HALLMARK COUNCIL OFF TO ROCKY START WITH LATINOS

The buyers of the nation’s largest chain of Spanish-language TV stations had a simple plan: Create an advisory council of key Hispanic leaders to help improve their ties with the nation’s Latino community.

But the idea may have misfired.

Hallmark Cards Corp. and First Capital Corp. of Chicago--winning bidders last year for 11 Spanish-language stations including KMEX Channel 34 in Los Angeles--convened the panel Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo. By Thursday, when names of the members were made public, criticism began to emerge.

Some community leaders and politicians accused the Hallmark group of caving in to pressure from key congressmen who are reconsidering their support of the Federal Communications Commission-approved agreement for selling the stations still owned by the Spanish International Communications Corp.

Hector Barreto, president of the Kansas City-based U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, charged that the council is powerless and lacks representation from the nation’s leading Latino organizations. The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is one of a half-dozen Latino business and community groups that has urged the FCC to block transfer of the stations serving 12 million viewers to the Hallmark group. “They don’t even have the support of the Hispanic community in Kansas City, let alone around the country,” Barreto said.

Hallmark vice president of public relations and communications Charles W. Hucker said that Barreto’s comments are “absolutely false.”

Members of the council have all served or are currently serving on major Latino community organizations, Hucker said. “We think a group like this can help broaden our understanding of the important issues of Hispanics in this country and how they might be related to Hallmark’s and First Chicago’s eventual ownership of Spanish-language-formatted TV stations.”

The group’s members include such prominent Latinos as Archbishop Patrick Fernandez Flores of San Antonio; Miriam Colon, founder and artistic director of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater of New York, and Leo F. Estrada, associate professor at the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Hallmark’s good standing among Latinos in Kansas City was also reflected by City Councilman Robert M. Hernandez’s backing of Hallmark’s efforts to buy the Spanish-language stations, Hucker said. “I was pleased with the meeting,” Estrada said of the hourlong gathering Wednesday at Hallmark’s headquarters. Topics discussed ranged from the need for increased domestic production of Spanish-language TV programming and bilingualism in the media, he said.

But, like Barreto, Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, an umbrella for about 100 Latino organizations, agreed that the advisory panel does not include leaders from major Latino organizations.

Even Estrada, who believes that he was asked to join the council because of his expertise as a demographer, said the panel could have included more representatives from California and Miami, two key markets in which Hallmark hopes to play a major role.

Yzaguirre, however, had no doubts about the council members themselves: “These are outstanding people that I would be proud to work with.”

The council’s formation also sparked the ire of Rep. Matthew Martinez (D-Monterey Park), who claims the Hallmark group is not committed to long-term Spanish-language programming at KMEX and its sister stations in cities such as New York, Miami, Fresno and San Antonio.

Hallmark has consistently challenged these accusations, insisting that its willingness to make a $301 million investment to acquire the stations is ample proof of a serious commitment to Spanish-language television as a profitable business venture.

Martinez countered that Hallmark risks losing the stations unless it can show the FCC that it has greater support in the Latino community.

Hucker dismissed Martinez’s claims, saying that Hallmark had considered the formation of the council for several months.

Martinez, however, contended that Hallmark only moved to create the panel after Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.)--one of four members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus backing the firm-- threatened to withdraw his support if an advisory council were not formed.

(Spanish International was forced to offer its stations to the highest bidder last year after the FCC refused to renew its station licenses because it found them to be under the indirect control of Mexican media baron Emilio Azcarraga Milmo. Transfer of the stations to the Hallmark group is pending final FCC approval.)

“Richardson made them promise to do certain things for the Hispanic community, and one of these things was the council,” Martinez said. “My hat is off to him for using the kind of political leverage that has often been used against the Hispanic community.”

Richardson denied making such a threat, but he did acknowledge exerting pressure on Hallmark to eventually hand over the administration of the stations to an all-Latino board of directors.

“I have been very strongly urging this ever since Hallmark was selected (as the winning bidder),” Richardson said. “I urged them to take a number of steps in the Hispanic community. I believe that Hallmark, in the past, has not been very active with national Hispanic issues.”