Well, here’s one way to respond when the National Association of Black Journalists condemns you for treating black employees badly: Cut them off at the knees. Yup. No. More. Money.
On Friday The Wrap reported that CNN has pulled its financial support for the organization for its 2015 convention and job fair. NABJ President Bob Butler announced the stinging news at the Board of Directors meeting Friday.
Last week the black journo group issued a statement condemning CNN under the leadership of Jeff Zucker for the past year. “I know CNN is going through layoffs, but the departure of so many African Americans is worrisome,” Butler wrote in a release with this searing headline: “NABJ Concerned About Atmosphere at CNN for African Americans.”
And in April of 2013: “Jeff Zucker’s tenure at CNN will be a test case for diversity – in a negative way,” wrote Joel Dreyfuss, a founding NABJ member. “Clearly it’s not a priority for him, at least when it comes to blacks and Hispanics.”
There’s no mistaking the timing. CNN called Butler and denied their financial request right after the organization released its stink bomb.
That does take a lot of balls — blast CNN for bad practices toward blacks while waiting for a check.
“I understand the company has a right to make personnel decisions,” said Butler in a report published Friday on the NABJ website. “There were not that many African American managers at CNN in the first place. These layoffs have hurt our members tremendously. I am severely disappointed that CNN has ended our partnership.”
Update: So this is weird. An unnamed CNN publicist told Politico‘s Hadas Gold that the network has not made up their mind about funding NABJ but was “reconsidering.” What the hell? The publicist even said CNN made it clear that they were still weighing their decision. Someone’s lying, confused or both.