ABC Earns Top Marks
A coalition of civil-rights groups seeking greater ethnic diversity in the television industry said Thursday the major broadcast networks are making improvements, but they can do better. Ideally, the groups would like to see television reflect contemporary American society, with ethnicity percentages mirroring those in the population at large.
In annual “report cards,” ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are graded in areas including their hiring of minority actors, writers and directors, development of programs with ethnic diversity and overall commitment to diversity issues. In the coalition’s first report card, in 2000, the networks received mostly D’s.
This year, for shows airing from fall 2005 to fall 2006, the National Latino Media Coalition gave ABC the highest overall grade, A-minus, followed by a B-plus for CBS and a B each for NBC and Fox.
The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition gave NBC, ABC and Fox a C-plus each, while CBS earned a C.
American Indians were far less generous in their marks. Indeed, the virtual absence of any American Indians on screen or in the industry earned F’s and D’s, with just a handful of higher grades.
In separate statements Thursday, all four networks reiterated their commitments to diversity and pledged continued efforts.
Among the networks, ABC received praise for the cast diversity on Grey’s Anatomy, which includes, blacks, Asians and Latinos. The show’s creator and executive producer is a black woman, Shonda Rhimes. Also heralded were ABC’s Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, both of which feature Latins in starring roles, whose star is a Latina, America Ferrera. The casts of both series include blacks and Asians as well.
ABC is “pleased to be recognized as a leader in diversity,” said Robert Mendez, senior vice president for diversity at the Disney-ABC Television Group, in his company’s statement. “Our mission is to make our programming and environment reflective of the rich diversity of the world in which we live.”