CBS came under fire this weekend after it announced its 2020 coverage lineup—with no Black reporters or producers in sight.
CBS associate producer Ben Mitchell first tweeted the lineup on Friday, saying, “It’s Official: The @CBSNews 2020 Election Team has assembled!”
https://twitter.com/bfmitchell/status/1083834166175846400
Twitter users were quick to notice that the team didn’t include any Black journalists.
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/1084276819770073088
Something is missing… pic.twitter.com/Xr6meU0s51
— F1agg Σagl3t0n (@NM_Che56) January 13, 2019
Check this one out black folks CBS pick the journalists to cover the 2020 presidential election not one black journalists was included. Why people do not get to describe racism in politics for black people. CBS is still a racist company. pic.twitter.com/Oo4UqL8Qj7
— Don Salmon (@dijoni) January 13, 2019
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got involved, tweeting, “This WH admin has made having a functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet @CBSNews hasn’t assigned a *single* black journalist to cover the 2020 election. Unacceptable in 2019. Try again.”
This WH admin has made having a functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet @CBSNews hasn’t assigned a *single* black journalist to cover the 2020 election.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
Unacceptable in 2019. Try again. https://t.co/h7tmiBr9Fi
I keep thinking about this exchange bc there are many aspects that are concerning to hear from an *editor.*
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
This is what false equivalence looks like: diminishing Trump‘s “enemy of the people” talk as “scolding” & describing my call to hire a black journalist as the same thing. https://t.co/P0PVfsTE4t
Meanwhile, conservative radio host and writer Jesse Kelly critiqued the backlash to CBS’ 2020 lineup.
“People are dragging CBS for not having enough black people, but has anyone considered the obvious explanation that many black people have no interest in journalism? Cultures are different and value different things. Doesn’t make CBS the KKK.”
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1084525238313017344
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1084525549274439680
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1084525990506885121
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1084526329654099971
Kelly then cited statistics about the demographics of journalism majors, without citing his source or providing context, like the fact that journalism programs, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, can be incredibly expensive, and journalism doesn’t pay particularly well.
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1084813023020240899
Black journalists weren’t having it.
1.) Do you think all journalists have journalism degrees?
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) January 14, 2019
2.) Do you think that behavior is 100 percent attributable to innate racial characteristics?
And 3.) out of curiosity, did you ask any black journalists for their take on why these disparities might exist? We’re around!
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) January 14, 2019
1.) In general, getting a job in journalism is extremely difficult — and also takes a long time, a length of time a lot of folks don’t have or couldn’t afford.
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) January 14, 2019
2.) Black journalists are often treated as if they are incapable of being “journalistic” — impartial, evenhanded.
Why don’t you reach out to the @NABJ and ask a few questions? Why don’t you consider that people don’t always go to school and graduate doing the thing they studied? Why don’t you consider that people with biases like yours make hiring decisions which affects representation?
— F1agg Σagl3t0n (@NM_Che56) January 14, 2019
Jesse Kelly, this statement is absolutely ignorant. Newsrooms NEED to reflect the diverse communities they serve. Most importantly, African Americans and other minorities deserve higher paying contracted positions within the newsroom-writers, digital prod., assignment editors▶️ https://t.co/Uo0h5wxe0o
— Ava Pittman (@AvaPittmanTV) January 14, 2019
“… Cultures are different & value different things…”- Jesse Kelly’s “culture” values white ppl slandering EVERYONE else. Losing tactic in the 21st century. I’M a #BlackAmerican journalist, BTW. And @redwardprice719, no such thing as “graduationing.” A typo, I’m sure. #racism https://t.co/pePqOZOXLw
— Ungaro (MDU) (@ungaro) January 14, 2019
You honestly don’t have the bandwidth for this convo. I speak at colleges & universities all the time, where there is significant interest in journalism among ppl of color. But I get it, it’s so much easier to blame us than critically look at the lack of access/opportunity. https://t.co/IDLMofuA4u
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) January 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/SirWruthless/status/1084836140270534659
https://twitter.com/ChazLondonB/status/1084841838928891904
Hi @JesseKellyDC. Black journalist here. To point out the breadth of your ignorance would be wasting words on the obvious. Your baseless statement proves why diversity is important, especially in news orgs. Also, Google @NABJ. Then sit down and be humble. https://t.co/spUFYoBdmc
— Nia Hamm NBC10 Boston (@NiaNBCBoston) January 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/chalibay/status/1084840846216683520
As a former black journalist: "Shutchoassup, man." https://t.co/v4WzMDeNkT
— BJW (@GQBound) January 14, 2019
Journalist Imani Gandy weighed in with a pointed takedown.
https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1084830191447355393
https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1084833297824473088
The Columbia Journalism Review has explored the issue of diversity in newsrooms. It’s a documented problem, and it’s historically led to poor coverage of, or complete ignorance about, issues like lynching, the Civil Rights movement, and voter suppression.