Shutterstock

Could TV get any less diverse? It seems so.

Research from Media Matters finds that evening cable news guests were overwhelmingly white and male in the month of April. During that month, 76 percent of the 1,677 guests on CNN were men. And women did not make up more than 33 percent of guests on any network, reports the organization. Often called out for its racially insensitive  reporting, Fox News had the largest proportion of white guests — 83 percent. Despite the lack of diversity across the board, African Americans were the largest non-white group on all networks, representing 19 percent, 10 percent, and five percent of guests on MSNBC, Fox, and CNN, respectively.

White women, who represent 32 percent of the population, were only 21 percent of guests on cable, found the study. (White males make up only 31 percent of the U.S. population.) And non-white women who make up 19 percent of the population, were only eight percent of all guests on cable. Only 13 percent of guests on cable were non-white men yet they make up 18 percent of the population.

As far as having women on, out of 109 on CNN’s Outfront guests during the month of April, an overwhelming 81 percent were men. And, no evening show on CNN hosted women more than 29 percent of the time. Out of 128 guests who appeared on the CNN program On the Record guests in April, only 22 were women. This represented the smallest proportion of women on any evening cable news show studied. Surprisingly, The O’Reilly Factor and Hannity hosted women more often than On the Record or Special Report with Bret Baier. However, men still dominated guest lineups at 64 and 66 percent, respectively.

Over at MSNBC, they hosted more women than all of the other cable networks. On that network, All In with Chris Hayes and The Rachel Maddow Show had a higher proportion of women than any of the other programs. However, Hardball with Chris Matthews hosted women only 21 percent of the time. Although The Rachel Maddow Show had a higher percentage of women, most of its guests were white. Out of 65 total guests, only seven were non-white.

By contrast, All In With Chris Hayes not only hosted the largest proportion of women it also had  the largest proportion of non-white guests — 41 percent. All In also had the lowest proportion of white men making it the only evening cable news program to obtain such diversity.

Long story short, cable news needs to do better to represent varying perspectives. You can’t speak to everyone when everyone isn’t represented on the screen.

After the news was made official earlier in the month that BET would no longer air Don’t Sleep on the network, TJ Holmes kept it pretty professional and optimistic about the shows axe and what his professional life would be like since the program was getting the boot. As we all know, Holmes left CNN to host the news program, and since then, been trying to fill in here and there at MSNBC, but has no official new job.

“I thank the audience and my fans for all of their support. I am proud of Don’t Sleep and I look forward to continuing to speak to broad issues affecting the national and global communities.”

You know your news broadcast has problems when Don Imus feels entitled to criticize it. CNN continues to feel the heat resulting from their coverage of the manhunt for the teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon attack, which both erroneously reported that there had been an arrest before there was one, and reported that the suspect was a “dark-skinned male.”

“I just want to know what happened,” Imus said on the air today. “Just tell me what happened.” (He calls their reporting “hyper-bolay”… LOL.)

And once again, Jon Stewart went in mercilessly on CNN on The Daily Show, not just for the content, but for the seeming disorganization between the reporters and the control room in their ongoing race to report all the things they don’t know.

But pay the facts no nevermind, say the viewers. Reports The New York Times:

CNN averaged 2.9 million viewers for its daylong coverage, behind the 3.2 million who watched Fox News. But among viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, which is how advertisers buy commercials on news channels, CNN had 1.34 million viewers, compared with 952,000 for Fox News. In both cases those were the best numbers for CNN for all nonpolitical events since April 2003, when the channel was covering the Iraq war.

The question is whether this a momentary bump or something the network can carry through. More than that, there’s the issue of CNN’s reputation. Already tarnished for their bloopers while reporting the Supreme Court decision on President Obama’s healthcare plan (CNN said it had been struck down), the reporting last week definitely didn’t help. In this column by the Times‘ David Carr, he notes that people want CNN to succeed, but “hugely embarrassing” incidents like the one last week undermine it. And they’re messing up at a time when people are paying attention to the changes that new president Jeff Zucker is putting into place. Carr writes:

Part of the reason that we still want CNN to be great is that at a moment when information and news seem to have done a jailbreak — bursting forth everywhere in all sorts of ways — it would be nice to have a village common where a reliable provider of news held the megaphone. By marketing itself as the most trusted name in news, CNN is and should be held to a higher standard.

