NBC, NAACP in Pact to Boost Minorities in TV

With conciliatory handshakes, executives at NBC and the NAACP defused an increasingly contentious debate over the issue of racial and ethnic diversity in the television industry, announcing Wednesday a wide-ranging agreement that could substantially increase the number of minorities in both the creative and business ranks at the network.

The unprecedented measures put forth by NBC, including the prospect of hiring at least one minority writer on every second-year NBC show, could have a dramatic effect on the cultural landscape of television.

Only hours after the NBC news conference, ABC said it expects to formalize its own “statement of understanding” on diversity today with the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. However, the ABC proposal creates fewer actual jobs than NBC has promised.

Similar agreements with CBS and Fox are also “very close,” said NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, meaning that the likelihood of threatened viewer boycotts is greatly diminished. Those networks would say only that discussions with the NAACP are continuing.

“Out of an air of confrontation has now come real progress,” Mfume said as he outlined the deal alongside NBC President Bob Wright and NBC West Coast President Scott Sassa.

The initiatives include detailed minority hiring programs, increased purchasing from minority businesses, more minority casting, a daylong seminar on fostering multiculturalism, and a series of plans designed to ensure that diversity is fostered at all levels of the network.

At the same time, Mfume continued to hold out the possibility of a boycott if the expected agreements with the other networks are not forthcoming.

Although the NBC pact was generally met with optimism, Latino entertainment advocates were furious that the deal did not address their specific concerns about the lack of Latinos in front of the camera. They will meet with NBC separately.

However, Paris Barclay, a creator and co-executive producer of CBS’ new drama “City of Angels,” about an inner-city hospital, expressed a sentiment echoed by a cross-section of industry executives, actors, producers and writers.

“It’s going to change the look and landscape of television very quickly,” the Emmy-winning Barclay said. “It’s a bold and courageous step. It will accelerate the process of diversity by years. Maybe it will help broadcast television recapture the audience it’s lost.”

Wright said that NBC believes the initiatives will ultimately be good business. “These aren’t niche programming services,” he added, referring to the broadcast networks. He said that without a thorough commitment to diversity, it is unlikely that NBC would appeal to an increasingly diverse audience.

Meanwhile, the head of the Latino groups, Esteban Torres, a spokesman for the National Latino Council and a former Democratic congressman from Montebello, said he felt betrayed by the deal.

“I spoke with Bob Wright in his office in New York [on Wednesday], telling him about our rejection of this issue, and that this could cause some rumblings and that he should tell Mfume that we’re not happy with how it went,” said Torres, who saw no irony in using Wright as a messenger to the NAACP.

“He said he would talk to Mfume about it,” Torres added. “I’m appalled that we were never called in to negotiate with Mfume. We never sat down with him as co-partners with NBC. It was Mfume’s show. That exclusion speaks a lot.”

Felix Sanchez, president of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, said the NAACP-NBC agreement is alarmingly devoid of priorities set by Latino leaders.

“The visualization and image of the Latinos and Latino stories is absent in network television,” Sanchez said. “You cannot underestimate the enormous impact that the visual image has on the national consciousness of America. And when we’re virtually absent from those images, we’re left to segregated images for the nation to perceive and internalize.”

Torres said that he, along with representatives of Asian American and Native American artists groups, expect to meet with Wright next week.

John White, spokesman for the NAACP, disputed accusations that Mfume focused only on black concerns when he negotiated behind closed doors with Wright.

“Throughout our talks with NBC, we tried to express the concerns of all the minority groups in the coalition,” he said. “It’s the people behind the scenes who make the decision about who goes in front of the camera. We think these are more lasting agreements in that sense.”

Perhaps the most significant of NBC’s initiatives is the creation of writer’s slots for the 2000-2001 television season, with the network strongly encouraging producers to fill those positions with minority writers. The posts will be for three years, and will be paid for by NBC.

“Working on a successful show is the best way for a writer to become a show runner,” said Sassa. Show runners both create and oversee prime-time series.

Included in the NBC initiative is the establishment of a policy to seek out and hire “qualified people of color as directors” next season; encourage producers to recruit and consider minority writers to fill Writers Guild-mandated freelance assignments; expand its associate program to include 25 one-year training assignments in the news, entertainment, sports and stations divisions; expand the pool of minority job applicants by providing graduate scholarships, recruiting interns at city universities; and hiring more minorities as NBC “pages.” NBC also will “use its best efforts” to increase deals with minority-owned production companies. The network plans a daylong Hollywood seminar next month to discuss diversity.

“You can’t force a show to be a hit. You can’t force people into a cast or writing ensemble. All we can do is ensure that talented people with diverse backgrounds and cultures are in the process,” Wright said.

ABC’s expected agreement with the NAACP calls for a similar expansion of an existing associates program to include the network’s entertainment division. ABC also said that hiring in all divisions will be contingent upon documented proof that minorities have been interviewed; a formal mentoring program will be initiated for minority hires; internship opportunities will be expanded; a new writer-development program will be created for daytime shows; and grants will be given to support new writing and directing talent.

The reforms were the latest chapter in the ongoing and occasionally bizarre drama revolving around a list of demands the NAACP issued in November to the four major networks calling for an increase in minority representation in front of and behind the camera. The civil rights organization’s campaign was launched last July after The Times reported that not one of the 26 new shows on the fall network schedules had a minority lead.

Emotions reached the boiling point on Nov. 29 during a public hearing conducted in Century City by the NAACP on the issue of TV diversity. NBC, ABC and Fox representatives walked out of the meeting after CBS President Leslie Moonves, the only top network executive in attendance, was given priority, speaking early in the proceedings.

Mfume ultimately called Wright to complain about the slow-moving talks with Sassa, sources said. Wright immediately pledged his support and ordered Sassa to take charge of the situation, they said.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox parent News Corp., also called Mfume on Tuesday night, breaking an impasse with Fox executives, Mfume said. The networks’ need for “damage control” after the walkout incident became “a stimulant to get us off the dime,” Mfume said.

While most of the Latino advocacy groups were incensed by NBC’s announcement Wednesday, Latino producer, director and actor Edward James Olmos said he was pleased.

TV “is such an exclusive club that it tends to become a problem,” said Olmos, who has a production deal at ABC. “We could be so inclusive with our art forms by allowing all the cultures to move forward.”

Former CBS executive Anita Addison, who is now a producer-director, said that it was one thing to have a minority on staff, and another to have a free exchange of ideas.

“I would hope that these minority writers are operating in an environment where they are welcome, not just paid,” she said.

Tim Spengler of Western International Media, a media-buying firm, downplayed any impact. “We’re looking for the best shows that reach the desired demographics that our clients are trying to reach,” he said. “I don’t see it affecting us unless the shows drastically change, which I don’t think they will.”

Actress Anne-Marie Johnson, who heads the Screen Actors Guild’s Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, said: “I will be holding my breath to see if anything really happens. The sad part is that it took so much pain and arguing to get to this point.”