NewsproT H E S TAT E O F T V N E W S

By Sheree R. Curry Special to TelevisionWeek

Minority faces were lessprevalent in television news-rooms in 2004 than the previousyear, and virtually no improve-ment has been made in that areain the past 10 to 15 years, accord-ing to a report by the Radio-Tele-vision News Directors Associa-tion and Ball State University.

Journalists from organiza-tions such as the National Asso-ciation of Hispanic Journalistsand the National Association ofBlack Journalists cite unpaidinternships and the slackeningof equal employment opportu-nity guidelines as contributorsto the problem.

“People made progress in the’60s because of the Kerner Com-mission and EEO rules. But with[Federal Com-municationsCommission]regulation, ithas been verywatered downand there isno incentiveor pressure[on local sta-tions] to makesure that newsoperations reflect the communi-ties they serve,” said Joe Torres,NAHJ communications director.

The percentage of people ofcolor in the newsrooms of localtelevision stations (broadcastingin all languages) declined slight-ly, from 21.8 percent of employ-ees in 2003 to 21.2 percent in2004, according to the surveyreleased July 11 by the RTNDA.Taking Spanish-language sta-tions out of the mix, the declinewas slightly smaller, to 19.5 per-cent compared with the previ-ous year’s 19.8 percent.

The surveys analyze num-bers from the previous year.

The declines occurred acrossethnic minorities, with theexception of African Americans,who held steady in local TVnewsrooms at 10.3 percent from2003 to 2004.

Numbers for Native Ameri-cans were at 0.6 percent in 1995but fell to 0.5 percent in the 2004study and again to 0.3 percentwith the 2005 study. Asian Amer-icans made up only 1.9 percentof the total television news workforce, down from 2.2 percent theprevious year.

The percentage of Latino

LITTLEPROGRESSSEEN INDIVERSITYStudy: Numbers Fallin Many Categories

By Sheree R. CurrySpecial to TelevisionWeek

When the 30th annual con-vention of the National Associa-tion of Black Journalists con-venes Wednesday in Atlanta,broadcast journalists of colorwill have the chance to net-work, have their tapes critiquedand participate in workshopsthat run the gamut from make-up application to how tobecome a decision maker insports broadcasting to conver-sations with CEOs about thestate of the media industry. For-mer President Bill Clinton willdeliver the keynote address, his

third to the group.Then-candidate Clinton

spoke to the organization in1992 in Detroit, the first major

U.S. presidential candidate todo so. Five years later, in Chica-go, he appeared before thegroup again, this time as thefirst sitting U.S. president toaddress the conference.

“We draw movers and shak-ers from the entire industry aswell as people from politics,”said San Jose-based BryanMonroe, NABJ’s VP for printand Knight Ridder assistant VPof news. “Al Sharpton will bethere and Jesse Jackson alwaysshows up.”

The celebration includes theinduction of members into the

A LIFE IN JOURNALISMED BRADLEY RECEIVES THE NABJ’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ... PAGE 12SPECIAL SECTION11

continued on page 13

30TH ANNUALNABJ CONVENTION AND CAREER FAIR When: Aug. 3-7

Where: Hyatt Regency Hotel,

Atlanta

Why: The annual event attracts

more than 3,000 attendees from

around the U.S. and is the

nation’s largest professional

gathering devoted to black jour-

nalists. The convention’s 30th-

anniversary theme, “Telling Our

Story,” reflects the NABJ’s mis-

sion to “continue to voice the

passion, pride, purpose and

power of black journalists.”

JOE TORRES

continued on page 15

ALICIA BARNES General assignment reporter,

WXIA-TV, Atlanta

YALEK HUYNH Co-anchor and managing editor,

KTSF-TV, San Francisco

CARLA ARAGON Anchor, KOB-TV,

Albuquerque, N.M.

MARY KIM TITLA General assignment reporter,

KPNX-TV, Phoenix

MARLEE GINTER General assignment reporter,

WISH-TV, Indianapolis

JORGE RAMOS Co-anchor, “Noticiero Univision”

❝We drawmovers andshakers fromthe entireindustry as wellas people frompolitics.❞Bryan Monroe, VP for print, NABJ

President Clinton to Give Keynote as Event Marks 30 Years

HIGH-OCTANE LINEUPAT NABJ CONVENTION

FACES IN THE NEWSROOM

TW MAIN 08-01-05 A 11 TVWEEK 7/28/2005 5:38 PM Page 1

journalists working at local TVstations dropped slightly, from8.9 percent in 2003 to 8.7 percentin 2004, despite a steady rise inthe U.S. Hispanic population.

When it comes to news direc-tors, the percentage of Latinosworking at English-language TVstations increased from 2.4 per-cent in 2003 to 2.8 percent lastyear, while the total percentageof minority TV news directors is12 percent, compared with 12.5percent in the 2004survey. Native Ameri-can journalists madeup just 1 percent ofTV news directors inthe 2005 study, downfrom 1.3 percent inlast year’s survey butbasically at the samelevel as 1995.

The percentage ofAsian Americannews directors held steady at 1.3percent, while African Ameri-cans bumped up to 3.9 percentfrom 3.2 percent in 2003.

The survey notes that thepercentage of Caucasians in thenewsroom increased slightlyfrom 78.2 percent in 2003 to 78.8percent, and for news directorsit inched to 88 percent from 87.5percent the previous year.

