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Where Are You, APA Actors?`

By Lynn Elber | AsianWeek.com
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The major broadcast networks have made strides in bringing minorities into the TV picture, but Asian Pacific Americans are still underrepresented, according to Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition, an umbrella group that has worked for four years to force greater diversity on television.

Karen Narasaki of the APA Media Coalition said, "The new fall shows are stunning in the near total absence of [APAs] in any role of significance."

But while APAs still lag at all the networks, Hispanics have gained in their on-screen representation and in behind-the-scenes employment at ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox

"All of the networks have finally come to the realization it's good business to incorporate people of color into their corporation," Esteban Torres, chairman of the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition, said this week.

The Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition released its fourth annual diversity "report card" on the status of Hispanics and APAs. The representation of blacks in the television industry will be addressed by the Baltimore-based NAACP next week in Washington, D.C.

Every network has progressed since the grades were handed out the first year, when most received D's.

Unlike grades issued for the past three years, which combined the marks for different ethnic groups, this year's report card addressed individual findings for Hispanics and APAs.

The overall grades represent marks in seven areas, including the number of prime-time actors, writers and producers; procurement policies and network commitment to diversity initiatives.

But APAs are slighted to the extreme in some shows, including CBS' new drama Joan of Arcadia, Narasaki said. The actual town of Arcadia, Calif., is heavily APA, but there are no such characters in the TV show, she said.

CBS declined to comment on the report, but the showÕs producers and CBS have said in the past that the town is intended to be fictional.

NBC and Fox were the leaders with grades of B-minus on the APA group's report card. ABC received a C-minus while CBS was the only network to receive a barely passing grade, a D-plus.

Fox, despite its high overall marks, came under fire for its new show The OC, which, although set in ethnically diverse Orange County, originally had no APA in the cast. One was later added to the show, Narasaki said.

But in terms of Latino advancement, Fox was the star pupil with a B-plus, according to the National Latino Media Council. The network was the overall leader in diversity in its programming, employment and in doing business with outside minority vendors, Torres said.

NBC and CBS both earned a C-plus, while ABC was given a B by the Hispanic group.

"We're proud of the strides we continue to make year in and year out and we appreciate the acknowledgment," said Mitsy Wilson, senior vice president of diversity for the Fox Entertainment Group.

In a released statement, NBC said it has made 'measureable progress' in boosting minority representation in its prime-time schedule, adding: "We intend to build upon this as we move forward."

ABC president Alex Wallau, also in a written statement, said that achieving diversity "continues to be a high priority" and that the network is "working every day to find new and creative ways to further this important effort."

Torres lauded CBS for a newly aggressive approach to improving diversity. However, Hispanics are still underrepresented on network television in proportion to their numbers in the U.S. population, noted Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. Hispanics make up 13.6 percent of Americans and, Torres noted, represent $650 billion a year in purchasing power.

The absence of American Indians from nearly every aspect of television was addressed in general terms by Apesanahkwat, an actor and representative of American Indians in Film & Television.

The group declined to issue specific network grades, saying it would be "counterproductive" to initiatives that are before the networks.

American Indians are largely invisible because networks have been unable to move beyond the perception of them as "period people" and into casting for mainstream, contemporary roles, Apesanahkwat said.

"We are integrated as Americans. We no longer use horses, except on weekends," he said, calling attention to his own appearance in a business suit.

Past threats to invoke sponsor boycotts were not raised this year.

"How can you beat up on [the networks] when, in fact, you're beginning to see change?" Nogales asked.