Cheryl Gould: Senior Vice President, NBC News

She is someone of many firsts: one of the first women to matriculate into Princeton University, the first woman Senior and Executive Producer for NBC’s “Nightly News,” and one of the first to throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks.  Senior Vice President of NBC News Cheryl Gould is the first person to be in charge of overseeing the news division’s digital efforts. She came back to the division last fall after four-years with CNBC, having spent the bulk of her career at NBC News. According to Ms. Gould, her latest gig “is a new adventure.”

Her job description of figuring out how NBC can “exploit our news content on many platforms and still remain true to our news roots,” Gould says, “is like throwing spaghetti onto a wall and seeing what sticks. No one quite knows what new ideas will catch on.”  When the position was offered to her, Gould knew how to use her computer and Blackberry, but that was about it.  As she did at CNBC, Gould “attacked this just as though it were a story.”  She adds, “I went about it as though I were a reporter, thrust into a situation I know very little about.”  She quickly learned huge amounts by talking to as many people in the field, while reading and researching the topic in-depth.

Gould started at NBC News in 1977 as a freelance radio reporter in Europe.  Since then she has seen both herself and the company grow.  “I really evolved with the company,” she said.  Gould remembers when General Electric bought NBC from RCA and many were admittedly nervous about how the two institutions would blend.  She now says, “We have grown up together.  The companies have learned from each other and she attributes the partnership’s success to a phenomenal corporation and learning environment, in which there is permission to tear down boundaries, applaud imagination, and enter the digital world with full force.”

Gould’s resume is a headhunter’s dream. However, she is devoted to NBC because of the people.  Beaming, she says, “I have always felt that this is the best place for me to thrive because I believe that the people at NBC are the most collegial, friendly, warm, intelligent, group imaginable.”

Now the woman of firsts is giving back, always ready to generously give of her time and advice to aspiring journalists of all backgrounds.  To a younger generation she says, “I definitely think journalism is a good field to get into, because you’re helping to reinvent it as it evolves from a broadcast medium to a multi-medium enterprise.  Just be open to all possibilities and challenges.  Figure out what the best opportunities are as they present themselves and make sure you are in a position to exploit those opportunities.”

Having toiled for nearly 30 years in broadcast news, she’s excited about what the future holds.  “What a difference eight months on the job has made!”  Excited to continue, Gould says, “I can’t imagine eight months from now what Digital Media will be like!”