KCBS-TV EXEC DEFENDS STATUS QUO AFTER JACKSON LEADS PICKETERS

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and about 30 representatives of the National Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH picketed briefly in front of KCBS-TV on Friday, but their campaign to increase black representation on CBS news shows was rebuffed by the top executive of KCBS.

“KCBS-TV is the undisputed leader among the English-language television stations in Los Angeles in all minority hiring and promotion,” station general manager Frank Gardner stated in a press release issued after the 40-minute PUSH protest.

Gardner, who called PUSH’s boycotting of KCBS “ironic,” noted that the station’s black work force represents 13% of the approximately 340 station employees--four percentage points higher than the black population in “the five-county area we serve.”

Specifically, KCBS employs 42 blacks in managerial, professional, technical and sales executive categories.

Frank Watkins, Jackson’s press secretary, said the picketing was “part of a national boycott against CBS” and was not aimed solely at KCBS. He added, however, “it’s my understanding there are no black anchors at KCBS.”

KCBS spokesmen, in response to this charge, pointed to Hosea Sanders, who anchors two newscasts on Saturdays, and sports anchor Jim Hill, whom they referred to as “part of our front-line team.”