In search of media diversity

IN SEARCH OF DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: Hispanic Link, AUTHOR: Joseph Torres, Free Press]
Even though people of color make up a third of the U.S. population, the media are still struggling to integrate diverse voices in news coverage and staffing. Media companies are quick to pledge their support for newsroom diversity, but their actions still fail to match their rhetoric. The same can be said for the Federal Communications Commission's commitment to fostering greater racial, ethnic and gender diversity on our airwaves. It has failed to take any action on this growing crisis. And it is a crisis. FCC issued a new rulemaking procedure last year and is once again considering relaxing the broadcast ownership rules. It still has not addressed how to bring parity to ownership. A history of racism and segregation in the United States prevented the integration of the airwaves, not only in ownership, but in the presence of people of color working on radio and TV and in programming addressing the needs of communities of color. Sadly, 180 years after the founding of Freedom's Journal, people of color are still struggling for a chance to "plead their own cause." It's time we got the chance to speak for ourselves.
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/23812