Amid the separation of NBC and MSNBC, the network is eliminating racially-missioned groups and also laying off roughly 150 staff members.
The groups were focused on issues related to black, Asian American, Latino, and LGBTQ demographics.
According to The Wrap, which first reported on the story, “The cuts mean that the verticals NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino and NBC OUT will no longer have dedicated teams bolstering their coverage. The verticals will continue to publish stories related to the specific groups.”
NBC’s decision may have been prompted by an investigation from the US Government, specifically Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, who came under controversy for his role in the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show. Carr issued a letter in February to parent company Comcast “to ensure that your companies are not promoting invidious forms of discrimination in violation of FCC regulations and civil rights laws,” a trend set forth by the White House in its approach to government agencies.
One of these forms of discrimination is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which was addressed specifically by Carr.
“Comcast states on its website that promoting DEI is ‘a core value of our business’ and public reports state that Comcast has an entire ‘DEI infrastructure’ that includes annual ‘DEI day[s],’ and ‘DEI training for company leaders,’ and similar initiatives. NBCUniversal has similar DEI initiatives, including executives specifically dedicated to promoting DEI across the TV and programming side of the business,” Carr wrote.
According to the Daily Wire, “The cuts represent about 7% of the 2,000 staffers at the NBC News newsroom, and about 2% of the broader company that also includes several local stations owned by NBC outright in addition to Telemundo.”