Commentary

‘Nobody’s at the Switch’ as CBS Announces Election Coverage Team Says African Americans

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The network is taking some serious heat for excluding African-Americans from its core team of on-the-ground reporters and producers set to cover the 2020 presidential campaign cycle – an election that’s viewed almost universally as critical to Blacks and other minorities.

Published

6 years ago

January 14, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

CBS News said it’s diversifying – adding a mix of women and minorities to its top staff and its upcoming 2020 election coverage.

But, many are calling the “Eye” Network’s attempts at diversity an epic fail.

The network is taking some serious heat for excluding African-Americans from its core team of on-the-ground reporters and producers set to cover the 2020 presidential campaign cycle – an election that’s viewed almost universally as critical to Blacks and other minorities.

The outcry began after associate producer Ben Mitchell tweeted a title card featuring images of CBS News’ “political embed unit,” composed of eight 2020 campaign reporters and four associate producers, including himself.

Among the eight reporters, four reportedly are persons of color: Musadiq Bidar, a native of Afghanistan, Alex Tin, Jack Turman and Stephanie Ramirez. But, none are African American.

“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,” Democratic California Congresswoman Maxine Waters tweeted.

“Not one Black. What’s up with this? An explanation is needed.”

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the current administration in the White House made having a “functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet CBS News hasn’t assigned a single Black journalist to cover the 2020 election.”

Actress Kerry Washington also expressed her disappointment. In a note that was re-tweeted by National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., Washington wrote:

“Dear @CBSNews, I am encouraged by the diversity you DID include. But when it comes time to discuss the inevitable role that race and racism will play in the election, who will you turn to for a perspective with nuanced & personal understanding of the African American experience?”

Christopher Isham, CBS News’ Washington bureau chief, called the new group “our boots on the ground for the 2019-2020 election cycle” in announcing an increase in politically-focused reporters and newsgathering resources for the upcoming presidential race.

The unit is designed to deepen CBS News’ coverage of federal and local issues and personalities on the 2020 trail, according to Variety.

CBS News noted that the embed team represented only a portion of its broader election coverage plans. Lorna Jones, who is African-American, was promoted last month to the role of managing editor for Washington news coverage, Variety reported.

And the division has long maintained other prominent African-American women in senior management roles, according to the entertainment magazine.

“This group is the initial wave of what will be an outstanding and diverse group of journalists assigned to cover the 2020 election for CBS News,” a CBS News spokesperson said Sunday night.

“Nobody’s at the switch at CBS,” said Sam Fulwood III, a black journalist at Think Progress. “So, folks think absence of black journalists is ok.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Award-winning actress Regina King opens up about sleeper hit “If Beale Street Could Talk”

Don't Miss

2019 Toyota C-HR Interior 360 Video

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

6 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.