Race and Anchors: Look at the Facts

Many of the evils attributed to affirmative action were evident in Greg Braxton’s story about minority news anchors in Los Angeles (“Brown and Jimenez a Rare Pair on Newscasts,” Calendar, Nov. 9). The article implies the existence of a widespread racially discriminatory policy based entirely on a very narrow set of inferential suppositions.

Braxton would have us believe that most if not all of the local TV stations have systematically engaged in a very specialized form of discrimination against minority males, keeping them out of the high-profile evening news anchor positions. His logic is not convincing.

Braxton starts by applauding the current status of Marc Brown and Bob Jimenez, two “minority men,” as evening news anchors, respectively, on KABC-TV Channel 7 at 6 p.m. and KCOP-TV Channel 13 at 10 p.m., thereby already exonerating two of the seven major L.A. stations. He then acknowledges that “female minorities have long been a staple as local anchors” in the choice evening slots. He further recognizes the long-standing presence of “minority men” as anchors on morning, early afternoon and weekend news programs, but dismisses those assignments as “ ‘the ghetto’ of newscasts.” He even takes note of other minority males who have previously served as anchors on evening news shows on Channels 5 and 11, presumably vindicating both of them as well.

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But obviously, none of this is enough to divert Braxton from his intimations of widespread racism. It is irresponsible, however, to asperse such reckless and defamatory insinuations based on his narrowly selective form of bean-counting that finds fewer “minority men” in the evening anchor positions than Braxton appears to believe should be an absolute numerical requirement.

Like affirmative action, Braxton seems to imply that the process of choosing news anchors should be governed by some sort of numerical proportionality, or quota, rather than finding the best person available for the assignment. If viewers came to believe that such a policy prevailed, it would unfairly undermine the prestige of every minority male evening news anchor: Did he obtain his job on the basis of merit or simply because of his minority status?

In an area like Southern California whose abundance of local newscasts are liberally staffed with representatives of just about every race and both genders, it is especially hard to believe that discriminatory policies are at work.

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The competition for news ratings among local TV stations is so intense that it is virtually inconceivable that management is not selecting the very best anchors they can find, regardless of their gender, color or ethnicity. The millions of dollars now routinely paid to obtain the most sought-after news anchor talent bespeaks the feverish pursuit at any price to get the most effective people for those jobs. In the face of the available evidence, it is hard to believe that race or gender by themselves would disqualify anyone.

The sketchily reported insistence by the stations that there is no discrimination against minority males for choice news anchor spots is supported by the obvious business logic of their position. It is unfortunate that they find it necessary to defend themselves against such an ill-conceived assemblage of innuendo.