TV Executives Give Mixed Report on Minority Hiring : Jobs: They say gains have been made with blacks and women, but Latinos and others are poorly represented.

Countering conclusions by two entertainment-industry unions alleging exclusionary hiring practices in Hollywood, two television executives Thursday told a federal civil rights commission that African-Americans and women have made significant advances in front of and behind the camera.

However, both CBS Entertainment President Jeff Sagansky and ABC Productions President Brandon Stoddard admitted before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that the industry’s record on hiring Asians, Asian-Americans and particularly Latinos as writers and actors has been less admirable.

Sagansky said he was taken aback by figures showing minimal inroads by Latino writers in the industry in recent years. Stoddard called the lack of Latino representation “abominable.”

The two executives testified before the commission after television scholars, insiders and others accused the motion picture and television industry of practicing racism and indifference in the hiring of minorities. Some of the experts said networks and studios paid scant attention to Federal Communications Commission requirements on the hiring of women and minorities.

Thursday’s daylong session, which included testimony by actor Edward James Olmos and actress Marla Gibbs, concluded three days of public hearings on the state of racial and ethnic tension in the United States. The commission is expected to release conclusions from the hearings later this year.

Expectations surrounding the comments were heightened by accusations in two new studies by the unions that there are significant barriers for minorities and women seeking acting and writing jobs.

The Writers Guild of America West study found only modest gains had been made in the employment of minority writers in television and feature films in general. The guild said there had been substantial improvements at only a few companies between 1987 and 1991.

Also, a report released by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Hollywood’s two major actors unions, found that white males under 40 work more and earn more than any other group. Women, minorities, older people and the disabled are vastly underrepresented onscreen in comparison to their numbers in society, according to the 10-year study.

Sagansky said he personally had overseen efforts to include more minorities on CBS shows, and that minority portrayals are more positive. He said 70% of CBS shows this upcoming season have minorities in prominent roles.

However, he said the industry had to keep working on the problem, which is “of great concern and importance, not only on a social scale but on an economic scale. Our advertisers want the biggest possible audience, and the only way to get minorities and women to watch is to give them stories involving people they can relate to, which get their interest.”

Stoddard, who held several executive positions at ABC before becoming head of the network’s in-house production units, said: “In terms of women and blacks, the portrayals have improved immensely. . . . Naturally, they aren’t as positive as everyone thinks they should be, but they’re certainly not as negative.”

However, leaders from Los Angeles minority organizations complained to the commission that ethnic groups still are overwhelmingly depicted on television as criminals or victims. The leaders also said that the local news media has been insensitive to their communities, and negligent in providing a balanced, varied picture of their lifestyles.

“The images that we see of African-American males on the news are just as deadly as a gun,” said Sandra Evers-Manley of the Hollywood/Beverly Hills chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.