KCBS Critics See Progress in Newsroom : Television: Councilman Alatorre and civic leaders say the station’s management claims to be taking steps to improve the treatment of minorities, women and gays.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre and leaders of several community groups who complained recently of sexism and racism at KCBS-TV Channel 2 say that station management seems to be responding to concerns about the treatment of minorities and women in its newsroom.

Alatorre and officials with the Los Angeles Urban League, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/L.A. and the National Hispanic Media Coalition have held closed-door meetings during the past few weeks with KCBS General Manager William Applegate and other station executives to discuss their complaints.

Although Alatorre and the organization leaders said that KCBS management denied the charges and admitted no wrongdoing, they said they were told by Applegate and others that the station was taking steps to improve the atmosphere in the newsroom. Among those changes, they said, would be the hiring and promotion of minorities, the launching of an advisory committee of reporters to monitor the coverage of ethnic communities, and participation in workshops to improve relations between gay and non-gay employees.

KCBS executives did not return phone calls from The Times.

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Despite the meetings, Alatorre and the other leaders said they are taking a wait-and-see approach to determine whether management follows through on the promises.

“I am in this for the long run, and I told them I’m not interested in short-term solutions,” Alatorre said.

On March 19, the councilman filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, saying that there was a “systematic effort to deny equal treatment to Latinos, other ethnic minorities, women and the gay community employed in the broadcasting industry.” He singled out KCBS in the complaint.

The commission subsequently said it would investigate conditions in all seven major local television newsrooms. Philip Montez, western regional director of the commission, said that he had heard complaints about conditions at KCBS and other stations for several months. Among the accusations were insensitive racial comments by management, favored treatment of white male reporters, lack of promotion for minorities and negative coverage of ethnic communities.

John Mack, director of the Urban League, has met with KCBS management twice in the last two weeks about the accusations.

“I was very encouraged by our meeting, and the station is seemingly being responsive to our concerns,” Mack said. “They seem to have the recognition that there is some work to do. They seem to know that there are some serious problems involving past practices toward African Americans, and there has been some specific commitment made to address some of those issues.”

Mack declined to say what changes management had promised. “But I will stay unsatisfied until there is a follow-through on their commitment,” he said.

At the same time, the National Hispanic Media Coalition said Wednesday that KCBS is out of compliance with an agreement signed with the group to include Latinos as finalists for vacant positions.

“The coalition is absolutely livid,” said Esther Renteria, head of the group. “This agreement was filed with the Federal Communications Commission. It’s obvious that Applegate has not even read the agreement. Since last year, 10 white males have been hired in management. At the same time, four African Americans, four Asians and six Latinos have left.”

Renteria said that Applegate has pledged to implement the agreement, and has recently hired or promoted four Latinos at the station.