“The results of the study serveas evidence of a trend that diver-sity in newsrooms is falling to thebottom of the to-do list in manynewsrooms,” said NABJ VP ofBroadcast Barbara Ciara, who isalso managing editor and anchorat New York Times-owned CBSaffiliate WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Va.

“In the last 15 to 20 years,very little has changed,” saidBob Papper, professor oftelecommunications at BallState University and director ofthe annual RTNDA survey. “Andif it is going to change in anappreciable way, the only waythat is going to happen is by asignificant commitment on thepart of broadcast companies tomake diversity in the newsrooma real priority—and make thatclear.”

Mr. Papper suggested thatsince news organizations makeratings a priority by giving

bonuses based upon thosenumbers, they can do the samefor diversity. “If diversity canbecome a critical part of whatmanagers have to do, thenchange [for the better] is likely tohappen.”

Spokespeople from the topthree networks have said thatthough the numbers in the sur-vey are not surprising they aredoing what they can on theirend to increase diversity innewsrooms.

Broadcasters “have to be ableto put on programming that isreflective of our community,”

said Michael Jack, VPof diversity for NBCUniversal and presi-dent and generalmanager of NBC-owned WRC-TV inWashington. “That iswhat we [at NBC]have done and con-tinue to do.”

Mr. Jack pointedto three initiatives

that NBC uses to recruit, mentorand develop people of color forthe newsroom.

One is its involvement in theEmma Bowen Foundation,which identifies minority highschool juniors and seniors andmentors them through a six-year program intended to endwith permanent jobs. NBC hasabout 40 students in the pro-gram now. “We are the single

largest user of this program,” hesaid.

Another is a page programthat places new college gradu-ates and others into positions invarious divisions with an eyetoward grooming them for newspositions.

The final initiative is the

associates program. “It is anextremely competitive program.We have about 1,200 applica-tions a year,” Mr. Jack said. Theprogram takes candidates withsome work experience andplaces them in a news-only pro-gram in one of NBC’s divisions.

Candidates are recruitedfrom organizations representingjournalists of color, throughword of mouth and from histori-cally black colleges, such asHoward University, where Mr.Jack sits on the John H. JohnsonSchool of CommunicationsBoard of Visitors.

“It is tough to figure out whatworks and what doesn’t work inthis industry, but I will tell youthat we [at NBC] significantlyover-index what those studiesshow. For all newsrooms [thestudy] shows just over 21 per-cent and we and Telemundodouble those numbers. If youlook just at non-Hispanics, then

we are more than 25 percentbetter than those numbers,” Mr.Jack said, pointing out that outof the 14 owned-and-operatedlocal NBC stations, four havegeneral managers who are peo-ple of color, including himself inD.C. and GMs in Birmingham,Ala., Columbus, Ohio, and LosAngeles.

Ms. Ciara is a bitdisheartened, how-ever, that the topthree network CEOsrefuse to disclosetheir numbers ofminority employees.“All you have to do istune in to ‘NBCNightly News’ andcount the faces withone hand tied behind yourback,” she said. “I don’t thinkyou will see the diversity thatreflects the melting pot of Amer-ica.”

Calls to several ABC offices

were made for this story, but noone willing to speak on therecord was available by presstime.

Linda Mason, senior VP ofstandards and special projectsat CBS News, didn’t discussnumbers, but she did say thatCBS offers internships to collegestudents. “To accept this intern-ship they have to live in NewYork and do it without pay,”which she said is a “doublewhammy” for students whoneed to save to pay for the nextsemester of school. “Someminority students, after payingall of that money for college,want better-paying jobs for thesummer,” she said.

“Internships can wind updiscriminating against minori-ties and those who are economi-cally disadvantaged,” Mr. Pap-per said.

To ease the financial strain,NABJ and other associationsgive scholarships to studentswho accept internships. But it isnot only nonpaid internshipsthat can lock out people of color,it’s also the low-paying jobspost-college, some say.

“This is not a business thatpays well starting out, and Ithink we miss out on a lot of tal-ent and will keep doing thatuntil we start paying more,” Mr.Papper said. “[But for now]broadcasters are not prepared togo the extra mile to compete in amarketplace where there are alot more [career] options thatpay better.”

“There has been complaintabout the lack of Asian Ameri-cans—particularly men—whoare reporters or TV anchors,”

said Stanton Tang,national VP of broad-cast for the AsianAmerican JournalistsAssociation andmanaging editor ofthe cable news oper-ation of LandmarkCommunications-owned KLAS-TV inLas Vegas. He addedthat many Asians

tend to choose higher-payingjobs in the sciences and technol-ogy. “We have been working onencouraging people to go intojournalism,” he said. “It is a

TelevisionWeek MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2005 13

TV CURRENTS

continued from page 11

MINORITY POPULATION VERSUS MINORITIES IN TV WORK FORCEYear of study 2005 2004 2000 1995

Minority population of U.S. 33.2% 32.8% 30.9% 27.9%Minorities in TV work force 21.2% 21.8% 21.0% 17.1%Sources: RTNDA, U.S. Census Bureau

BROADCAST NEWS WORK FORCEMinority broadcast TV news work force representation is downslightly from last year.Year of study 2005 2004 2000 1995

