Turner Sports has "reformed its People Advisory Council to become involved" in Bleacher Report's hiring and employee retention practices, and the company has "other efforts in the works" to address diversity and inclusion at B/R, according to Tim Peterson of DIGIDAY. The Council is supposed to "address B/R’s history of Black employees finding limited opportunities to grow," and there is "real urgency for that needle to move." Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels in an email wrote the company's actions needed to be "much more than words." Peterson writes Turner's efforts are "starting to become just that." It has "installed multiple Black executives from Turner Sports within B/R’s leadership ranks" -- including Tara August, Drew Watkins and Eric Jackson -- and in August hired Chip Johnson, "a Black vp of sales that will work across Turner Sports and B/R." Some B/R employees feel the actions are "promising," but they also "continue to wait to see those changes make an impact throughout the publication and have been discouraged by a recent round of layoffs." Other employees "questioned why the personnel changes so far have largely revolved around Turner Sports executives being given additional leadership responsibilities at B/R instead of Black employees and employees of color already at B/R being given those opportunities" (DIGIDAY.com, 9/14).
