FIRST OFF . . .

Meanwhile, in Glendale, 30 members of the Mexican Coalition for the Improvement of Mass Media resumed picketing outside KVEA to protest alleged efforts to orchestrate the recent firing and forced resignations of Mexican-Americans in the station’s senior management. “We are challenging the employment practices of the station. We know KVEA discriminates against women and that there has been harassment of Mexican-American employees. We want their license pulled,” said protest organizer Raul Ruiz, a Chicano Studies professor at Cal State Northridge. Ruiz charged that none of the station’s top 10 senior managers are of Mexican descent, an ethnic group that composes 84% of KVEA’s audience. Stephen Levin, KVEA’s general manager and vice president, was not available for comment, but KVEA and Telemundo officials have claimed that caving in to Ruiz’s demands for more Mexican managers would constitute a form of reverse discrimination against other Latinos.