CNN has been wrestling with outside criticism from minority groups. Engage? Cut them off? Ignore? A closer look at the weekend media show, “Reliable Sources,” hosted by Brian Stelter, isn’t going to make the situation any better.
The Daily Caller‘s Mirror blog studied the last six months worth of guests. The results are as follows: 11 black guests in 6 months. In other words, 11 guests out of 146 guests were black. That means that approximately 7.5 percent of all guests who appeared on the program hosted by Brian Stelter were black. Not all the black guests were even journalists. One was a member of Congress, another an actor, and still another, a Ferguson, Mo. activist (granted, it would’ve been hard to make him white).
CNN has recently been getting hammered on its perceived dismal diversity practices. The National Association of Black Journalists condemned their treatment of black employees. CNN didn’t take it like a bunch of wusses. In response, the network pulled requested funding for an NABJ jobs fair. Which prompted Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, to surprising get involved in a media brawl. She issued a statement expressing concern about the recent layoffs that have negatively impacted the network’s African American employees.
“Particularly concerning are reports that these layoffs have significantly reduced the number of African Americans in senior and executive roles in the company’s flagship news organization, CNN,” she wrote.
According to network insiders who spoke to The Mirror on condition of anonymity, CNN’s Washington bureau is comprised of staffers that can hardly be considered racially diverse. “The bookers, producers in DC are awful. And they have no diversity on their staffs,” said a source familiar with the situation.
But others weren’t as, er, black and white about it.
“I think they always try to book the best guests,” said an insider, explaining that both the host and the audience get accustomed to seeing certain people appear on the program. “I’ve been in those meetings. I don’t think it’s malicious.” If anything, the onus is on the executive producer.”
When told about the results of the 6-month assessment, Bob Butler, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, remarked, “Well, let me say that CNN is not the only network that has this issue. They all admit they can do better.” Of the specific numbers of black guests on “Reliable Sources” he said, “I would hope there could be more. …We expect networks to reflect the communities that they serve.”
The Mirror requested comment from CNN.
This insider stressed that “they want to make sure if the person is a talking head that they actually talk. They don’t want to bring on a newbie. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Good TV. Good content. No dead air. At CNN, if you can talk and make sense and have smart things to say, they are going to give you that chance.”
But it’s hard to break in.
Diversity is absolutely discussed in editorial meetings, sources told The Mirror. But it’s tough — EP’s get comfortable with who they know.
“CNN tries and is cognizant of it regarding the guests,” the insider said regarding diversity matters.
But if a new guest screws up, everyone’s angry.
Mimicking what happens if a new guest fails, the insider said, “Why didn’t you know she was a fucking idiot? What the fuck? Don’t ever send me that shit again. The executive producer decides all.”
Sources said diversity has been much tougher under the leadership of network President Jeff Zucker. But there is also the sense that ratings are a fair concern: “They’re worried about ratings. I don’t think there’s a mandate. They could do a better job. I would give them a C+. They’re clearly capable of getting an A.”
What about the hosts? Don’t they have an input on the diversity of the guests? “The hosts are pussies,” the insider said, explaining that hosts generally do not address such matters. “They’re passionate about their show [and may ask] ‘Who the fuck put this idiot on?’ Because it makes them looks bad.”
But typically, the host, upon learning the topic, says, “Great. Who are the guests?”
See the study…
Month 6 — 16
Oct. 20
Dr. Bob Arnot
Krystal Knapp
Sanjay Gupta
Dr. Seema Yasmin
Jonathan Klein
James Risen
Oct. 12
Sam Harris
Irshad Manji
Actor Jeremy Renner
Director Michael Cuesta
CNN correspondent Irwa Damen
Oct. 5
Michael Isikof
Matt Bai
Claudia Mo
Lenny Bernstein
Dr. Gavin MacGregor-Skinner
Month 5 — 24
Sept. 28
Soledad O’Brien (BLACK)
Mark Mazzetti
Jim Miller
Will Leitch
Jorge Ramos—Spanish news anchor, Univision
Erin Gloria Ryan
Sept. 21
LZ Granderson – CNN commentator
Mark Mravic – Sports Illustrated asst. managing editor (BLACK)
Anthony Weiner
Marshall Curry..doc filmmaker
Mike Maddox –oversees CNN international newsgathering programming
Sept. 14
Dan Rather
Jeff Greenfield
Daniel Benjamin, State Dept. most senior counterterrorism adviser during Obama’s first term.
