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Flip off the switch and "brownout" the major networks.That's what Hispanic viewers are being asked to do by the National Council of La Raza. On Friday, the group gave the go-ahead for a boycott against the four major networks--CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox--over what they say is a lack of Latin representation on television.
The protest will begin Sunday (just in time for theEmmys) and last through September 25--two weeks into thenew fall season.
Tired of what (according to a Screen Actors Guild study) is a mere 2 percent visibility on prime-time television in a country where Latinos represent 11 percent of the population, La Raza aligned with other minority groups to push the entertainment industry to pay more than lip service when it comes to hiring minority talent. Those endorsing the boycott include the NAACP, which hasthreatened suit against the major networks for shunning minorities.
Former California congressman Esteban Torres, a member of the minorities alliance team, (which also includes former congressman Norman Minetta, NAACP president Kweisi Mfume and Sonny Skyhawk, founder of American Indians in Film) said the goal of the boycott is to achieve a "long-lasting, verifiable agreement that will create a rapid inclusion of minorities in programming as well as ownership."
How rapidly this boycott will push that agreement along is not clear, but the organizers believe that the collective $380 billion annually Latinos represent to advertisers is sufficient clout to give their tune-out real impact.
Lisa Navarrete, a spokeswoman for La Raza (an umbrella group of Latino organizations with a membership of 3 million), says the boycott's success will not be measured by a ratings decline. "If we can educate a large proportion of the community and others who are interested in this issue, then we've succeeded," she tells Associated Press.
La Raza says only one Hispanic actor scored a role in the 38 new primetime fall series:Martin Sheen cast as less than competent President in NBC's West Wing. In returning series only three names stand out: NBC showcases Bruno Campos in Jesse and CBS featuresHector Elizondo in Chicago Hope and Cheech Marin in Nash Bridges.
The networks claim they are adding minorities as shows evolve and develop--for instance, ABC has cast Jon Huertas as Sabrina's new nemesis in the sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch--but overall the minority groups believe that too little has been done and that the situation is not improving quickly enough, hence the brownout.
Two networks said Friday that they'll try even harder. "We have talented Latinos in leading roles, but we recognize that there needs to be more representation both in front of the camera and behind the camera." says CBS.
Adds ABC: "We are making improvements and understand that we need to do more. This is an ongoing process and ABC is deeply committed to it." Fox and NBC had no response.
For now, fledgling networks WB and UPN have escaped the boycott--they are viewed as slightly more favorable to minority inclusion.
Still, La Raza's Navarrette says there's room for Industry-wide improvement."It's not to say that cable or film are doing that much better. We're starting with these four networks, because they are what everybody has in common."
