MSNBC.com appoints new creative leadership team

Cory Bergman October 11th, 2006

Ashley Wells has been promoted to creative director, and Robert Hood has moved up to director of multimedia. “Our creative director will lead a growing team of interactive information experts and designers, and our director of multimedia will lead what is already the finest team of photojournalists in online journalism,” explains Jennifer Sizemore, MSNBC.com editor in chief. More in the press release…

PRESS RELEASE — MSNBC.com, the nation’s No. 1 TV news website, announces the promotions of Ashley Wells and Robert Hood to its editorial leadership team. Wells will serve as creative director overseeing MSNBC.com’s overall creative design, presentation, navigation, information architecture and interactivity. Hood will serve as director of multimedia, overseeing MSNBC.com’s extensive use of photojournalism and multimedia throughout the site. These announcements were made by Jennifer Sizemore, editor in chief of MSNBC.com.

“MSNBC.com has always been the leader in immersive, visual storytelling and as we move into our second decade of innovation, we will continue leading the industry in user experience, creativity and top-notch journalism,” said Sizemore. “Our creative director will lead a growing team of interactive information experts and designers, and our director of multimedia will lead what is already the finest team of photojournalists in online journalism. We owe much of our history and many of our awards to the talents of both Ashley Wells and Robert Hood and we’re thrilled to have found just the right people for both of these roles.”

Ashley Wells has been with MSNBC.com since 1999 and has specialized in made-for-the-web news presentations that encourage viewer participation, with roles ranging from producer, designer and video editor to developer and project manager. See his team’s work in action at http://www.risingfromruin.msnbc.com. Before joining MSNBC.com, Ashley worked at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. He is a Pepperdine University graduate.

Robert Hood was an original member of MSNBC.com’s multimedia team, joining the site at launch in 1996. In that time he has done just about every job on the media team including editing daily photography, audio and video and original reporting. His tenure at MSNBC.com has carried him as far away as Siberia and South Africa and he was even tear-gassed while shooting photos during the WTO riots in Seattle. Hood is an experienced photographer who originally studied photography at Utah State University and did graduate work at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has worked as a photographer for local newspapers in both Utah and Wyoming.