Ali Velshi is about to join a very exclusive members’ club.
When television news organizations consider how best to explain the results of the nation’s big elections to viewers, one of the key elements is always interactive boards that display polling and voting results in the most detail. The person assigned to the task each year becomes an important part of the night’s proceedings.
At MS NOW, Velshi will take over the position previously held by Steve Kornacki, a position rivaled by CNN’s John King and Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer among others. Kornacki left MS NOW last year as the network formerly known as MSNBC prepared to split from NBCUniversal. Although MS NOW, CNBC and other cable networks are now part of a separate company known as Versant, Kornacki has chosen to remain at NBC News and NBC Sports, where he often interprets data about football and horse racing.
“I have had the privilege of learning from Ali in various newsrooms over the past 20-plus years. One of his many talents is his unique ability to take complex data and make it easier to understand,” MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said in a statement. “Ali will guide viewers through the real-time information that will determine the outcome of the midterm and presidential elections. We are excited that Ali will bring public opinion and voter understanding to our election coverage for years to come.”
A veteran of the cable news wars, Belushi joined MS NOW in 2016 after stints at CNN and Al Jazeera America. Since then, he has led his own weekend show and served as stand-in host for the network’s prime-time show, partnering with Stephanie Ruhl. He has also traveled the world, reporting from Ukraine, Central and Eastern Europe, and other regions.
“On big political nights, numbers tell a story about participation, power, and choice. Voters decide elections, and data allows us to see those decisions take shape in real time,” Velshi said in a statement. “We appreciate the opportunity to guide our viewers through the primaries, election night and key political moments with a focus on context, transparency and facts.”
