CBS News has been in hot water lately because of a recent decision made in its coverage of the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election. CBS News recently revealed its news coverage team for the next election and to the dismay of many there were no Black reporters on the team. In response, the NAACP stated, “Representation matters and the media needs our coverage on the issues to drive the discussion.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also called the decision “unacceptable”.
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. https://t.co/h7tmiBr9Fi
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
As a result of the recent backlash, Representative Maxine Waters met with representatives from CBS News to discuss the matter at length. Following the meeting with CBS News, Waters tweeted a picture of her alongside CBS News representatives. The caption read, “CBS admitted they had a lot of work to do & committed to including Blacks on their 2020 election team & all other teams. True diversity is the inclusion of ALL. I won’t let them off the hook!”
CBS, the efforts on your website about your support for diversity fly in the face of your display of all of the reporters you've selected for the 2020 campaign. Not one Black. What's up with this? An explanation is needed.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) January 14, 2019
It’s unclear whether or not CBS News will add a Black reporter to its 2020 U.S. Presidential Election news team. The team of twenty reporters and producers currently includes white media professionals, Hispanic multimedia experts and Asian-American reporters.
