Sheinelle Marie Jones (born April 19, 1978) is an American journalist and a news anchor and correspondent for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. She is one of the hosts of the

third hour Terce is a canonical hour of the Divine Office. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn. Along with Prime, Sext, None, and Compline, Terce belongs to th ...

of ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' on weekdays, and serves as host of ''Wild Child'' as part of the network's Saturday morning educational block, ''

The More You Know ''The More You Know'' is a series of public service announcements (PSAs) broadcast on the NBCUniversal family of networks in the United States and other locations, featuring educational messages. These PSAs are broadcast occasionally during NB ...

''.

Early life and education

Sheinelle Marie Jones was born April 19, 1978, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Her father is U.S. District Court Judge C. Darnell Jones II. She credits her mother with raising her "surrounded by the power of intentionality," by posting inspirational sayings throughout the house. She attended Wichita Brooks Middle Magnet School and Wichita Heights High School, both in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, where she pledged the historically Black sorority

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

. While still in high school, she interned at

KWCH-TV KWCH-DT (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Hutchinson, Kansas, United States, serving the Wichita area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside CW affiliate KSCW-DT (channel 33) and maintains studios on 37th ...

, the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate in Wichita.

Career

Jones' first broadcast job was in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

for

WICS WICS (channel 20) is a television station licensed to Springfield, Illinois, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on East Cook Street in Springfield's Eastside; its t ...

. Before going to work for

, Jones worked at

KOKI-TV KOKI-TV (channel 23) is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned by Imagicomm Communications alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYT-TV (channel 41). The two sta ...

, the

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

affiliate in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

and

WTXF-TV WTXF-TV (channel 29) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned and operated by the Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Market Street in Center City an ...

, the FOX O&O in

. She was at the Philadelphia station for more than nine years. Jones joined ''

'' on October 4, 2014, as part of ''

Weekend Today Weekend editions of '' Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC, began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987. After NBC expanded ''Today'' to seven days a week in the 1990s ...

''. In January 2019, she became a co-host on '' 3rd Hour Today''. As a co-host on ''3rd Hour Today'' and a co-anchor on the Saturday editions of ''Weekend Today'', Jones was working six days a week. On December 21, 2019, Jones left ''Weekend Today''. In February 2020, Jones had surgery to remove lesions from her vocal cord and thus could not speak at all for two weeks; she remained out of work for six weeks. In 2021, she was the executive producer for a documentary entitled ''Stories We Tell: The Fertility Secret,'' which examined the impact of fertility issues on women of color.

Personal life

In 2007, Jones married Uche Ojeh, whom she met at Northwestern University, and they have three children, sons Kayin and Uche, and daughter Clara. On May 23, 2025, ''Today'' announced that Ojeh had died from aggressive

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

, with Jones having taken family medical leave from NBC News since the beginning of the year after her husband's diagnosis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Sheinelle 1978 births Living people African-American journalists MSNBC people NBC News people Television personalities from Philadelphia People from Wichita, Kansas Medill School of Journalism alumni 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists African-American women journalists Alpha Kappa Alpha members