NABJ PRESIDENT QUESTIONS LACK OF DIVERSITY IN CNN+ WAR ROOM

If you scrolled past this tweet, you probably didn’t think much of it.

The ⁦@CNNplus⁩ war room going through final checks. So many people have put their heart into bringing this product to life. #teamgame pic.twitter.com/dBargIkflE

— Andrew Morse (@morsea) March 29, 2022

CNN executive Andrew Morse posted the photo on March 28, the day before the launch of CNN’s new streaming channel.

When NABJ president Dorothy Tucker scrolled, she stopped. She stopped and stared. There was something off.

Are all the Black and Brown people on the Zoom? Are there any decision makers on the Zoom? If all the decision makers are in the room, then there’s an issue here. We have questions @CNNplus & @CNN. https://t.co/5jo1EqLCgy

— Dorothy Tucker NABJ (@Dorothy4NABJ) March 30, 2022

Tucker had a question and she wanted it answered. And the thing is, she was right. There wasn’t a single brown or black person in that photo. She and other executives reached out to the top dogs at CNN to have a discussion.

Newsblues spoke to the organization leaders Tuesday. Drew Berry, the executive director of NABJ, told us “our members are very disturbed by the optics and reality of what they are seeing. We’ll have more to say tomorrow (Thursday) after our discussions.”

We’ll have more as this story develops.