News anchor Brooke Baldwin is taking shots at CNN’s apparently male-dominated atmosphere as she leaves the network.
Baldwin announced her departure in February after CNN’s Jake Tapper notably took over her timeslot ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
“The most influential anchors on our network, the highest-paid, are men. My bosses, my executives, are men,” Baldwin told Ms. Magazine podcast. “The person who oversees CNN Dayside is a man, and my executive producer for 10 years is a man. So I’ve been surrounded by a lot of men.”
“I was surrounded by a lot of dudes,” she added.
The liberal news anchor said she continuously fought to tell “women’s stories” on-air, despite being told “no” a lot.
“I know I, personally, fight for women’s stories,” she recalled, adding, “I got told no a lot and I still managed to do it.”
“Little by little,” though, Baldwin said, CNN is starting to allocate more power positions to females. “It’s getting better, but we still have a bit of a ways to go,” she said. “I want more women in the room.”
According to Fox News, “CNN is the only major cable news network in America without a female primetime host and many of the network’s high-powered executives are men.” The report added:
In 2018, Hollywood trade publication “TheWrap” analyzed weekday programming on various networks and found CNN didn’t have as many female anchors as competitors.
“CNN has significantly fewer women serving in visible on-air roles than either Fox News or MSNBC,” TheWrap reported.
Back in October, Baldwin seemed to suggest online that she was being pushed out at the network against her will.
“As the election gears up, the political maestro @jaketapper will hold down my hour and his for the coming weeks. Wish I was with you, but I’ll see ya on [TV] on the flip side of the election,” she wrote on Instagram, according to Fox.
Baldwin replied, “Not my choice,” when a fan asked, “Why are you taking so many weeks off at such an important time?”
Despite Baldwin’s pretense of objectivity, she’s been relatively open about her adherence to left-wing identity politics.
In May, for example, Baldwin broke down in tears on-air over her “rage” and acknowledgment of her own “privilege” as a “white woman” in reaction to the death of George Floyd.
Hosting Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins on “CNN Newsroom,” Baldwin said, “As I’m sitting here listening to you, I’m having my own — I’m surprised at my own emotions on TV with you. But I just, as a white woman, aware of my own privilege in this country, I am so angry, and I can’t even begin …”
“Forgive me,” the anchor said, wiping tears from her eyes.