The chairwoman of CNN’s diversity council will be stepping aside from that role, a spokesperson for CNN tells TVNewser.
The chairwoman, Johnita Due, is an assistant general counsel for CNN, and was first named chair of the company’s diversity council in 2005. She will remain with CNN in her role as assistant general counsel, contrary to a report this morning.
CNN says the diversity council is not being disbanded, and a new chairperson will be named soon. Maria Ebrahimji, who also sat on the council, is leaving CNN however. There are a “few dozen” members of the diversity council, a CNN spokesperson says.
CNN president Jeff Zucker has shaken up his executive leadership team since taking over the channel, so changes at the top of internal executive groups like the diversity council are not surprising. Diversity has been a hot topic at CNN since Zucker’s arrival, as a number of prominent minority voices left, such as Soledad O’Brien, Ali Velshi and Mark Whitaker.
That said, Zucker has been very vocal about diversity being an important part of CNN’s DNA, and he met with black and Latino journalists early into his tenure to talk about the issue.
The Maynard Institute’s Richard Prince has more.