NBC Wisely Adjusts Its Focus

Finally, a major television network has conceded that it needs to do a better job of reflecting the reality of ethnic diversity in America. In an agreement signed with the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, NBC has agreed to substantially increase the number of minorities in front of, and behind, its cameras.

This is a solid step in the right direction, but it is still just one network in a big universe that includes three other major broadcast networks and hundreds of cable outlets.

All broadcasters should of course include and employ African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, native Americans and other minorities. All the faces we see in our shops, streets and schools should be seen on television.

It also would be better if the NBC/NAACP agreement specifically embraced all of these communities. The agreement, although it specifically names “minorities,” not just African Americans, could reinforce a perception held by too many decision-makers on the East Coast, where the major networks are headquartered, that the issue is one of black and white. The demographic reality of modern America, as anyone on the West Coast can readily attest, is far more complex than that.

As cable and other technologies open new niches for audiences in the telecommunications market, TV networks will continue to face diminishing audiences, which makes it all the more important, then, that they understand the need to keep their whole audience happy.

NBC deserves credit for taking the first step, though it still has to specify how it will carry out the agreement. Then ABC--which is finishing a similar deal--CBS and Fox can step forward as well, to tell all of America how they plan to be more inclusive.