Caucasian 78.8% 78.2% 79.0% 82.9%African American 10.3% 10.3% 11.0% 10.1%Hispanic 8.7% 8.9% 7.0% 4.2%Asian American 1.9% 2.2% 3.0% 2.2%Native American 0.3% 0.5% <1.0% 0.6%Source: RTNDA

BROADCAST NEWS DIRECTORSThe percentage of African American news directors rose, whileother minorities declined.Year of study 2005 2004 2000 1995

Caucasian 88.0% 87.5% 86.0% 92.1%African American 3.9% 3.2% 3.0% 1.6%Hispanic 5.8% 6.7% 9.0% 3.8%Asian American 1.3% 1.3% 2.0% 1.5%Native American 1.0% 1.3% <1.0% <1.0%Source: RTNDA

MICHAEL JACK

STANTON TANG

STUDY

❝Diversity innewsrooms isfalling to thebottom of theto-do list inmany news-rooms.❞Barbara Ciara, VP of broadcast, NABJ

continued on page 16

TW MAIN 08-01-05 A 13 TVWEEK 7/28/2005 5:18 PM Page 1

Hall of Fame. This year’sinductees include CharlayneHunter-Gault, CNN’s formerJohannesburg, South Africa,bureau chief and correspondent;Carole Simpson, former longtimeanchor of ABC’s “World NewsTonight Sunday”; and MaxRobinson, NABJ co-founder andthe first black journalist to anchora nightly network newscast, whowill be inducted posthumously.Ed Bradley, CBS News correspon-dent and co-editor of “60 Min-utes,” will receive the NABJ’s Life-time Achievement Award.

Given the caliber of journal-ists in attendance, “NABJ is excel-lent for networking, particularlyfor younger journalists becauseyou meet such a large variety ofpeople, including managers, vet-erans, mid-career, beginners andstudents,” said Carol Ash, the 5a.m. producer for NBC-ownedWMAQ-TV in Chicago.

“I try to help those journal-ists who are younger than I am,just like I have been helped,”said Ms. Ash, a board memberof Unity: Journalists of Color,who added that she hasobtained jobs because of her

NABJ contacts. “Most peopleare willing to help steer you inthe right direction careerwise.”

The NABJ conference, whichis expected to draw more than3,000 attendees to its annualgathering, claims the nation’s

largest journal-ism career fair.

“You get somany peoplewith jobs [avail-able] who arelooking to hireright now at thejob fair,” Mr.Monroe said.

“NABJ shouldbe on the speed-

dial of every news director andgeneral manager who is trulyinterested in achieving diversityin the newsroom,” said BarbaraCiara, NABJ VP for broadcast. “It’s2005 and I still hear that staleexpression, ‘We can’t seem tofind qualified blacks to fill ourpositions.’ To those folks I say,‘You’re not looking.’”

Of particular interest to

broadcast journalists are severalworkshops. Broadcast newsdirectors from across the countrywill share their most effective tipsfor short- and long-term successin “Ten Management Tools toUse Now,” scheduled to takeplace Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Thesession will focus on “news youcan use” that journalists can takewith them to their newsrooms.The moderator is Ava Greenwell,associate dean at the MedillSchool of Journalism at North-western University. Panelists areBlaise Labbe, news director forKWTV in Oklahoma City; EvaBowen, executive producer for

KNXV-TV in Phoenix; and DeniseHendricks, associate producerfor “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

“Television Faces,” also onThursday, will show on-air per-sonalities how to create a pol-ished, clean makeup applica-tion. The moderator is JacqueReid, host of “BET NightlyNews.” Panelists are FairweatherFaces makeup artists D’AngeloThompson and Saisha Beecham.

At 2:45 p.m. Thursday, moder-ator Sandy Williams, an anchorand reporter for Fox Sports Net inAtlanta, will lead a seminar onmoving up the ranks in sportsbroadcasting and becoming a

behind-the-scenes power hitter.The panel will include AndreaBerry, senior VP of broadcastoperations for Fox Network; AlJaffe, VP of production, recruit-ment and talent negotiations forESPN; Matt Edgar, programdirector for WQXI-AM “790 theZone” all-sports radio, Atlanta;and Jeff Gammage, producer andphotographer for Fox Sports NetSouth, Atlanta. Panelists willaddress the lack of minority rep-resentation in upper manage-ment and programs designed toincrease those numbers.

For those reporters who havebeen pulled off a story to cover

breaking weather, or for thoseproducers who have had theirrundown turned upside-down15 minutes to air because of anapproaching storm, there is the“Breaking Weather!” sessionwith meteorologists who havebeen in the “eye of the storm.”The moderator is WNBC-TV,New York, chief meteorologistJanice Huff. Panelists areexperts from The WeatherChannel, including on-camerameteorologists Paul Goodloe,Vivian Brown, Jim Cantore andStephanie Abrams, climateexpert Heidi Cullen and seniormeteorologist Stu Ostro. ■

TelevisionWeek MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2005

NEWSPRO

15

❝NABJ should be onthe speed-dialof every newsdirector andgeneral man-ager who istruly interestedin achievingdiversity in thenewsroom.❞Barbara Ciara, VP for broadcast, NABJ

LINEUP continued from page 11

BARBARA CIARA

TW MAIN 08-01-05 A 15 TVWEEK 7/28/2005 5:42 PM Page 1

2000 issue of Essence magazine,is a 13-year veteran of KNBCwho hailed from NBC’s O&OWTVJ-TV in Miami. She co-anchors the weekend editions of“Today in L.A.” and reports forKNBC’s “Channel 4 News.”)

