NAACP threatens broadcast boycott of TV networks

By LYNN ELBER, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (August 15, 11:00 a.m. PDT) - The NAACP has renewed threats of a broadcast boycott, saying television networks have made scant progress in putting minorities in front of and behind cameras.

After looking at the results of agreements negotiated by the NAACP last year to improve diversity at ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, the civil rights organization's report released Wednesday found that small gains were made in hiring actors for prime-time series.

But there was little change in minority representation in the executive ranks - those who have the ultimate authority to decide what is produced and aired.

"The snail's pace reaction by some of the networks" 18 months after the agreements were first reached has been discouraging, according to the NAACP report.

Lack of headway was most evident in news, public affairs and sports departments during the 2000-01 season. In entertainment programming, there remained few writers, producers or casting directors of color.

Corporate boards at the networks or their parent companies remained virtually all-white, the report said. CBS, which had been the only network with a minority board member, was joined by Fox Entertainment when it added a black businessman to its board.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said it hoped its assessment of the coming 2001-02 season "will not force us to visit other options" - including a boycott against a major network and its top advertisers.

"However, if history is any gauge of progress after 52 years of television, it is clear that in all likelihood we will need to do just that," the report said.

It's been two years, though, since the NAACP first threatened such action.

Other possible actions include using federal rules and the courts to mandate opportunities for minorities and asking the government to consider limits on network ownership of programming.

The NAACP's report also found that there is a growing belief among minorities in Hollywood that it's time "to stop begging the barons of the industry for jobs" and develop minority-owned businesses.

In the report, ABC was criticized for what the NAACP called a lack of network commitment to diversity efforts.

Although ABC President Alex Wallau has taken steps toward an improved approach, the NAACP called "untenable" the network's lack of progress since its initial August 1999 talks on the issue.

According to numbers supplied by ABC for the report, 33.6 percent of new hires at the network in the year 2000 were minorities, including a manager of prime-time programs.

NBC showed "little to no progress" in hiring of minorities on and off-camera, with an 11 percent drop in the number of black actors in its prime-time series and a 18 percent drop in the number of Asian-American actors as of March 2001, the NAACP said.

The numbers reflected midseason cancellation of shows and losses of ethnic actors and producers, the report said. NBC exceeded its goal of increased use of minority-owned businesses.

ABC and NBC did not immediately respond to telephone calls seeking comment.

Based on numbers supplied by the networks, Fox was found to have boosted the number of minority actors in prime-time series to 41 percent in the 2000-01 season, up from 24 percent in the preceding season.

CBS shows had a substantial increase in black actors compared to the last season (29 percent compared to 17 percent), while there were small gains in the number of Hispanic and Asian-American actors.

Fox and CBS also showed increases in the number of minority writers.

Blacks and Hispanics each make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population and Asian-Americans 3.6 percent, according to 2000 census figures.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Answers

>The NAACP has renewed threats of a broadcast boycott,

Given the number of hours the typical American of any race watches the tube, I'd say this is an empty threat. A shocking number of viewers haven't learned to entertain themselves any other way: witness the explosion of TV sets in dentist offices that can be viewed by the patients undergoing procedures. I told my dentist that I will go to someone else if she brings TV sets back into the work area.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Are there blacks that are complaining about not getting jobs in these areas, even though they are qualified?

CBS, which had been the only network with a minority board member, was joined by Fox Entertainment when it added a black businessman to its board.

is the black businessman there because he is black or because he can do the job?

I agree, sounds like an empty threat. what difference does it make if they watch or not? How would anyone know if they did or not?

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001