Highlights

• NBC News laid off 150 employees and sacked teams dedicated to NBC BLK, NBC Latino, NBC Asian America and NBC OUT.
• The move comes amid industry-wide cutbacks and MSNBC’s transition into a separate entity.
• The layoffs signal a wider media shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

NBC News has carried out layoffs affecting 150 employees, which amounts to around 7% of its newsroom.

As part of this decision, the network has eliminated its dedicated diversity teams that were responsible for NBC BLK, NBC Latino, NBC Asian America, and NBC OUT.

These verticals, which focused on stories about Black, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ+ communities, will continue to publish content. However, they will no longer have separate teams. Instead, a few staff members may stay to work on related coverage within the wider newsroom structure.

Read More: U.S. Law Firms Go Down on DEI Reporting While U.K. Firms Climb Up

The company described the cuts as part of its newsroom restructuring after MSNBC separated into Versant, a new entity. This step was explained during a short meeting led by Catherine Kim, NBC News’ executive vice president of editorial.

She described it as a “difficult day for a lot of us.” The reduction comes at a time when media companies face declining ratings and fragmented audiences, which has led to similar actions at organisations such as The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, CNN and PBS.

The decision comes during a period of retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within the media industry.

Gannett removed mentions of diversity from its website and stopped publishing demographic data.

Disney also rebranded its internal DEI efforts to “Opportunity & Inclusion.” Meanwhile, Comcast, NBC’s parent company, is under federal scrutiny for its DEI programmes, with the Federal Communications Commission planning to investigate their practices.

At the same time, MSNBC is expanding its own newsroom, hiring journalists from NBC News, The Washington Post, Politico and others. The network is preparing for a relaunch under the new name MS NOW.

Also Read: DEI in ESG: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Meaning & Reporting

Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCU News Group, said that NBC is investing in news with upcoming subscription services and marketing campaigns aimed at reaffirming the network’s reputation for fact-based journalism. These layoffs follow another round earlier in the year, which involved about 40 employees, including some from diversity teams.

The company currently has about 140 open roles and plans to reassign a dozen positions to new roles that affected staff can apply for.

Ends/

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Source: The Wrap