Last month the NAACP Hollywood Bureau announced its latest findings in a new report titled "Out of Focus, Out of Sync—Take 4" that shows the entertainment industry, particularly television, continues to fall seriously short in achieving diversity.
NAACP officials warned that without quick action to reverse the bleak statistics cited in the 40-page report, the industry could face political action.
"At a time when the country is excited about the election of the first African-American president in U.S. history, it is unthinkable that minorities would be so grossly under-represented on broadcast television," said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.
"Perpetrating the situation is the fact that the few African Americans in higher positions in that industry lack power to green light new series' or make final creative decisions, which has translated into a critical lack of primetime programming by, for, or about people of color," said NAACP Hollywood Bureau Executive Director Vicangelo Bulluck.
The "Take 4" report cites statistics that show an ongoing trend where African Americans and other minorities continue to be under-represented in nearly every aspect of television and film businesses, while largely being denied access to significant positions of power in Hollywood.
Specifically, the report reveals that employment and promotion opportunities for minorities are directly tied to highly subjective practices, a closed roster system and potentially discriminatory guild membership practices.
The serious shortage of minority faces on primetime television can also be traced to the virtual disappearance of black programming since the merger of UPN and WB networks into The CW network, according to the report.
To help remedy the situation, the report recommends the establishment of a task force comprised of network executives, educators and NAACP advocacy partners to update the Memorandum of Understanding between the networks and the NAACP and its coalition partners. The goal would be to create best practice standards throughout the industry.
"The NAACP has a long history of working in partnership with the networks, studios, guilds, agencies and others to create substantive opportunities for people of color in front of and behind the camera," Bulluck added.
For more information and to download a copy of the report, visit www.NAACP.org.
The NAACP's Hollywood Bureau opened in 2002 and focuses its efforts on holding the networks and studios accountable for advancing diversity on screen and behind the scenes.
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