One’s tenure and longevity inthe business is probably a goodindicator of how good one is atthe live shot, said Ms. Madison,who added that it is a given, how-ever, that to be on-air at all, onehas to be fairly good at presenta-tion: “You can’t have a reporter

stumbling and assembling all ofthe facts on the air.”

Ms. Madison, who honed herreporting skills from 1982 to 1989at KHOU-TV in Houston, KOTV-

TV in Tulsa and WFAA-TV in Dal-las after a career in newspapers,said it is best for a journalist togain experience in broadcast in asmall market. “When you are in a150-plus market, your news man-

agers are poised and ready tocontinue to teach you. They willhelp you with your writing andhelp you with editing,” she said.

But Ms. Madison, who is the

first African American woman tobecome general manager at anetwork-owned station in a topfive market, also said it is impor-tant to find an industry mentor.

“Career mentors in my news-

rooms were white malesbecause those were the peoplewho had the jobs. They havebeen very helpful to my career.But mentors can come from allaround you. They will be His-panics and Asians at your leveland some subordinate to you,”she said, adding that NABJ is agood place to find mentors.

“Many of the experiencesyou may encounter as a newsoperator or journalist, there areothers at NABJ who have alsoencountered them. Have a net-work [of mentors], so when youface something, you can turn tofolks who can say, ‘Here is what I did.’” ■

NEWSPRO

16 MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2005 TelevisionWeek

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of

ADVICE viable career choice.”

The RTNDA, which has beenbringing newsrooms and pre-dominantly ethnic high schooljournalism classes together tohelp encourage people at ayounger age to consider journal-ism, has also created a diversitytoolkit, available on its Web site,to help stations foster dialoguewith and recruit and retain jour-nalists of color. “It is a guide tohelp them initiate conversationin the newsroom,” RTNDA Pres-ident Barbara Cochran said.“Diversity isn’t just the responsi-bility of people of color but [of]the entire newsroom.”

But Mr. Tang won’t let thecommunity take all the responsi-bility for the lack of Asians behindand in front of the camera. Heplaces some blame on advertis-ing and viewership demands.

“Nielsen doesn’t report AsianAmerican viewership in mostareas; only for five select cities[New York, Los Angeles, SanFrancisco, San Diego and Chica-go]. There are other markets thatshould have Asian Americanbreakouts, like Sacramento,[Calif.], Seattle and Honolulu. Byhaving the demographic break-outs, it gives a certain economicpower to the community. Youcan’t sell to a community if youdon’t know if they are viewers,”he said.

But Mr. Tang added that newsmanagers still “need to have adiverse population in their ownnewsrooms if they are going tocover a diverse population.”

For its part, CBS last yearlaunched a training program thatwill place two journalists of colora year in local newsrooms. “Wewill finance the careers of oneproducer and one correspondentfor two years at the largest affili-ate that will take them,” Ms.Mason said. “They will be moni-tored from New York. We will lookat their tapes and advise them.”

The first two candidates willbe placed this fall, but they haveyet to be selected. “We gotbetween 80 and 100 applica-tions for this,” Ms. Mason said,generated by an announcementmade at the Unity conference ofjournalists of color organiza-tions in August 2004 as well ason the CBS Web site andthrough word of mouth. “Weneed diversity at every level ofthe news division so that peoplesee the world their way andshare it with all of us.”

For NAHJ’s Mr. Torres, digitalbroadcast is another cause forconcern with regard to the num-bers of minorities in the news-room. “As television stationssoon become digitally broadcast,we are concerned that if they arehaving a hard time reflecting thecommunity with one station,they may have a harder timereflecting in other stations aswell,” he said. “It is a greater con-cern as we move forward withmultichannel capacity.” ■

STUDY continued from page 12

❝When you are in a 150-plus market, your news managers arepoised and ready ... to teach you.❞Paula Madison, president and general manager, KNBC-TV, Los Angeles

continued from page 13

TW MAIN 08-01-05 A 16 TVWEEK 7/28/2005 5:05 PM Page 1

By Sheree R. CurrySpecial to TelevisionWeek

Quick—name five dramaticTV series with a predominantlyAfrican American cast and star-

ring role that haveaired at any timeduring the historyof network televi-sion. A few sit-coms might cometo mind first, andthen the wheels

really have to start turning. It’sprobably hard to come up withone, let alone five, and you’re inthe TV business. But yes, youcan get credit for “Roots,” eventhough it was a miniseries.

Over the years there havebeen many groundbreaking dra-matic TV shows prominently fea-turing African American leads,from NBC’s “I Spy” detectiveseries with Bill Cosby to “Paris”with James Earl Jones as a crimi-nology professor, and attorneyshow “Kevin Hill” starring Taye

Diggs. But it’s hard to come upwith a TV drama with an all-blackcast, along the lines of Show-time’s “Soul Food,” that has everappeared as a series on prime-time network television—eventhough sitcoms with all-blackcasts are prevalent and have beenaround since the 1950s.

