Mfume Blasts Fox, CNN, MSNBC
TV news organizations are giving short shrift to
African-Americans and other minorities, says NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, and
he vows he's going to do something about it.
Mfume told the National Press Club that TV news organizations - especially
cable news channels - are not featuring minorities as anchors, correspondents,
the subjects of interviews, paid consultants or experts, to any real extent.
The NAACP chief said he is now serving notice that he intends to pressure
news organizations to expand their on-air diversity.
"None of Fox News, CNN or MSNBC are doing well with diversity or equal
opportunity," Mfume told the National Press Club, according to Sunspot.net. "On
the cable side, I think it's just horrendous...
"We don't believe there's some great big bogeyman that's making racist
decisions," Mfume said, alluding instead to what he referred to as "systemic and
institutional racism," as being responsible for the alleged lack of diversity.
During his remarks he announced that the NAACP will launch it's third-annual
study of diversity in the television and film industries.
The subject of diversity in TV news coverage is not a new one for Mfume. As
Sunspot.net reported, in 2000, the NAACP released a review of the three
most-watched Sunday political shows showing that the overwhelming majority of
guests interviewed were white men.
"We're always looking for ways to diversify our air - not just ethnic
diversity but cultural diversity and the kind of stories we put on the air,"
Matthew Furman, a spokesman for CNN. told Sunspot.net. He cited CNN's bureaus in
Africa and South America.
Paul Schur, Fox News spokesman was briefer: "Just look at our air," he said.
Mfume said he intends to focus more strongly on news than ever. "Regulatory
oversight, legal challenges, congressional legislation and consumer boycotts may
be the only ways to bring about change in news operations that continue to only
give lip service," he said.
________________________________
Changes to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
