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opinion:
our view
Television must
diversify
A recent study released just last week by the National Hispanic
Foundation for the Arts stated that Latinos, a group that is
the largest population in America, make up only 2 percent of
the characters represented on television today.
Obvious cries and pleas to have more Latino representation are
sure to come. But does that mean there should be a price?
Sure the television networks need to make more of an attempt
to have ethnic characters, but even more important is to have
meaningful, non-stereotypical characters on television shows.
People wonder why there are so many negative stereotypes of
cultures, religions and races. The answer is simple - it's because
of television.
Think back: how many positive, uplifting ethnic driven shows
can you name?
Now how many positive, non-stereotypical ethnic characters are
on television today?
Surely it didn't take long to answer either of these questions,
as there are and have been very few positive ethnic shows or
characters on television and that is sad.
Sad because Latino consumers spend the most money of anyone,
which has lead many companies to plan their commercial campaigns
in both English and Spanish.
The reason companies are fighting for the Latino dollar is not
only that they spend, but also they are intensely loyal. According
to studies, Latinos rarely, if ever, switch products. Just ask
Coca-Cola, Del Monte and Chevrolet, three of the most popular
companies for Latino consumers.
The point is that it would be in the networks' best interest
to try and develop Latino-driven programs or, at the very least,
good Latino characters. Maybe making a simple move such as this
would increase their overall viewership as well.
Did you know that the top radio stations in Los Angeles right
now are Latino music stations?
Meanwhile conglomerates are clamoring to buy into the Latino
television market, as it's viewership and success is growing
at an incredible rate.
Somebody needs to get on the ball and open his or her eyes.
The outside world is incredibly diverse, yet we don't see this
same diversity when we try to escape through television.
Instead we see a group of people who refuse to jump into the
new millennium.
A group who wants to keep feeding mindless television shows
into viewer's homes with a total disregard for who their audience
actually is. If this trend continues major networks will continue
to lose viewers to cable and Spanish language television.
Already there are cable shows like "The Brothers Garcia"
and "Resurrection Blvd.," who have mostly Latino casts,
performers and plots that Latino's can relate. Latinos are not
the only ethnic group being ignored by the major networks. Very
few Asians are represented on television shows these days and
not many African American shows are worth watching, despite
the number represented.
Networks need to
get it together and realize that they must create shows and
characters fast, before all the ethnic groups decide to unify
and boycott television completely.
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