New ABC News hire Byron Pitts talks about diversity to the Maynard Institute’s Richard Prince. Pitts says that ABC has made diversity a key component of the organization:
“I don’t think any news organization is where it should be, but the people at ABC are at least talking the talk and making efforts to walk the walk,” Pitts said by telephone.
Pitts also said that CBS, his former employer, has not kept up its strong track record when it comes to diversity.
“Numbers don’t lie,” he said. “One of the challenges with diversity with the networks is, (1) Hire us. (2) Put us in positions to be successful.” He said ABC is doing both.
At CBS, Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp., which includes CBS News and other CBS operations, has “spoken passionately about diversity,” Pitts said. Sean McManus served concurrently as president of CBS News and CBS Sports for more than five years before being named chairman of CBS Sports in 2011. He had “an open door” on diversity matters, Pitts said.
The meetings that McManus held “stopped after he left,” Pitts said.