• November 22, 2004

For the second time in a little more than a year, CNN News Group has a new president for U.S. operations, as Jonathan Klein, founder and chief executive officer of The FeedRoom Inc., a high-speed Internet news network and video streamer, has been tapped for the job.

Klein, who will report to CNN President Jim Walton, replaces Princell Hair, who was appointed to oversee the U.S. news group in September 2003. Hair will assume a new role as senior vice president of program and talent development across the CNN News Group.

Klein was the former executive director of CBS News, with oversight of its flagship "60 Minutes" program.

Some industry analysts had questioned whether Hair, who was in charge of Viacom's TV stations and was a former TV news director in Baltimore and Los Angeles, was the right person for the job. For his part, Klein feels his experience at FeedRoom has him well prepared.

"Six years steeped in the digital information industry have helped me understand today's news consumers in ways never before available to media executives," Klein said in a statement.