MS NOW has appointed Ali Velshi as chief data correspondent, giving the veteran anchor and reporter an expanded role in the news brand.
The new role will see Velshi manage MS NOW’s interactive dashboard on election nights, providing real-time polling and election results updates.
“I have had the privilege of learning from Ali over the past 20 years in various newsrooms,” says Rebecca Kotler, President of MS NOW. “One of his many talents is his unique ability to take complex data and make it digestible.” “Ali will guide our audience through the real-time information that will determine the results of the midterm and presidential elections. I am pleased that Ali will bring his understanding of public opinion and voters to our election coverage in the years ahead.”
Of course, Velshi is almost everywhere on MS NOW, hosting his eponymous show on the weekends and frequently serving as an announcer on weekdays.
Online, hosted Banned Book Club Velshi Podcast and weekly live series on YouTube, It’s happening with Velshi and Ruhl Along with Stephanie Ruhl.
He has also run the channel’s “Grand Board” in the past, although he was in an interview with Hollywood Reporter Late last year (along with Ruhle), he previewed how splitting up MS NOW would give him more opportunity to dig into the data.
“I’ve always loved that opportunity. I was always the guy in the background when Steve Kornacki was doing it, but Kornacki would never give me my shift, because the agreement was he would work 10 hours and I would work the next 10 hours, but he would never leave after the first 10 hours,” Velshi said. “I was a relief pitcher.
He added: “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I did it at CNN. I know the board, the same people we were using, and I would really like to develop this into a data machine.” “In other words, it’s not just election results or polls or whatever it is. This is a machine that you can put data into, and I can talk about anything. I can talk about places where unemployment is highest, where SNAP payments are lowest, where costs are rising, where jobs are available, where AI energy costs are hitting people. So I really like this opportunity.”
Velshi joined MS NOW in 2016 (it was of course called MSNBC at the time) and before that was an anchor and correspondent for CNN and Al Jazeera America.