And for his efforts, John King remains on the air. He addressed his coverage on Twitter, and it’s worth noting that other outlets, including the AP, said they had sources stating an arrest had been made. And King said he also had sources telling him the suspect was dark-skinned. Now he’s off to Texas to interview President George W. Bush about his new presidential library, which will be opening on May 1.

“The challenge for us is how to make CNN more essential, how to make it one of the four tires on the car,” Zucker said at an Atlanta Press Club event last month. To be more essential, the network has to be more careful and less ridiculous.

“Breaking news” yesterday afternoon that an arrest had been made in the Boston Marathon explosions turned out to be completely false and now journalists and media analysts are reflecting on how CNN in particular could’ve messed up so royally.

Salon lays out the paper trail (the tweets tell the story) that led from CNN’s John King’s first reports that an arrest had been made to the retraction of the story. The AP, Fox, and other outlets followed suit. NBC eventually confirmed that, no, an arrest hadn’t been made. And the FBI, which certainly has better things to do,  issued a statement to sort things out. Via Fishbowl NY:

Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack. Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate. Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.

So now that we have that all cleared up, media watchers (read: other members of the media) are taking a closer look at what happened.

Politico takes an aerial view of what it’s calling the media “meltdown.”

“The flood of conflicting reports, confusion, and subsequent criticism reminded some of June 28, 2012, when many media outlets — most notably CNN — incorrectly reported the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling,” the article says. “Now as then, many of the nation’s most trusted, established media organizations raced to broadcast breaking news, only to find themselves eating their words minutes later. Now as then, those who resisted the temptations of getting the story first were rewarded with getting the story right. And now as then, the media’s failures were widely mocked across social media.”

Everyone who misreported news of an arrest said they had a source to confirm the news, citing various law enforcement officials at both the local and national levels. But, Politico points out, NBC, instead of racing behind CNN and other outlets, judiciously waited and reported the correct debunking, indicating that, once getting a tip, it did a little digging to make sure their sources weren’t repeating rumors or speaking out of confusion. Media expert Jay Rosen retweeted this morning a blog post he wrote a year ago about the different kinds of news scoops as commentary on what happened.

Besides the fact that the “scoop” was incorrect, King identified (almost apologetically) a “dark-skinned male” as the suspect in the attack. Rev. Al Sharpton, from his perch on MSNBC, went off when he took to the air.

Reports Mediaite: “‘Dark-skinned male?’ Sharpton asked. ‘Coded, offensive language.’”

“What King’s words did is to make every dark-skinned male in Boston a suspect, and that’s shameful,” Sharpton continued. Clip below.

The National Association of Black Journalists also issued a statement about King’s report, saying, in part, “NABJ in no way encourages censorship but does encourage news organizations to be responsible when reporting about race, to report on race only when relevant and a vital part of a story. Ultimately this helps to avoid mischaracterizations which might encourage potential bias or discrimination against a person or a group of people based on race or ethnicity.”

The swarm of media coverage of the case, while justified because of the newsworthiness of the investigation, has also whipped reporters into a frenzy, such that the race to be first sometimes trumps the mandate to be right. Let’s hope that yesterday served as a lesson to all the reporters in Boston who have a duty to report the facts: slow down just a bit, and make sure the information you have is fair and accurate.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Kris Connor/Getty Images

From Essence

New dad T.J. Holmes is officially on diaper duty.

The former host of BET’s late-night talk show Don’t Sleep says he does his best to help his wife Marilee Fiebig with caring for their two-month-old daughter Sabine.

