Christina Bellantoni to Join PBS NEWSHOUR as Political Editor

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- PBS NEWSHOUR is pleased to announce that Christina Bellantoni of CQ Roll Call will join the staff as Political Editor, effective January 2, 2012. Ms. Bellantoni will oversee all coverage related to domestic political developments both on air and online, including on-air analysis of politics, elections and political figures.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111220/DC25346)

"Christina's extensive Washington experience as a skilled, cross-platform journalist  will make her a great asset to the NewsHour throughout the 2012 election cycle," said Linda Winslow,  Executive Producer of the PBS NEWSHOUR.  "She understands the seismic shift that has changed the world of journalism and is eager to help us develop new sources and new ways to engage our audience through the use of social media."

Bellantoni has spent over a decade covering national political and business news in Washington, D.C. and California. She has been Associate Politics Editor at CQ Roll Call since October 2010, and she has appeared regularly as political analyst on national television programs such as Hardball, Countdown, On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren, Reliable Sources, TopLine, the Rachel Maddow show, and The Daily Rundown. Bellantoni was a senior reporter-blogger at Talking Points Memo's Washington bureau covering the White House and national politics from October 2009 through October 2010. Before joining TPM, Bellantoni was a White House correspondent for The Washington Times, a post she took after covering the 2008 presidential campaign. She joined the Times in December 2003, covering state and Congressional politics before moving to the national political beat for the 2008 election.

A graduate of University of California, Berkeley, Bellantoni majored in mass communications, and was an Institute of Politics Fellow at the Kennedy School, Harvard University, in fall 2011.

She won two national journalism awards for Best Scoop in 2001 for her story in Silicon Valley Biz Ink revealing the San Jose Sharks were up for sale.

PBS NEWSHOUR is seen by over 5 million weekly viewers and is also available online, via public radio in select markets and via podcast. The program is produced in association with WETA Washington, D.C., and WNET.org in New York. Major corporate funding for the PBS NEWSHOUR is provided by BNSF and Intel, with additional support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.

SOURCE PBS NEWSHOUR