NAACP Pulls Plan to Boycott Network Over Diversity Issue

In an unexpected reversal, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People has backed away from its repeated threats to stage a viewer and advertiser boycott this month against one of the four major broadcast networks to protest the lack of cultural diversity in their new prime-time series, sources said.

At a news conference in New York today, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume is expected instead to announce new strategies against ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, which could include a larger, more extensive boycott early next year and the staging of hearings in Los Angeles this month to address the “white landscape” of television. Television executives would be invited to attend the hearing.

Sources said that Mfume opted against calling for a network boycott at this time because he was still analyzing data received from the four networks about minority employment in front of and behind the camera.

Mfume declined to comment Tuesday.

The change in plan is seen by some insiders as an indication that the NAACP campaign and other protests addressing the diversity issue may be losing momentum. A boycott called in September by a coalition of Latino groups on the same issue had virtually no effect on viewership.

Mfume had first announced the civil rights group’s protest in July during his keynote address at the 90th annual NAACP convention, and had repeated it in August following meetings with executives at the four networks. He said he was determined to carry out the action if the networks did not demonstrate significant initiatives in the hiring of minorities.

But others saw the postponement as a potentially savvy move by Mfume. They said he might be building more support instead of pushing for more immediate reform.

“The issue is on the table, and there has been a real response to him,” said a network insider who requested anonymity. “It’s a certainty that no one will go into the upcoming development season without thinking about diversity.”

Mfume blasted the networks in the summer after The Times reported that there was not one minority performer in a leading role in any of the 26 new dramas and comedies premiering this season on the four major broadcast networks. Secondary minority characters were also sparse. He called the television industry “the most segregated” in America.

The networks responded to the criticism by stepping up the casting of minorities and making some deals with minority talent to develop shows.

The NAACP reversal comes at a time when a local grass-roots effort protesting the lack of diversity on television is being mobilized by Brotherhood Crusade President Danny Bakewell Sr.

Bakewell is expected to announce today that he is targeting NBC for a month-long protest. The activist said he was asking viewers across the country to “turn off NBC immediately,” calling the network the worst in its exclusion of minorities. He also said he was angered that NBC executives had declined to meet with him to discuss the issue.

An NBC spokeswoman disputed his account, saying, “We made several attempts to schedule a meeting with Mr. Bakewell, and we are still hoping to do so.”