience in government, have been in government, newsmakers, of course — that insiders are the only ones, because often the story in moments like this is happening in the country in a grassroots way, and people you don't even necessarily know yet. The other thing I've thought a lot about is the news cycle right now … is so crazy. It is just hard to follow the thread — and I do this professionally for a living — of so many stories at the same time. When I run into people on the train or at the grocery store, oftentimes their questions are like, ‘What's happening with the IRS? What's going on?’ Or, “What's going on with this SignalGate thing? Is it still happening?” And “How does it impact me?” (There are many things) I'm terrible at — biking, singing, many others — but d
iving deeply into a lot of information and trying to explain it is maybe one of my superpowers. And so naming it the briefing does go back to my roots, but it also is, hopefully, something that will, if I do my job right, meet the moment, that kind of the appetite people have for actual, accurate information.”


** Gannett ‘optimistic’ amid tariff turmoil
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For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague, Angela Fu.

Gannett executives said Thursday they remain “optimistic” about the company’s performance in 2025 even as economic uncertainty and the threat of tariffs have sent global markets roiling.

The newspaper chain reported ([link removed]) its first-quarter earnings Thursday, reiterating the full-year business outlook it had released in February. Despite a rocky first quarter and an increasingly ominous global economic environment, Gannett is still expecting to grow its digital revenue, net income and free cash flow this year compared to last year.

“While the macro environment obviously remains dynamic for everybody operating here in the U.S., the underlying fundamentals of what we see in our business as we move into Q2 really does reinforce our optimism for 2025,” CEO Mike Reed said on an earnings call.

Gannett’s expenses have been “largely unaffected” by President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, chief financial officer Trisha Gosser said. On April 5, Trump enacted ([link removed]) 10% baseline tariffs on most imports. He has already implemented additional tariffs on several countries, including Canada and China, and is threatening higher tariffs on dozens more. Trump’s unprecedented economic policies have caused experts to warn ([link removed]) about a possible recession.

Gosser said the company’s first-quarter performance is an “anomaly” and that Gannett has shored up its digital businesses. In the quarter ending March 31, Gannett saw its total revenue decrease 10.1% year-over-year to $571.6 million in part because of its sale of the Austin American-Statesman. The company ended the quarter with a $7.3 million loss, an improvement from the $84.8 million it lost during the same period last year.

One source of optimism is the Department of Justice’s victory ([link removed]) in its antitrust case against Google last month, Reed told investors. For decades, tech giants like Google have dominated digital advertising markets, rerouting dollars that would have gone to newspapers and other publishers.

“The federal court’s recent ruling that Google illegally monopolized key segments of the digital advertising marketplace validates what we and others have argued for years,” Reed said. “Now that the liability phase of the trial has concluded and the proceedings are moving to the damages phase — which may include potential divestiture of Google's Ad Exchange and ad server — we can now enter a more open, transparent and competitive marketplace.”

Gannett filed its own lawsuit ([link removed]) against Google in 2023, alleging that the company has monopolized advertising markets. The DOJ ruling is a “positive signal” for Gannett’s suit, Reed said.

Gannett stock was trading at $3.09 a share Thursday, down nearly 40% from the start of the year.


** Bad times and odd times at the Omaha World-Herald
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For this item, I turn it over to Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s media business analyst.

A sad and familiar regional newspaper tale has unfolded at the Omaha World-Herald. Serving Nebraska’s largest city, the World-Herald has shrunk from a thriving newsroom of about 200 two decades ago to around 30 now. A fresh round of cuts came in March. Student journalist Kaitlyn Kelly thoroughly assembled the details of decline Thursday in a story for the University of Nebraska at Omaha Gateway ([link removed]) .

There are two twists here. Investment guru Warren Buffett owned his hometown paper independently for a time, then wrapped it into the BH Media chain, headquartered in Omaha. As he became disenthralled with the newspaper business, Buffett sold the group to Lee Enterprises, financing the deal himself at a high interest rate. So he retains a stake and a say.

