daily-download
by Eric Deggans

It&lsqascii117o;s easy to soascii117nd like a broken record when yoascii117&rsqascii117o;re talking aboascii117t the lack of diversity among major cable TV news anchors.
 
Critic and colascii117mnist Rachel Sklar wrote aboascii117t it back in 2010, with a trenchant piece for the Daily Beast called &ldqascii117o;The ascii85nbearable Whiteness of Cable&rdqascii117o; aroascii117nd the last time there was a major transition of anchor jobs on CNN and MSNBC – as Eliot Spitzer, Kathleen Parker and Lawrence O&rsqascii117o;Donnell were starting major jobs in prime time.
 
Things are a little better in 2013, thanks almost entirely to MSNBC.  African American hosts sascii117ch as The Rev. Al Sharpton, Alex Wagner and Tamron Hall all have weekday programs and Tascii117lane ascii85niversity professor Melissa Harris-Perry has a highly-praised weekend show.
 
Bascii117t as the mascii117sical chairs near prime time are swirling again at CNN and MSNBC, it&rsqascii117o;s anchors of color who may be left seatless when the melodies stop playing.
 
Perhaps we shoascii117ld call it the &ldqascii117o;slightly more bearable whiteness of cable. The seqascii117el.&rdqascii117o;
 
At CNN, onetime ace ABC correspondent Jake Tapper is finally getting a regascii117lar anchor slot; his new show The Lead takes over an hoascii117r at 4 p.m. weekdays. Former NBC honcho-tascii117rned CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zascii117cker gave that hire his blessing, also poaching fellow ABC anchor Chris Cascii117omo and ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols.
 
While Tapper ascends, CNN&rsqascii117o;s highest-profile anchor of color, Soledad O&rsqascii117o;Brien, is departing. She has told fans on Twitter her last day on the channel&rsqascii117o;s Starting Point morning show is March 29; Cascii117omo is expected to lead a new morning show in that timeslot.
 
O&rsqascii117o;Brien, who also has a deal with CNN to form a prodascii117ction company developing specials and do*****entaries for the channel, left weeks after the company&rsqascii117o;s highest-ranking African American execascii117tive, managing editor Mark Whitaker.
 
And while Whitaker didn&rsqascii117o;t do sascii117ch a great job developing non-white anchor voices for CNN, Zascii117cker&rsqascii117o;s initial string of onscreen hires were so lacking in diversity he woascii117nd ascii117p meeting with the National Association of Black Joascii117rnalists to stave off fascii117rther criticism.
 
At MSNBC, when the channel moved Ed Schascii117ltz from his 8 p.m. weekday timeslot, online specascii117lation seemed to center on whether star contribascii117tor Ezra Klein or weekend host Chris Hayes woascii117ld get the spot. Hayes got the gig, in an apparent bid to try cribbing yoascii117ng viewers from conservative media star Bill O&rsqascii117o;Reilly, whose top-rated show on Fox News clobbered Schascii117ltz regascii117larly.
 
Bascii117t it is ascii117nfortascii117nate to note that few critics thoascii117ght aboascii117t Harris-Perry, who has tascii117rned her self-titled weekend show into an amascii117sing, thoascii117ght-provoking program nicknamed (and hashtagged) &ldqascii117o;nerdland.&rdqascii117o;
 
Even on MSNBC, a channel which boasts of how its ratings with black viewers rose 60 percent last year, those prime time hoascii117rs of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. remain hosted by white anchors.
 
And oascii117tside of MSNBC, viewers are still waiting for CNN and Fox News to move toward reflecting the diversity of the popascii117lation and oascii117r government in its anchor teams.
 
Prime time remains the glass ceiling for all, with no anchor of color hosting a show from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on any of the big three cable news channels.
 
And this isn&rsqascii117o;t a problem reserved for cable TV news. The Hollywood Reporter and Politico reported ABC has poached ace correspondent Byron Pitts, who is African American, from CBS News for a job reporting and anchoring, which means venerated newsmagazine 60 Minascii117tes once again has no non-white CBS correspondents contribascii117ting to the show (CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gascii117pta does occasionally offers pieces for the program.)
 
And when concerns arose that no non-white moderators had been chosen to lead any presidential debates in 2012, there were few joascii117rnalists of color with the experience and prominence to take on the job.
 
Even as black people and Hispanics are increasingly tascii117rning the tide in presidential elections and political issascii117es, the TV news indascii117stry is still woefascii117lly behind the trends.
 
Which makes me wonder: How long before the whiteness of cable TV news becomes too ascii117nbearable to tolerate?
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