Latinos on TV: Mixed Findings, Progress

Portrayals of Latinos in prime-time television have increased and improved, but they are still largely stereotypical and far from proportional to the growing Latino population in the United States, according to a study being released today.

The report by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, an independent media research group in Washington, concluded that the Latino presence during the 1994-95 television season doubled from 1992-93 levels, when Latinos accounted for only 1% of all characters depicted in prime-time series. In addition, those characters were more likely to play major roles in 1994-95 than in 1992-93.

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The study added, however, that the majority of those characters appeared in only two series on Fox--the sketch comedy “House of Buggin’,” which was canceled, and the police drama “New York Undercover.” And that 2% figure is still below 1955 levels, when Latinos accounted for 3% of all characters. Latinos make up an estimated 10% of the country’s population.

Of the Latinos who were seen in prime time during the 1994-95 season, few were portrayed as “prosperous, well-educated, authoritative characters,” the report said. On the other hand, the researchers found a dramatic decline in the portrayal of Latinos as criminals--from 16% of all Latino characters in 1992 to 6% in 1994-95.

Even so, that figure was still higher than the 4% of white characters shown as criminals and the 2% of African American characters portrayed as villains.

Executives for the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group that commissioned the study, said there was too little good news and too much bad news in the report. Group officials will hold a press conference in Washington today to discuss the results.

“We’ve conducted three of these reports, and the only conclusion we can draw is that, in the television industry, Hispanics are not treated with the kind of consciousness they deserve, and that there is not the awareness of Hispanics as a market or as a talent pool,” said Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza.

He added that previous reports had gotten only minimal response from network executives, and “we will be much more insistent this time on a formal response and a plan of action. The issue of negative or non-portrayals is one that resonates within the entire Latino community.”

Executives at CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC said Monday they wanted to examine the report before issuing a response.

The study included a report card of what the center determined as the best and worst shows in terms of the portrayals of Latinos.

The series cited favorably were ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” Fox’s “New York Undercover,” NBC’s “John Larroquette Show,” UPN’s “Star Trek: Voyager” and NBC’s canceled “seaQuest DSV.”

The study said the addition of Jimmy Smits to “NYPD Blue” last season, which also features Nicholas Turturro as a Latino detective, “makes this series a standout with two continuing Latino characters. . . . They display a complex blend of emotions, ambition, biases and shortcomings that make their characters more believable and vivid.”

Liz Torres’ character on “The John Larroquette Show” was praised as “one of the few characters in television to exhibit a strong religious faith and rely on it in difficult situations.”

The series cited as the worst included CBS’ “Walker, Texas Ranger” and the syndicated “Pointman,” “Renegade,” “Thunder in Paradise” and “Baywatch.”

The study said that “Walker” and “Baywatch” were particularly noteworthy “for the lack of continuing Latino characters” given their setting in, respectively, Texas and Southern California.

Michael Berk, executive producer of “Baywatch,” responded Monday that the series had featured several Latino guest stars and would have a young Latino lifeguard aspirant next fall as a regular character.

Aaron Norris, executive producer of “Walker,” said he receives letters from viewers all the time about the show’s positive portrayals of Latinos. “It’s really hard for me to defend this,” he said. “I don’t know if the people who criticize us watch the show.”