Talia Parkinson-Jones is the new executive producer of NBC News’ Today with Hoda & Jenna, said Libby Leist, senior vice president of Today and NBC News. She officially starts on Monday, Oct. 18.

Parkinson-Jones replaces Joanne LaMarca, who departed the program in August after steering it through the pandemic, format changes and both of the show's hosts welcoming new children into their families. 

A daytime veteran, Parkinson-Jones most recently served as consulting producer on Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk, featuring Jada Pinkett-Smith, her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris and her daughter, Willow Smith, talking about trending topics of the day as well as their personal lives. 

In 2019, Parkinson-Jones worked with Bill Geddie and Tamron Hall to launch ABC’s syndicated daytime talker, Tamron Hall. She departed that show in March 2020. 

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She spent a decade working on Debmar-Mercury’s The Wendy Williams Show, rising to co-executive producer. She also developed and executive produced BET’s one-hour red-carpet series, Wendy’s Style Squad, and served as casting director for Discovery's game show, Cash Cab.

Parkinson-Jones graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Public Communications. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.

Additionally, Today veteran Meredith Reis has been promoted to senior broadcast producer of Hoda & Jenna, effective immediately. Reis began her career as a researcher for Today and has worked on all four hours of the program, covering breaking news, features and live events. For the past two years, she has served as senior producer for the 10 a.m. hour. Reis reports to Parkinson-Jones, who reports to Leist.

Fired Today anchor Matt Lauer finally weighed in a day after he was let go over allegations of sexual misconduct that multiplied throughout the day Wednesday (Nov. 29).

Related: When News Anchors Become the Story

While Lauer said some of the allegations were either not true or mischaracterized, he suggested some were not.

"There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions," Lauer said in a statement. "To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this, I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC."

Today included Lauer's statement Thursday (Nov. 30) in a story about the additional allegations that emerged Wednesday in articles in The New York Times and Variety.

"Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly," Lauer said.

"Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching, and I'm committed to beginning that effort; it is now my full time job," he added. "The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It's been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace."

Related: Trump Uses Lauer Exit to Target Comcast-NBCU Execs

Other reports Wednesday indicated that some of the women making the allegations had complained to NBC management previously without success, but Today reported that NBC's current network management said no one had been made aware of any allegations before Monday's detailed complaint by a colleague at NBC News regarding behavior that began during the coverage of the Olympics in Sochi in 2014.

Wednesday morning (Nov. 29) the world woke to the news that Today co-host Matt Lauer was fired due to alleged sexual misconduct in the workplace.

Lauer is the second prominent TV journalist in the past week to lose his job in the wake of alleged inappropriate behavior with female colleagues. Lauer's firing follows Charlie Rose's dismissal from CBS This Morning; PBS also dropped Rose's long-running interview series.

Update: Lauer Apologizes

Rose and Lauer are marquee names within the TV news business, and the allegations have the potential of chipping away at the credibility of the voices that deliver the daily news. What if Lauer and Rose represent just the tip of the iceberg among the national and local anchors, producers and execs the public counts on for TV news?

If the near daily allegations of sexual harassment, misconduct and assault that have emerged in the entertainment industry since the Harvey Weinstein story broke prove a harbinger of things to come in TV news, will viewer trust in the media — already under siege by President Trump’s cries of “fake news” — become part of the fallout?

By all accounts so far, the news organizations at NBC, CBS and PBS each reacted to the allegations against their anchors swiftly, and made clear their support of the women who brought the complaints. That level of response could be essential to maintaining the public's trust through what could be a rocky time to come in TV news.