I spoke to Kelly during her reporting. She pointed me to an unusual editorial strategy, bordering on the bizarre. The World-Herald hired a new executive editor, Ben Doody, in April ([link removed]) . Doody is a sports specialist, spending the last decade at Heavy, a national sports information service. The paper, to judge by its digital site, has pivoted to exhaustive coverage of Nebraska sports, the University of Nebraska football team in particular. Sports display stories sometimes outnumber straight news.

Sure, bold experiments are in season for the local news space, but it’s hard to believe this one will broaden the paying audience or deliver the basics of community coverage.

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** Celebrating 50 years: NABJ, Poynter look ahead in special webinar
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The National Association of Black Journalists and the Poynter Institute are each turning 50 in 2025. As we celebrate decades of impact, we’re also looking ahead.

Join us for a special webinar ([link removed]) featuring influential leaders in news, education and media strategy as they tackle the real issues shaping journalism today.

Register now. ([link removed])


** Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review …
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* Lester Holt announced in February that he was stepping down as anchor of the “NBC Nightly News.” Now we know when. CNN’s Brian Stelter reported Holt’s final newscast will be May 30. His replacement, Tom Llamas, will take over as anchor on June 2. Holt will continue as host of NBC’s “Dateline.”
* President Donald Trump will be interviewed by moderator Kristen Welker for this Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC. The interview is scheduled to take place today and air on Sunday.
* Meanwhile, former President Joe Biden, along with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will appear on ABC’s “The View” on May 8. It will be Biden’s first TV interview since leaving the White House. The Hollywood Reporter’s Rick Porter notes ([link removed]) , “That Joe Biden would choose The View for his first on-camera interview after the end of his presidency is not a surprise. He has been a guest on the show 10 times in the past, including in September 2024 when he became the first sitting president to appear live on the show (Barack Obama did a taped interview with the show in 2010). The show was also Biden’s first TV stop when he announced his run for president in 2019, and he appeared on the show several times when he was vice president.”
* Santa Rosa, California’s Press Democrat and its sister publications have been sold to MediaNews Group ([link removed]) . Poynter’s Rick Edmonds previously reported that a local group had tried to acquire the publication ([link removed]) , along with other bidders. MediaNews Group, part of Alden Global Capital, already owns the Bay Area’s San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times — and 68 U.S. daily newspapers overall, including the Chicago Tribune, Denver Post and Orlando Sentinel.
* The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “After a year of turmoil, The Washington Post is taking note of its journalism again.” ([link removed])
* Steve Doocy will take on a new role on Fox News’ morning show, “Fox & Friends.” Technically, Doocy will still be a co-host, but he will no longer be in the studio. He will be based in Florida and host from there and, Fox News said in a release, “from locations throughout the southeast, Midwest and beyond that don’t typically get network airtime.” Doocy said on the air, “After decades of getting up at 3:30 and driving into NYC in the dark, today is the last day I will host the show … from the couch. “I am not retiring, I’m not leaving the show. I’m still a host — but it’s time for a change.” Mediaite’s Colby Hall has more ([link removed]) .
* My Poynter colleague Kelly McBride with “People who fear the Trump administration are asking editors to remove their names from old news stories.” ([link removed])
* HuffPost’s Ron Dicker with “White House's New Pro-Trump News Site Is Summed Up On Social Media With 1 Word.” ([link removed])
* Longtime Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette is retiring after 44 years at the paper. Here’s his final column ([link removed]) . I don’t know Frenette very well, but every time we shared a press box (usually at a University of Florida or Florida State football game), I found him to be one of the good guys. Good columnist, too.
* For The New York Times, Katherine Rosman (with photographs by Michelle V. Agins) with “‘I Have Cancer,’ the TikTok Star Said. Then Came the Torrent of Hate.” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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* Gain essential skills that protect your mental health while producing nuanced coverage that serves vulnerable communities. Enroll now ([link removed]) .
* Craft your reporting into a captivating book. Apply by May 7 ([link removed]) .
* Gain the tools to identify and approach vulnerable sources. Register for our webinar ([link removed]) .
* Develop responsible AI practices for newsrooms. Start here ([link removed]) .
* Update your immigration policy expertise with Poynter's Beat Academy. Enroll now ([link removed]) .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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