Bakewell Announces TV Boycott Plans

Brotherhood Crusade President Danny Bakewell, long vocal in local and national race issues, has been out of the picture on the hot-button issue of the new television season: the lack of cultural diversity.

That is, until Thursday, when the outspoken businessman launched the most aggressive campaign thus far against broadcasters, promising to take his platform directly to the viewers and to the streets.

His action follows those of other black leaders, such as NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, who have openly attacked the “white landscape” on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

In a short but sharp address during a community forum on the first day of the NAACP California State Conference, Bakewell said he would target one of the networks next week for a boycott and “buycott,” telling viewers to tune out the programs and not buy products advertised there.

Bakewell compared the new protest to the grass-roots battle he led last year against UPN’s “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” a series about a fictional black English nobleman who was an assistant to President Abraham Lincoln.

The activist led several marches in front of Paramount Studios, which produced the show, and solicited the support of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others. Bakewell also took credit when the comedy was canceled after a few airings, although UPN insisted the series was benched not because of the protests but because of low ratings.

Bakewell’s campaign is being undertaken during the first week of November sweeps, one of the most important periods for networks. During this time, networks showcase their most popular programs to attract large audiences and eventually set advertising rates based on the numbers of viewers.

Bakewell’s protest potentially conflicts with another boycott planned by the national NAACP, which had already outlined a series of initiatives to force a change in corporate policies on minority involvement both in front of and behind the camera.

A viewer boycott, or “brown-out,” staged last month by a coalition of Latino organizations had virtually no impact on viewership.

“We are all for being in this for the long haul, but we are now looking for an immediate pound of flesh,” Bakewell declared during the sparsely attended forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. “As we enter this new millennium, we are absent on the airwaves. We are not part of the mind-set of television executives. We intend to make a very immediate impact, and we will take this across the country. We can make a difference.”

Bakewell said he was angered that executives at the networks had declined to meet with him to discuss the issue. Head network executives did meet in August with Mfume after he berated ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox during his keynote address at the 90th annual NAACP convention in New York in July.

“The dialogue has to be broad,” Bakewell said. “Mr. Mfume and I are unified, and we are very coordinated in this effort. But he does not speak for me, and I do not speak for him.”

Mfume could not be reached for comment.

Although he declined to say which network would be boycotted, Bakewell made several references to NBC, which he said has no minority cast members on several of its shows, including “Friends” and “Frasier,” which are both set in major cities.

NBC officials declined to comment.

Other panelists who criticized the networks included Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans; Sandra Evers-Manley of the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center; and Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.