NBC News Conducts Layoffs Amid Split

It’s not often you see a major news network quietly shut down entire editorial teams that focus on race, identity, and gender — and then try to spin it as “business as usual.” But that’s exactly what NBC News just did.

This week, NBC slashed 150 newsroom jobs — about 7% of its editorial staff — just as the company is prepping for a major shakeup. And here’s where it gets controversial: among those cut were entire teams that focused on stories about Black, Latino, Asian American, and LGBTQ+ communities.

Yes, you read that right. The same NBC News that spent years highlighting its “commitment to diversity” just dismantled the editorial teams behind NBC BLK, NBC Latino, NBC Asian America, and NBC Out — all in one round of layoffs. Officially, executives say it wasn’t targeted. But it’s hard to ignore who got hit the hardest.

Critics are already sounding the alarm. GLAAD called it part of a “dangerous pattern,” warning that cutting these teams removes trusted journalists from platforms that claim to serve diverse audiences. Their spokesperson said it was “a terrible and poorly-timed loss for journalism and our democracy.”

And you know what? Regardless of where you fall politically, there’s something unsettling about the timing.

Because this didn’t happen in a vacuum. The layoffs come just as NBC’s parent company, Comcast, is spinning off MSNBC and CNBC into a new public company called Versant Media Group. That means massive restructuring, belt-tightening, and — if the trend holds — a whole lot of corporate jargon about “streamlining” and “focusing on brand strength.”

But let’s be real: When newsrooms talk about “streamlining,” they rarely mean upper management is taking a pay cut.

Instead, it’s the same story we’ve seen across big media over the past few years — flashy promises about “diversity, equity, and inclusion” when it’s trendy, followed by a quiet reversal when the financials get tight.