But despite the historicaldearth of long-lasting black-ori-ented television dramas, moreAfrican Americans are poppingup behind and in front of thecameras of mainstream dramasin the 2000s than in earlierdecades.

There have been a few black-only dramatic casts, but only ahandful. That’s because “It ispart of the comfort zone formainstream America to haveblack people make them laugh,”said Venise Berry, an associateprofessor at the University ofIowa who teaches a course onAfrican Americans and TV. “To

It’s Time to Be Taken Seriously

TelevisionWeek SPECIAL REPORT: BLACK HISTORY MONTH

THE DRAMA FIX

Historically, Black Sitcoms Have Been Popular, but Mounting a Hit Drama Proves Elusive

IMAGEAWARDSSALUTETHE BESTBy Natalie FinnSpecial to TelevisionWeek

ABC leads all the net-works in nominations for the37th NAACP Image Awards,which will honor achieve-ments in television, film,music, literature and, for thefirst time, directing. Theawards ceremony is set to airFriday, March 3, on Fox.

ABC received 23 nomina-tions (up from 10 last year),including four for “Grey’sAnatomy” (which had themost nods for a dramaseries) and four for the orig-inal movie “Their Eyes WereWatching God,” producedby Oprah Winfrey’s HarpoFilms.

UPN scored 15 nomina-tions, including outstandingcomedy series nods for“Girlfriends,” “Half & Half”and newcomer “EverybodyHates Chris.” CBS followswith 13 and HBO with 12.The seven nods for HBO’soriginal film “LackawannaBlues” make it the most-nominated TV program.

“We’re thrilled,” said ABCEntertainment PresidentStephen McPherson. “It’s sogreat for the people whowork so hard on these showsand are involved at everylevel. I think it’s a testamentto hard work and initiativethat has happened overmany years. It’s certainlybeen a goal of ours to reflectthe society that we live in inour programming and be abroadcast network in thetruest sense of the word.”

Cartoon Network’s AdultSwim garnered the network’sfirst-ever Image Award nom-ination with “The Boon-

9

continued on page 14continued on page 12

2004-05 UPN’s “Kevin Hill” was set in a law firm headed by Michael

Michele, left, and featured Taye Diggs as an ace lawyer and single dad.

1965-68 “I Spy” is praised for being an early series that had a black star, Bill Cosby, and a white star, Robert Culp, on an equal footing.

“Grey’s Anatomy”

◗ Themed

specials.

Page 10

◗ Drama

highlights.

Page 12

TW MAIN 02-13-06 A 9 TVWEEK 2/9/2006 3:50 PM Page 1

12 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006 TelevisionWeek

docks,” an entry for OutstandingComedy Series.

More than 1,200 entries weresubmitted, and a 300-personcommittee of industry profes-sionals and NAACP leaders whit-tled that down to five nomineesin each of 38 categories. NAACPmembers vote on the final selec-tions and the winners will beannounced during the show’sFeb. 25 taping at the ShrineAuditorium in Los Angeles.

Musician Carlos Santana willperform and receive this year’sHall of Fame Award, a choicethat emphasizes the NAACP’scommitment to recognizingoutstanding contributions ofpeople of all colors.

“Even though a lot of peoplethink the organization and theshow are maybe from an AfricanAmerican perspective, thatdoesn’t mean it’s not inclusive ofother minorities,” said ImageAwards executive producerVicangelo Bulluck. This is Mr.Bulluck’s fourth year in the role.

“Carlos Santana is a visionaryartist whose work has inspiredand motivated people of allraces and cultures,” NAACP

President and CEO Bruce Gor-don said in a statement. “We arehonored that he is joining us tocelebrate his remarkable life andaccomplishments.”

Academy Award winner CubaGooding Jr. is hosting the event,which ran for eight years in “Sat-urday Night Live’s” spot on NBCbefore coming to Fox in 1996.The theme for the evening is“Ordinary People, ExtraordinaryActs.”

DaimlerChrysler, a sponsorsince 1998, is back on board as atop-level contributor, joined byFedEx, Verizon, American Air-lines and others. “You’ve got acore group that believes in whatthe NAACP stands for and in thework they’ve been doing overthe years,” said Mitsy Wilson,senior VP of diversity develop-ment for Fox EntertainmentGroup. “They really want to sup-port the effort and the fact thatthey’re committed to diversitywithin their own organizations.”

In 1999 the NAACP held theTelevision Diversity Hearings,during which actors, writers,union and guild representativesand other industry professionalstestified before a multiculturalpanel about hiring, program-ming and minority discrimina-tion at the four major networks.In January 2000, NBC signed anagreement with the NAACPpromising to promote diversityin hiring and programming,increase internship opportuni-

ties for minority students andincrease its spending fromminority-owned businesses.Within weeks, ABC, CBS and Foxreached similar agreements.

“We’ve had a very good cre-ative relationship with Fox,” Mr.Bulluck said. “They brought usinto prime time and the showcontinues to grow—artistically,in stature and in viewership.”

The Image Awards, whichover the years have become oneof Fox’s signature variety shows,have also served as a launch padfor the network to expand itsown community outreach anddiversity development pro-grams. For the fourth year in arow, Fox is inviting 120 LosAngeles-area high school stu-dents to attend the awards show.The students are participants inthe Fox Academy, a monthlyworkshop held at 15 schools toprovide mentoring in educationand life skills.

