PBS NewsHour Senior Executive Producer Sara Just Names Washington Week and NewsHour Weekend EPs

Monday, February 21 (Arlington, VA) – NewsHour Productions senior executive producer Sara Just today named Rachel Wellford executive producer of PBS NewsHour Weekend and Stephanie Kotuby executive producer of Washington Week. PBS’s nightly news flagship took over production of Washington Week from WETA in late 2021 and will take over production of the Saturday and Sunday edition of NewsHour from WNET in April. As part of these acquisitions and the promotions of Wellford and Kotuby, Just, who also serves as a senior vice president of WETA, was elevated from executive producer to senior executive producer.

“As we grow and expand WETA’s stellar news operations under NewsHour Productions, our commitment to balanced reporting and insightful analysis across broadcast, digital and social platforms continue and are a mainstay of the power of public media journalism,” said Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president and chief executive officer of WETA. “I am happy to acknowledge the strong work and deep talents of Sara, Stephanie and Rachel, and I welcome them to their new roles.”

Just added, “I am delighted to announce the promotions of Rachel Wellford and Stephanie Kotuby to NewsHour’s growing portfolio of award-winning news programming. Rachel’s experience producing for breaking news, longer-term field features, in-depth series, primetime documentaries, special events, and political and elections coverage will all inform the range of stories we intend to do on the weekend. Stephanie has regularly filled in to oversee NewsHour’s nightly broadcast and specials in recent years including during the January 6^th insurrection and for President Trump’s second impeachment trial. I could not be more confident in her sound editorial judgement, quick decision-making skills, and ability to lead the Friday night production of Washington Week as we seek to combine its resources and workflows with PBS NewsHour.”

Wellford, who rejoins NewsHour from CNN+, will also serve as a senior producer of Washington Week. Prior to joining CNN in 2021, Wellford spent 8 years at NewsHour, in a variety of roles including as a White House producer, deputy senior producer for politics, and field producer, in addition to working on the news desk and starting as a news assistant. Geoff Bennett will serve as anchor of PBS NewsHour Weekend when it launches at WETA in April. He also serves as NewsHour’s chief Washington correspondent, joining PBS from NBC News in January 2022.

“I am excited and honored to be returning to the NewsHour to continue its legacy of trustworthy journalism in this new chapter of PBS NewsHour Weekend as well as with the highly-regarded Washington Week,” said Wellford.

Kotuby, who will remain NewsHour’s senior editorial producer, joined the broadcast in 2015 from Bloomberg following 12 years at CNN. At NewsHour, she has served as the lead booker for newsmaker interviews, securing high profile and news making interviews over four election cycles; with Senate and House leadership; in the Biden, Trump and Obama administrations; and for the late Gwen Ifill’s 2016 Emmy Award nominated town hall with then President Obama. As part of her expanded role as executive producer of Washington Week with moderator Yamiche Alcindor, there will be added resources to NewsHour’s booking team, which Kotuby will manage.

“For decades, Washington Week has provided critical insight and context needed to understand the country’s most pressing issues,” added Kotuby. “I am thrilled and honored to work alongside Yamiche Alcindor, Sara Just and Rachel Wellford as the new executive producer of this esteemed, historic program.”

About PBS NewsHour
PBS NewsHour is a production of NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of WETA Washington, DC. Major corporate funding is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, Fidelity, Johnson & Johnson, and Raymond James, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Skoll Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Friends of the NewsHour and others. More information on PBS NewsHour is available at www.pbs.org/newshour. On social media, visit PBS NewsHour on Facebook or follow @NewsHour on Twitter.

Press Contact: Nick Massella (nmassella at newshour dot org)