Wednesday, 28 July 1999

AZ Daily Star
http://www.star.net.com

Latino groups plan boycott of TV networks

HOUSTON (AP) - A national coalition of Latino groups yesterday decided to mobilize Hispanics for a weeklong boycott of the four major TV networks in September to protest the ``brownout'' of Hispanics in American television.
``Latinos are mad as hell and not going to take any more,'' said Felix Sanchez, president of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.

Sanchez's organization and nine other Hispanic groups announced the move at the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza, a coordinating organization whose 240 affiliate groups claim a membership of 3 million.

Two weeks ago, the NAACP at its national conference said it was going to monitor how network shows incorporate minority roles in their programs. That organization, the nation's oldest and largest civil-rights group, threatened boycotts and legal action to make its point for greater diversity.
Alex Nogales, spokesman for the National Hispanic Media Coalition, said the Hispanic boycott will be the opening salvo in the fight for greater diversity on television.
The coalition said Hispanic leaders will meet in Washington on Sept. 12, National Hispanic Heritage Week.

``There the group will launch the brownout,'' asking Hispanics to turn off their televisions to counter the networks' ``brownout'' that is evidenced by ``a virtual absence of Latino images on television,'' a coalition statement said.

Organizers said they plan no action against sponsors, only against the networks.
The coalition plans to meet with advertisers, will look for legal and regulatory remedies, and plans to start buying stock in publicly owned media companies to influence stockholder meetings.
``We are starting with small incremental steps,'' Nogales said. ``But if these networks don't want to hire us, we don't have to watch their product.''

Nogales suggested that the nation's 31 million Hispanics rent Latino-themed films or read Latino literature during the boycott.
While Hispanics constitute 11 percent of the U.S. population, they comprise less than 2 percent of the characters on prime-time television shows, said Lisa Navarrete, a spokeswoman for La Raza, a national Hispanic advocacy organization.

Navarrete said that only one Hispanic actor, Martin Sheen on NBC's ``West Wing,'' has been cast on a new network show set to premiere in the 1999-2000 season.

La Raza President Raul Yzaguirre said a lack of Hispanic faces on television contributes to marginalizing and stereotyping.

``People build perceptions of the world around them based in part by what they see on television,'' Yzaguirre said. ``We want a balanced picture.''

ABC said it began efforts in May to make its programs more inclusive and yesterday said it was adding minority characters to at least five of its shows. Sanchez said he was happy about the move, but it falls short of what is needed.

``We are glad they are looking at these issues, but we are still going to be underrepresented,'' Sanchez said. ``It isn't even a first step.''

NBC said in a statement that minority representation ``continues to remain a top priority'' and expressed pride in minority actors on shows including ``ER'' and ``Law & Order.'' The statement added: ``We realize there is still work to be done.''

ABC Television Network's president, Patricia Fili-Krushel, said in a network meeting in Pasadena, Calif., yesterday that she wanted to ``reaffirm ABC Network's commitment to finding lasting solutions to make our network more diverse.''

She said progress was made during the five years she was president of ABC Daytime in adding minority characters to programs, as well as hiring minority workers for jobs behind the camera, including writers, technicians and stagehands.
She said the problem existed in ``different parts'' of the network and was a ``personal commitment'' for her. ``I think you will see change,'' she said.

Other major networks had no immediate response to requests for comment.
Two weeks ago at its national conference in New York, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced it would begin to monitor the ``virtual whitewash'' in fall TV programming.

In addition to requesting congressional and Federal Communications Commission hearings on licensing and ownership of the networks, campaign organizers are considering lawsuits and boycotts of advertisers.