This week, “24” star DennisHaysbert, a nominee for Out-standing Supporting Actor in aDrama Series, will meet withcollege-level broadcast anddrama students to discuss theexperiences and challenges hehas faced as a black actor. WhileFox considers this event to beanother lead-up to its ImageAwards telecast, it is also linkedto the network’s recognition ofBlack History Month.

Because it is taped in Febru-ary, the show is a natural show-case event for Fox to recognizethe achievements of blackartists, but network executivesdo not want it to be viewed as anevent that runs only because it isBlack History Month. “We donot look at February and say weneed to run special programs,”Ms. Wilson said. “If we are actu-ally going to embrace diversityin all of its aspects, we can’tleave it to just this month.”

However, she also reiteratedhow exciting it can be when“community members, politi-cians, actors, writers and direc-tors from all walks of life” cometogether for an event like theImage Awards during a specialtime of the year.

“It’s the premiere show thatfocuses on the achievementsand accomplishments of peopleof color,” she said. “While theremay be a predominance ofAfrican Americans, the audiencewill really be a rainbow.” ■

AWARDS continued from page 9

TV DRAMAHIGHLIGHTSI Spy (NBC) Sept. 15, 1965Bill Cosby, as Alexander Scott,

was the first black actor in

a leading dramatic role on

prime time.

Ironside (NBC) Sept. 14, 1967Don Mitchell played a body-

guard and assistant to the

series’ main character, wheel-

chair-bound detective Robert

Ironside.

The Outcasts (ABC) Sept. 23, 1968Otis Young starred as Jemal

David, a former slave who

tracked down criminals with

a former slave owner in the

post-Civil War era.

The Mod Squad (ABC) Sept. 24, 1968Clarence Williams III played

Linc, TV’s first black militant

hero and one of three under-

cover cops who led the series.

Room 222 (ABC)Sept. 17, 1969Lloyd Haynes

played a history

teacher and

Denise Nicholas

played a guidance

counselor to black

and white high

school students.

Shaft (CBS) Oct. 9, 1973In this 90-minute series,

Richard Roundtree played

a black detective with a

white sidekick.

Get Christie Love(ABC) Sept. 11, 1974Working undercover, Teresa

Graves’ character was TV’s

first black female cop.

The White Shadow (CBS)Nov. 27, 1978Kevin Hooks, Byron Stewart and

Thomas Carter played youths

on an inner-city high school

basketball team with a white

coach, played by Ken Howard.

Battlestar Galactica(ABC) Sept. 17, 1978Herb Jefferson Jr.

and Terry Carter

were soldiers with

a fleet of star-

ships seeking the

lost colony known

as Earth.

Dynasty (ABC)Jan. 12, 1981Diahann Carroll joined the hit

series during May 1984 sweeps,

playing Dominique Deveraux,

an illegitimate daughter of the

Carrington family looking to

claim her share of the family

fortune.

The A-Team (NBC)Jan. 23, 1983Mr. T was a tough,

loudmouth sidekick

hunting down the bad

guys in this dramatic

action adventure.

Miami Vice(NBC) Sept. 16, 1984Philip Michael Thomas

co-starred as Det. Ricardo

“Rico” Tubbs, one half of a

detective team.

Fortune Dane (ABC) Feb. 15, 1986Carl Weathers played Fortune

Dane, a former football hero

and police detective who

solved crimes for a tough

female mayor.

L.A. Law(NBC) Oct. 3, 1986Blair Underwood joined in 1987

as lawyer Jonathan Rollins in

this drama about the work and

personal lives of the staff at a

major Los Angeles law firm.

21 Jump Street (Fox) April 12, 1987Holly Robinson and others

starred as youthful-looking

cops working undercover at

a high school. Steven Williams

played Capt. Adam Fuller.

I’ll Fly Away (NBC) Oct. 7, 1991Regina Taylor portrayed Lilly

Harper, a 1950s housekeeper

for the family of a Southern

lawyer.

City of Angels (CBS)Jan. 16, 2000Dr. Ben Turner (Blair

Underwood) was act-

ing chief of surgery in

this medical drama

that examined the lives

of the doctors and

nurses at Los Angeles’

Angels of Mercy Hospital.

Boston Public (Fox) Oct. 23, 2000This look at the personal and

professional lives of teachers

working at a midsize high

school starred Chi McBride

as Principal Steven Harper.

Kojak (USA) March 25, 2005He’s bald. He’s back. And this

time he’s black. Ving Rhames

had the title role in this update

of the Telly Savalas-starring

detective series from the ’70s.

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)March 27, 2005Created by Shonda Rhimes,

this hit medical drama has

three leading African Ameri-

can stars: Isaiah Washington,

James Pickens Jr. and Chan-

dra Wilson. ■

—SHEREE R. CURRY

Note: Dates indicate when

series premiered.

Sources: TV.com; imdb.com;

J. Fred MacDonald, “Blacks

and White TV”; Donald Bogle,

“Blacks in American Films

and Television”

HONOREE Oprah Winfrey re-

ceived the Hall of Fame Award

at the 2005 Image Awards.

gramming for Nickelodeon. NickJr.com is featuring a spe-

cial Nick Jr. Video playlist of “Lit-tle Bill” episodes and family-friendly shorts with story linessuch as a little girl and her grand-father sharing a favorite song.

