Push for Diversity Task Force

PUSH FOR DIVERSITY TASK FORCE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Twenty-one groups -- including the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the Urban League and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists -- are actively urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin to form an independent minority task force to deal with what they called a "media-diversity crisis," saying the FCC has a "credibility deficit" on the issue. "We appreciate that you are open to the idea of creating a task force to thoroughly study the policy goal of promoting minority ownership of broadcast stations," the groups wrote in a letter to Chairman Martin, “but we are alarmed by recent reports indicating that you will not wait until the work of such a task force is completed before issuing new rules that may permit further media consolidation. This is not acceptable.” The letter continues, "An uninformed rush to eliminate ownership limits may set back the expansion of minority ownership by a generation and leave us little recourse. The legacy of race and gender discrimination in the broadcast industry is a disgraceful reality in America today. It is not a problem that will be solved quickly or easily."
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