Is NBC News reshaping its approach to diversity coverage?

NBC News has cut about 150 employees, nearly 7% of its staff, as part of a broad reorganization tied to the upcoming split of its cable channels MSNBC and CNBC into Comcast’s new company, Versant.

Among those most affected were teams behind NBC BLK, NBC Latino, NBC Asian America, and NBC Out, long seen as pillars of the network’s diversity and inclusion efforts.

While NBC says those verticals will remain active digitally, their dedicated editorial teams have been dissolved.

Coverage of race, identity, and marginalized communities will now be folded into the main newsroom, a move that has raised concerns about representation and visibility in mainstream reporting.

NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde called the layoffs “difficult but necessary” to ensure the company’s long-term strength, citing industry-wide declines in traditional TV ratings and advertising revenue.

However, the NewsGuild of New York, which represents many NBC journalists, criticized the cuts, saying the company was “prioritizing corporate profits over the voices that make NBC News representative of its audience.”