Mr. Danielsen said Nick-elodeon’s programming thismonth will be just as applicableto its audience all year and thatthe shorts in particular will beshown at other times. “We dosingle out this month to cele-brate with everyone else, but wealso try very hard to create adiverse environment every dayof the year,” he said.

ESPN is focusing much of itsattention this month on aunique event—a restaging of a1940s-era Negro League base-

ball game that will be televisedlive Feb. 26 on ESPN Classic.

Baseball legend and formerBirmingham (Ala.) Black BaronWillie Mays will attend the gamebetween the Barons and the Bris-tol (Conn.) Barnstormers. For-mer minor leaguers and college

players will don retro jerseys anduse equipment from the ’40s.“For us that’s really the headlin-ing act [of the month], so we’rereally excited about that,” saidDoug White, ESPN’s director ofprogramming and acquisitions.

The network is also bringingback for the third year its seriesof 30-second vignettes high-lighting athletes’ contributionsto their community. The series,sponsored by Heineken, iscalled “This Is How We Lift OurWorld” and will include spotswith Tiger Woods, Venus andSerena Williams and Derek Jeter.

“We like to take the time out tohighlight this month in particu-lar,” Mr. White said. “We’re allabout serving all fans no matterwhat walk of life they’re from, andthis is just another way to do that.

“That’s the great thing aboutsports—[diversity] is woven intothis business.” ■

continued from page 10

MIXED

HIGH PROFILE Baseball great

Jackie Robinson is featured

in vignettes on Court TV.

37TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDSWhere: Shrine Auditorium,

Los Angeles

When: Saturday, Feb. 25

Telecast: Friday, March 3,

on Fox

Information: www.naacp

imageawards.net

SPECIAL REPORTBlack History

Month

“Miami

Vice”

“21 Jump

Street”

“BostonPublic”

TW MAIN 02-13-06 A 12 TVWEEK 2/9/2006 5:18 PM Page 1

have them have serious emo-tions, cry and feel anger [over ablack story line] is not as com-fortable, and I think producersdon’t believe they can get thekind of crossover audience theyneed to sell that kind of show.”

Whether that means selling itto mainstream audiences, sellingit to advertisers, selling it over-seas or selling it in syndication,all of these are potential barriersto seeing a long-lived blackdrama on network TV. That ruleseems to be just as true today asit was 30, 40 and 50 years ago.

Regardless of the decade,many dramas with significantAfrican American roles havebeen yanked midseason or justafter a season or two. That’s whathappened to the one-season-long (1968-69) Western “TheOutcasts,” which co-starred OtisYoung as an independent, out-spoken black man, and “TheLazarus Syndrome” (1979), star-ring Louis Gossett Jr. as a sur-geon. More recently there was“LAX” (2004), co-starring BlairUnderwood as a terminal man-ager at the Los Angeles airport.

Progress in the ’70sIn the 1970s, when blacks

and whites in the U.S. began tomingle more socially, the net-works released black-oriented,middle-class cop and detectiveseries. The 1973-74 seasonbrought two such shows:“Shaft,” based on the book andfilm of the same name, and“Tenafly,” about brainy AfricanAmerican private eye HarryTenafly, a happily married, mid-dle-class family man who quitthe police force to take a better-paying position at a big L.A.detective agency.

A woman came onto thescene in 1974 with “Get ChristieLove,” starring Teresa Graves asa sexy undercover cop whowould pose as a prostitute or athief to help corner the bad guy.But America, used to blackwomen in the roles of mammy,nurse and secretary, didn’t seemto take well to a voluptuous,sassy black female lead.

“When I was coming alongthere were certain categories weoccupied,” said actress-writer-producer and Emmy winnerRuby Dee. “We had the good

girls, the bad girls, the maids,the mammies, and then we hadthe more exotic images.”

Ms. Dee played a nurse onthe soap opera “Guiding Light”in the early 1950s and a doctor’swife in “Peyton Place” (1964-69),the first prime-time soap opera,which also starred Ryan O’Nealand Mia Farrow.

“‘Peyton Place’ was a solid hitfor a long time, and then atsome point it was decided tobring in a black family to boostratings,” said Ms. Dee, who wasfeatured in ABC’s 2005 TV movie“Their Eyes Were WatchingGod.” “Nobody who sells thingscan afford to ignore any sector.”

Television executives began torecognize the significance of theblack audience as African Ameri-can voices grew louder duringthe Civil Rights Movement. As aresult, network executivesallowed more roles for blacks indramas, albeit minor ones. Butsome had a lasting effect. Dia-hann Carroll pulled off an Emmynomination as best actress in asingle performance in a 1962episode of “Naked City,” a crimedrama that focused on the livesof New York detectives. A yearlater Diana Sands received anEmmy nomination in the samecategory for an episode of “EastSide/West Side.”

Unfortunately, over the nextdecade only one other blackwoman took on a leading role ina dramatic series. That wasDenise Nicholas, who played aschool counselor on “Room 222”from 1969-74.

“Room 222” was an extraordi-nary high school-based dramathat mirrored the social change ofthe times. It starred Lloyd Haynes

as a compassionate AfricanAmerican teacher doling out les-sons in black history that weavedinto the real-life problems of theintegrated student body. Storylines covered drug addiction, stu-dent rights, environmental crisesand racial attitudes.

