Former NBC White House producer Athena Jones has joined CNN as a general assignment reporter, based at the network's Washington bureau. Jones had been serving as a freelance segment producer for CNN previously. Details from CNN below.

CNN Press Release: Athena Jones will join CNN as a general assignment correspondent, it was announced today by Sam Feist, Washington bureau chief and senior vice president. Jones will report on a wide range of general news stories and will appear on programs across the network. Jones will be based in the Washington D.C. bureau and will begin her position with the network immediately.

“Athena will be an outstanding addition to our political team,” said Feist. “Her experience covering the White House, politics and international affairs are a perfect fit for the Washington bureau.”

“I’m excited to be joining the CNN team,” said Jones. “And look forward to getting started.”

Previously, Jones was a White House producer with NBC, where she wrote packages, produced story segments and reported on air for MSNBC and NBC News. Jones covered the Clinton and Obama presidential campaigns during the 2008 election cycle for NBC and the National Journal. Prior to NBC, Jones served as a freelance segment producer for CNN. From 2001 to 2003, Jones worked as a reporter for Reuters based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she covered the Argentine presidential elections as well as other general news stories. Prior to Reuters, Jones reported on politics and the economy in both Chile and Argentina for Bloomberg News.

Jones graduated cum laude from Harvard University and earned her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She studied Spanish and European politics at the University of Madrid Complutense in Madrid, Spain; and studied Islamic studies at the American Research Center in Cairo, Egypt, with Duke University.