“I probably change more diapers than her because she breastfeeds and she has to do that,” Holmes told ESSENCE.com at the premiere of Free Angela. “So I do the thing that I can do and that’s change diapers.”

Awww, isn’t that sweet! Men don’t really like to help with diaper changes (it isn’t a woman’s favorite thing either) so it’s nice to see he’s become a pro at it. You can read the rest over on Essence.

What have been some of your most memorable moments as parents?

Source: WENN

We told you earlier this month that to the disappointment of a great deal of people, Roland Martin and his ascots would be leaving CNN for good. This definitely had everyone talking especially since it was starting to seem that all the “color” on the channel was being given the boot, including Soledad O’Brien, whose morning show is going in a “different direction” without her. But she will continue to produce documentaries/specials for CNN through her very own production company. As for Martin, his last day is reportedly set to be April 8, but homeboy isn’t going out quietly. According to reports, after announcing his last day on Twitter earlier this month, he allegedly tweeted that the “new boss wants his own peeps.” That new boss being Jeff Zucker. But he’s taking things a step further as of late, claiming said new boss doesn’t have a soft spot in his heart for minorities hosting their own programs. Seeing as how Martin was a contributor for the channel for years, he’s not feeling the way the game has been played.

In a conversation with Huffington Post Live, Martin spoke on the fact that after years of hard work, he was never given his own show, but was never really given a reason why:

“What do we do to get from here to get to there? To get from here to be able to host a show? That was never made clear. There’s this fear of making the leap.

You have largely white male executives who are not necessarily enamored with the idea of having strong, confident minorities who say, ‘I can do this.’ I’m just saying, give folks a shot.”

Martin went on to explain that his gig hosting Washington Watch on TV One and many other specials for CNN and bringing in huge numbers should have been proof that he could handle such responsibilities, but he wasn’t given the opportunity:

“We deliver, but we never get the big piece, the larger salary, to be able to grow from there.

Bernard Shaw left CNN as the top news anchor how many years ago? Two decades ago? So who right now is in the position to get a primetime show??

If it’s a ratings game, and we won, how is it I never got a show?”

Guess we can’t say no hard feelings this time around…Thoughts? 

See Martin’s conversation with Marc Lamont Hill on HuffPostLive on the next page: 

Source: WENN

We already know that Roland Martin will have his last day at CNN on April 6. But could the network be trying to shut him down even earlier than that? Fishbowl DC says that, with more than two weeks left to his contract, the network is already cutting him out of the programs he has been contributing to.

“We knew something was awry when we noticed Martin hadn’t tweeted his usual #bringthefunk alert on Twitter that he’d be appearing on Erin Burnette’s [sic] ‘Out Front,’ which he hasn’t done in a month,” the site says. “On Wednesday he tweeted that he did Canadian TV. The Canadians can find time to bring Martin’s funk, but not CNN?”

The story goes on to note that he’s been absent from other shows that he had also been appearing on. Fishbowl DC says it tried to contact both CNN and Martin, but apparently hadn’t heard back. We did see Martin tweeting about Scandal last night, so he hasn’t gone completely MIA.

Separately but in other CNN news, TVNewser and the New York Post (which has been following this story closely) says that the network is interested in bringing on Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Lots of changes, but will it bring on the viewers?

Photo by Ryan Miller/Invision/AP

There had been talk of his departure more than a month ago, but now it’s official: Roland Martin is leaving CNN.

In a tweet, Martin said his last day is April 8. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Martin tweeted at another point that he was leaving because the “new boss wants his own peeps.”

Of course, the new boss is Jeff Zucker, who has been cleaning house since he took the top job at CNN in recent months.

Martin went into further detail in an email to Politico, saying that he will miss “the folks I tried to speak for and represent the most when I was on the air: the men and the women who worked on the crew; the security guards; and even the janitorial workers. Those were the people I most spoke for; those were the people who would cheer me on as I walked down the streets, in the grocery store; and at airports.”

