NABJ Puts CNN on Watch List
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The NABJ says that they have placed CNN on a "special media monitoring list” due to the fact that the used to be cable news network is seriously lacking in black representation in the network's leadership ranks.
NABJ said in a statement that its preliminary research showed that CNN has no black employees reporting to CNN President Jeff Zucker.
It also showed that the news organization has no black executive producers as well as no black vice presidents or senior vice presidents on the news side.
The Hill reports that the NABJ said a four-person delegation sought to meet with Zucker but that the CNN president refused to do so because of "a personal issue between CNN and NABJ’s Vice President-Digital Roland Martin" stemming from Martin's participation in a 2016 town hall with then-Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
"Previously, former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile admitted, according to a Time essay, she inadvertently disclosed a town hall topic to the Clinton campaign that was part of Martin’s research inquiry for the town hall," the NABJ statement reads.
"NABJ’s request to meet was and is focused solely on CNN’s diversity efforts, its results and our strategic priorities as an organization," the statement continued.
CNN said in a statement shared with The Hill that it was open to meeting with members of the group's leadership team, but said that it would not be part of any meetings involving Martin.
"For months, we have been working with NABJ to schedule a meeting because the relationship between CNN and NABJ is very important to us. As we have told them many times, we look forward to a thoughtful discussion about how both of our organizations can continue to work together. Unfortunately, the significant and reckless damage that Roland Martin did to CNN while partnering with us during a 2016 Democratic Town Hall has made any meeting that includes him untenable," CNN said in the statement.
Maybe some one can ask Zucker while it lacks Blacks in leadership, it also lacks in offering up any real news. That should also be a concern.