“The sympathetic charactersportrayed by Mr. Haynes and Ms.Nicholas represented a positivestatement about middle-classsuccess,” said J. Fred MacDon-ald, author of “Blacks and WhiteTV” and director of one of thelargest historical film archives.“They were laboring now so thatblack youngsters could followthem to the American Dream.”

And that is an image thatstayed with a young BlairUnderwood, who watched theshow in his adolescent years.

“The teacher on ‘[Room] 222’was intelligent and articulate,”said Mr. Underwood, who co-stars in “Madea’s FamilyReunion,” due in theaters laterthis month. “Intelligent men.Those are the characters thatattracted me to acting.” Andthose are the characters that he

strives to portray.At the age of 21 Mr. Under-

wood landed the roll of lawyerJonathan Rollins in the hit NBCseries “L.A. Law.” No doubt thatcharacter inspired other teens aswell as opened mainstreamAmerica’s eyes to the concept ofAfrican American lawyers.

“I was on the elevator onetime and someone—this whiteman—said to me, ‘Are therereally lawyers like the characteryou play?’” recalled Mr. Under-wood, who then began to tellthe man about some notablehistorical African Americanlawyers. “That was probablyone of the silver linings fromthe exposure of the O.J. Simp-son trial. They got to see John-nie Cochran—who was practic-ing law long before ‘L.A. Law’came out—and they knew thatlawyers like Jonathan Rollinsdid exist.”

Behind the CameraAnother sign of progress can

be seen in the television indus-try’s use of African Americansbehind the camera. For exam-ple, Mr. Underwood doesn’trecall any black writers workingon “L.A. Law” during its 1986-94run, but when he had the leadrole of Dr. Ben Turner on “City ofAngels,” which aired in 2000,that medical drama, co-createdby an African American, ParisBarclay, did have several blackwriters. In fact, about half thewriters were African American,Mr. Barclay, an Emmy Award-winning director of “NYPDBlue,” told the press at the time.

“You don’t usually seenumerous African Americanwriters on network television,”Mr. Underwood said. “You saw iton specifically black-orientedsitcoms, but on dramas it wasrare. For CBS it was rare. ButSteven Bochco insisted upon[having black writers].”

“City of Angels” was networkTV’s first truly African Americanmedical drama. Of the nine full-time cast members, seven wereblack. Vivica A. Fox portrayed Mr.Underwood’s character’s bossand former love interest. Butdespite its racial makeup, theshow avoided addressing raceissues directly and remainedfocused on the life-and-deathissues facing the medical team atan urban hospital.

“Producers are beginning tolook deeper into the well forstory prospects that mirror ourinterconnectedness on thisglobe,” Ms. Dee said. “Race as asubject is going to be like akindergarten concern. We don’thave any more time for it. Wehave to get to the business of thestories that affect us all as onespecies on this planet.”

Mr. Bochco had high hopesthat the formula for “City ofAngels” would prove thatwhite America would watch adramatic series with a major-ity black cast. He once told areporter, “”How do you getpeople to watch a really ter-rific black drama? You don’tmake it about the experienceof being black. You make it areally compelling drama,

whether it’s about cops, doctorsor lawyers.”

But “City of Angels” couldn’tpull the numbers to survivebeyond 22 episodes.

Among the signs of progressbehind the camera are showssuch as “Grey’s Anatomy,” co-produced and created by ShondaRhimes, an African Americanwoman, and the work of KevinHooks, a former star of “TheWhite Shadow” who was busy in2005 directing episodes of “Lost,”“24” and “Alias.” But there are stillsome hurdles to be overcome.

“I believe that progress feels

like two steps forward and onestep back,” said LeVar Burton,who burst onto the acting scenewith his 1977 role as Kunta Kintein “Roots” and leapt severalhundred years into the future toplay Geordi La Forge in “StarTrek: The Next Generation.” Healso directed more than fourdozen episodes of four later“Star Trek” series, and holds therecord for the most “Star Trek”episodes directed by a “StarTrek” actor. “When I look atprogress I don’t look at itthrough a narrow lens. Holly-wood is only a microcosm ofwhat is going on in the realworld,” he said.

Mr. Burton, who is in his 24thyear of producing PBS’s “Read-ing Rainbow,” is currently direct-ing and producing the pilot for aone-hour science-fiction TVseries called “The Nine,” inwhich he will also star.

“More women and moreminorities are able to make a liv-ing at their chosen professionnow than 30 years ago,” he said.“I am lucky I am able to do whatit is I do and what I do best, but Iam under no illusions that weare in a perfectuniverse.”■

14 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006 TelevisionWeek

DRAMA

❝Race as asubject is goingto be like akindergartenconcern. Wedon’t have anymore time for it.We have to getto the businessof the storiesthat affect usall as onespecies on thisplanet.❞Actress-writer-producer Ruby Dee

continued from page 9

“Star Trek: The

Next Generation”

Denise Nicholas

in “Room 222”

Blair Underwood

and Vivica A. Fox

in “City of Angels”

SPECIAL REPORTBlack History

Month

LeVar

Burton

TW MAIN 02-13-06 A 14 TVWEEK 2/9/2006 4:22 PM Page 1