Foreign Influence at KSCI, KMEX?

Despite their many differences, KSCI (Channel 18) and KMEX (Channel 34) have more than Spanish-language broadcasting in common.

Both stations, with matters pending before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), have been accused of being illegally controlled by foreign business or government interests and of allowing this alleged influence to slant their news shows.

For KSCI, the accusations of outside influence revolve around the station’s 12 hours of Korean-language broadcasting, portions of which, its critics say, are being paid for by Korean Television Enterprises Ltd. (KTE), a Los Angeles firm owned by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), the South Korean equivalent of the British Broadcasting Corp.

The controversy erupted last October when the Korean-American Free Press Committee of Los Angeles filed a complaint with the FCC accusing the station of violating federal communications rules by failing to identify the South Korean government as the sponsor of KTE programming on KSCI.

KTE representatives have acknowledged that KBS Enterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of KBS, owns KTE, but they argue that KBS is not owned by the South Korean government. They insist that KTE functions as a separate corporation free from government influence.

Los Angeles critics of the South Korean government have accused KTE of being a vehicle for South Korean government propaganda. The critics also claim that KTE, both in local news and KBS network news from South Korea, casts the government in a favorable light while criticizing or ignoring the political opposition.

An FCC spokesman said it has not yet decided whether to hold an investigation.

On the other hand, KMEX’s problems stem from a recent FCC ruling against the station. In January, Administrative Law Judge John H. Conlin stripped the station of its operating license because it and 12 other Spanish-language stations in the United States were said to be secretly controlled by Mexican media baron Emilio Azcarraga through American representatives. (U.S. law prohibits foreign nationals from owning more than 20% of an American television station.)

Azcarraga owns Televisa, the world’s largest producer of Spanish-language television shows. The FCC, in its January ruling, said that Televisa controls both the Spanish International Communications Corp. (which owns KMEX) and the Spanish International Network. KMEX officials said the network provides about 80% of the station’s programming.

KMEX has appealed the January ruling, arguing that neither Azcarraga nor Televisa ever intended to use American representatives to control the station.

Despite its many public service activities, such as staging a telethon for Mexico’s earthquake victims, KMEX’s critics in the Latino community accuse the station of ignoring local community issues and featuring Spanish International Network news shows with a pro-Mexican government slant.

Broadcasting from Los Angeles since 1961, KMEX today claims to reach 87% of the Latino households--or nearly three million viewers--in seven Southern California counties.