CNN's 'Roller Coaster' Diversity Woes (EXCERPT FROM NEWS FLASH, BOOK ON CNN)

cablenewser ^ | 7/7/04 | Bonnie Anderson

[Brian Mosely]

All this week, I am posting excerpts from News Flash, the new book by former CNN VP Bonnie Anderson. Please note that Anderson filed a lawsuit against CNN last year, alleging that the network discriminated against her.

Pages 60-63: Diversity: "CNN As A Case Study" Anderson served as a vice president in charge of hiring and talent development, and describes her experiences during that time period:

From CNN's birth in 1980, it has been primarily a network of white people putting together news for white viewers. With some brief exceptions, it can also be said that people in nearly all top news executive positions have been men. In 1999, then-CNN chairman Tom Johnson made it clear he wanted minorities hired for virtually every on-camera opening. One example of his not-too-subtle pressure was an e-mail to then-Headline News head Bob Furnad, strongly suggesting that an anchor opening at that network be filled by a male or female African American, or a female Hispanic. (The first question that came to mind when I read the e-mail was "And do you want fries with that?" This was the hiring equivalent of going through a fast-food drive-through.) Between Headline News and CNN/USA there were a handful of minority anchors, including journalists such as Bernard Shaw, Sachi Koto, Joie Chen, and Leon Harris. But their numbers were small. And neither network had ever had a Hispanic anchor.

While diversifying the CNN News Group was clearly the moral, ethical, and sound business thing to do, when applied in this fill-as-many-openings-as-possible-with-minorities manner it was also illegal. I was copied on Johnson's e-mail to Furnad, and later during a private conversation with Johnson I told him that while his intent was no doubt to do good, I believed this was a dangerous way to implement diversity...

...Over the next two years, however, the CNN News Group practiced obvious quota-filling based, in part, on Johnson's orders and what was considered to be smart programming. There had never been an Asian or Hispanic correspondent at CNN's Los Angeles bureau, so only Asians and Hispanics were considered for the two openings there and one of each was hired...

Anderson cites several other examples, and points out that at CNN International, only non-Americans were considered for anchor positions. And she sas that Jim Walton created a new vice president position "specificially for an African American." And then:

...In 2001 CNN did a complete turnaround. The top positions at Turner Broadcasting had been handed over to men whose entire careers were in the world of entertainment..And they made it clear they intended to instill the values of the entertainment world -- in terms of programming and hiring (or "casting" as [Garth] Ancier called it) -- into the news networks at CNN. If it works for the entertainment divisions at other networks, they said, they believed it would work with news too. At my first meeting with Ancier, when I was showing him tapes of anchor candidates chosen by Headline News and CNN/USA chiefs out of the pool of candidates I'd shown them, he said, "Why are all these tapes you're showing me of minorities? We don't need any more of these people! We have enough! Bring me others!"

[sarasota]

Hollywood casting. Yes, that's why Kerry picked Edwards. It's the media choice. All (on-the-) air, no substance. (And Krautz said the same thing on Brit Hume yesterday.)

[AmericanChef]

Here's an idea: pick the people most qualified! The diversity morons strike again.

[OldFriend]

Rather than concentrate on the diversity of ideas, these folks concentrated on diversity of skin color and it got them nothing.

CNN loses more viewers every rating period.

While I do find the lefties on FNC annoying I have to admit that the diversity of ideas has little to do with skin color and that is what makes FNC so highly rated.