Jackson started her journalism career at WBOC-TV, in Salisbury, Maryland and Dover, Delaware in 2006 until her departure for WFSB, in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, during 2008.

In January 2017, NBC named Jackson as its chief White House correspondent, while also stating that she would transition time slots and anchor MSNBC's 10:00 a.m.

On May 27, 2020, Jackson was invited to and gave special remarks at her alma mater Johns Hopkins University's 2020 commencement ceremony.

[9] Other guest speakers during the virtual ceremony included Reddit co-founder and commencement speaker Alexis Ohanian; philanthropist and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior class president, Pavan Patel.

[10] Jackson and her partner, Frank Thorp, a producer and off-air reporter for NBC News, announced the birth of their first child, a daughter, on March 9, 2020.