CNN Business has reportedly opened an internal investigation into their workplace culture and treatment of their female employees.
According to Business Insider:
The investigation was prompted by the February departure of Annalyn Kurtz, a senior editor in the roughly 60-person newsroom, two of the people said. CNN Business houses the cable network’s digital coverage of markets, technology, and media.
The “work environment assessment,” as the inquiry is being called internally, is being conducted by HR employees at CNN’s parent company, AT&T’s WarnerMedia.
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment. Kurtz declined to comment.
The assessment appears to be focused on workplace culture, not the behavior of an individual, according to two of the sources.
Earlier this month, the soon-to-be former anchor Brooke Baldwin complained about her work environment during an appearance on the Ms. Magazine Podcast. “The most influential anchors on our network, the highest-paid, are men. My bosses, my executives, are men. The person who oversees CNN Dayside is a man, and my executive producer for 10 years is a man. So I’ve been surrounded by a lot of men.” That men dominate top positions isn’t itself any evidence of any wrongdoing, of course.
“Little by little, by having women in places of power — and I would argue behind-the-scenes, not just in front, but behind-the-scenes — that is how you then have stories that reflect who they are,” she said, adding that “it’s getting better but we still have a bit of a ways to go.” The departing anchor who earned a $4 million annual salary also bemoaned CNN’s pay gap.
Of CNN Business, one female staffer said “I’ve found there to be a lack of transparency in how to get promoted or how to appear on TV. I get the feeling the company wants to keep as many people as possible at a low pay grade or stay in a certain box and that has led to women not being supported.”
Admittedly I had forgotten that CNN Business even existed until today, and it is a small operation with only six direct reporters (three men and three women).
Another CNN arm, CNN Airport, recently folded due to the pandemic. I’m surprised to see anyone is still tuning into the network by choice.
Matt Palumbo is the author of Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo and de Blasio Ruined New York, Debunk This: Shattering Liberal Lies, and Spygate
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