NBC News senior vice president Mark Whitaker will take over the duties of the late Tim Russert as Washington bureau chief for the news division.
Whitaker has been No. 2 to NBC
News president Steve Capus and will continue to report to him. Besides management of the D.C. bureau, Whitaker will oversee "Meet the Press," and guide election and political coverage. He'll work
closely with Russert's deputies, Wendy Wilkinson and Brady Daniels.
The other part of Russert's job, as moderator of "Meet the Press," won't be filled permanently until after the November election. Whitaker joined NBC following editorship of Newsweek from 1998-2006.