New York Times Baghdad bureau chief Tim Arango
Rep. Barbara Lee (BLACK)
USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan and former ESPN The Magazine editor Gary Belsky
Sept. 7
Chuck Todd – NBC “MTP”
Ron Fournier — NJ
Katrina vanden Heuvel – The Nation
Ari Fleischer
Bill Burton
Foreign policy analyst Rula Jebreal
Month 4 — 35
Aug. 31
London-based Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary
Josh Rogin
Naomi Wolf
Nancy O’Dell
Patrick Gottsch, the founder and CEO of RFD-TV
AP’s Matti Friedman
Aug. 24
CNNMoney technology correspondent Laurie Segall,
BuzzFeed deputy editor-in-chief Shani Hilton and (BLACK)
Quinnipiac University journalism department chair Kevin Convey
Ryan Devereaux and David Klinger (BOTH WHITE) – talking about Ferguson
Edward Crawford (BLACK) – iconic photo in Ferguson
GlobalPost CEO Phil Balboni and Associated Press CEO Gary Pruit
Dan Rather
Aug. 17
HuffPost’s Ryan Reilly
Al Jazeera America correspondent Ash-har Quraishi
ConservativeBlackChick.com editor Crystal Wright (BLACK)
and CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill
Frank Sesno
Jay Rosen
CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson
and photojournalist Mark Phillips
Dr. Gail Saltz
Aug. 10
Sanjay Gupta, CNN
Glenn Beck
Ken Auletta, New Yorker
Anne Barnard, Beirut bureau chief, The New York Times
SE Cupp
James Zogby
Aug. 3
Glenn Beck
Benjamin Wallace-Wells, a staff writer for New York magazine
MSNBC contributor Rula Jebreal
Former Bush administration deputy national security advisor Elliott Abrams
Month 3 –20
July 27
Former MSNBC contributor Rula Jebreal
Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg
CNN’s Chris Cuomo
Maziar Bahari,
Len Downie, former WaPo
Chris Hamby, BuzzFeed
July 20
CNN international anchor Jim Clancy
RT’s Sara Firth
David Carr
Henry Blodget
July 13
Josh Earnest
Kiran Chetry
Judy Woodruff
Dave Weigel
Evan Perez, CNN Justice correspondent
July 6
Lloyd Grove
Julian Zelizer
Zeynep Tufekci and Tal Yarkoni
Former Washington Post reporter Ruben Castaneda
Month 2 — 34
June 29
(Jeffrey Toobin hosting)
Dan Rather
Military analyst Rick Francona and counterterrorism analyst Phillip Mudd
Deborah Norville
June 22
Peter Beinart
Jonathan Landay
Tony Messenger, St. Louis Dispatch
L.Z. Granderson (BLACK)
Linda Sarsour and Brigitte Gabriel
LeVar Burton (BLACK)
June 15
Christina Bellantoni, Jake Sherman, David Leonhardt,
Dylan Byers
Erik Wemple
John Avlon
David Clinch
John Burns
June 8
Gloria Borger
Ryan Lizza
Matt Lewis
Matthew Farwell, Rolling Stone
Mark Leibovich
Amy Chozick
CNN’s Ivan Watson
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos
June 1
Jeff Greenfield
Dave Cullen
Carl Bernstein, WaPo
Mark Leibovich, NYT
Joanna Coles, Cosmopolitan Mag editor-in-chief
Daniel Elisberg
The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates (BLACK)
CNN’s Drew Griffin
Month 1 –27
May 25
Sam Foote
Drew Griffin, CNN correspondent
David Folkenflik, NPR
Sarah Ellison, VF
Paul Begala
SE Cupp
Matt Taibbi
May 18
Ken Auletta, The New Yorker
Dylan Byers, Politico, Rebecca Traister, TNR, Lisa Belkin Yahoo! News
Robin Roberts (BLACK)
Anderson Cooper
Jessica Rosenworcel
May 11
Univision’s Maria Elena Salinas
Rep. Mike Rogers
Naomi Wolf
Jeffrey Toobin
Joe Hagan
Jeff Greenfield
May 4
Dana Bash
Glenn Thrush
Carl Bernstein
Matt Trotter, Public Radio Tulsa
Greg Bluestein, AJC
Peter Lauria, BuzzFeed
CNN’s Vladimir Duthiers, reporting from Nigeria on kidnapped schoolgirls, son of Haitian immigrants (BLACK, HAITIAN)