Taking a dip into more melodramatic waters, Martin added, “In my final days at CNN when I’m on the air, I will to do as the Tuskegee Airmen did, fight to the last hour, last minute, last second, for what is right. And I will do that as long as there is breath in my body.”

He also reiterated — both in his statement and in a tweet — that he “won’t be silenced” even though he’ll no longer be with the cable network. He says he will continue with the “Tom Joyner Morning Show,” his TV One program Washington Watch, and his nationally syndicated column.

Martin has been a contributor with CNN for six years.  A number of other contributors, including James Carville and Mary Matalin, have also recently left the network.

Soledad O’Brien on the catwalk for the Red Dress Collection 2013 Fashion Show. Photo by John Minchillo/Invision/AP

With changes coming to CNN and her Starting Point job gone, Soledad O’Brien announced that she would be starting her own production company, Starfish Media Group. Now she opens up to Bloomberg BusinessWeek about that decision.

“We struck an unusual deal. I’ll get to leave CNN with my catalog and documentaries,” she says. “To have ownership of Black in America and Latino in America is hugely important.”

Not only is O’Brien leaving CNN to pursue something she will truly enjoy, she’s leaving with the intellectual property she created. It serves as a lesson to anyone who works for a company and has to negotiate a departure. If you’re leaving your post, try to walk away with some right to the work you’ve created.

In the article, O’Brien said she “really pushed for that.” Meaning she negotiated with her now former bosses over these items.

Not everyone has the leverage that Soledad O’Brien does. And there are some things that you can’t take with you. But there have been tons of stories written about the things, like pay, that women don’t get because they don’t fight for what they’re entitled to. This isn’t reserved just for dollars and cents. Employees should also negotiate for perks, for status within the company, and for the right to call the work they’ve done for a company their own.

O’Brien says that Black in America and Latino in America are brands she built at CNN and now she’s closely tied to them. If there are things that you’ve accomplished that are now tied closely to your name and professional reputation, be sure to take ownership of them as soon as you can. Discuss with your managers ways that you can share the rights to things that you think may become important parts of your career in the long-term. And don’t be afraid to stay strong in the face of some push-back. If what you’re doing is valuable to the company, they will try to work with you so both sides are happy.

Three things you can do to help yourself during the negotiating process:

-Be reasonable. You want to be firm, but don’t overplay your hand. The company is holding some of the cards, so you have to be willing to compromise.

-Show the company why it’s beneficial for them to negotiate. If something is as closely tied to your name as you say, then it’s good for the company to keep you involved. Make them see the upside to preserving a good relationship with you.

-Go into the negotiation as a partner, not an underling. Part of the negotiation process is knowing your value. If you go into the conversation from a position of weakness, the opposing side will exploit it.

For more from Soledad, click here.

Image: MSNBC

With Soledad O’Brien’s pending departure from CNN’s morning line up, there’s a vacancy at the anchor desk. It seemed all but certain that Erin Burnett, an evening anchor with the network, would be taking up the position alongside Chris Cuomo, the two working together to revive CNN’s ailing morning ratings. Now it appears Erin Burnett isn’t interested in the job. Radar Online says it was Burnett’s “diva demands.” The Atlantic Wire says money was an issue. Burnett is already making $2.5 million on the evening news and wanted more to make the move. Either way, now it looks like the deal is off and CNN President Jeff Zucker is now looking elsewhere to make a hire.

Could Tamron Hall be in the running? The New York Post reported as much today. Also in the running, the newspaper says, are Suzanne Malveaux and  Brooke Baldwin.

Erin Burnett. (AP Photo/Starpix, Amanda Schwab)

In the case of Tamron, TVNewser says “not true.”

“A source in the agent community confirms that Zucker is fond of Hall, but they note that NBC News and MSNBC are fond of her too. More importantly, our source says, Hall has at least a year left on her contract with MSNBC, making any potential jump very difficult,” the blog writes, noting it could happen at some point, but not in time to staff up this morning show.

Oh well… We’ll just have to keep tuning in to NBC if we want to see Hall at work.