TV & VIDEO - Jan. 17, 1989

The Hispanic Media Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Latino performing artists organization, has pulled out of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, an ensemble of community groups that has negotiated with local TV stations to increase Latino hiring. “While the coalition has made significant efforts, (the academy) feels we must assert our goals and objectives, which require us to engage the industry in an ongoing dialogue to increase Hispanic hiring,” Ray Blanco, the academy’s vice chairperson, said Monday. Blanco could not specify how the academy’s goals differed from the coalition’s, except to say that his group was preparing a plan of action that would make their differences self-evident. “I can’t imagine what (the disagreement) is,” said coalition chairman Armando Duron. “It’s rather shocking that they didn’t take the time to inform us.”