Is the lack of voices and sensibilities of color real or a perception/public relations crisis or both?!

[Will Wright]

Alright. I thought that among all the bright, bold and assertive people here, some would respond to my open-ended question about voices of color that were lacking or gagged.

I feel morose that I was wrong. I don't know if it was timing or something pernicious. I'll have another go:

As I prepare to help launch a small, perhaps ambitious, pilot project in St. Paul, MN that will introduce public radio storytelling to high school students, I have learned some surprising and pleasant statistics about people of color. Apparently, CPB reports approx. that 20% of employees in public radio are of color. I like that number much more that what number I feared I would read.

I have to ask a follow-up question: why do so many people of color, and those who are not, lament the lack of explicit sensibilities and perspectives of color in public media shows? Why does that 20% not translate into rich, vivid and edifying programs about communities of color that everyone will value and enjoy?

How much of the perception of way-behind-the-curve ethnic diversity is about public relations and perception?

[P G Sroufe]

I guess you are unaware of Independent Lens, POV, as well as other projects through ITVS.

[Will Wright]

Hello,

I am aware of them. Though, they rarely air when I am awake. When I see the promos, I notice, "dang, why do they have to air at like 11:30p CT?" That's part of the lack or perceived lack that I mentioned. If those programs air after the family dinner hour, then important viewers lose out. I am eager to see sensibilities and voices of color be more prominent in "American Experience" and "American Masters."

Thank you for reminding me of what sits on the edge of my radar.

[Leslie FIelds-Cruz]

Hi Will,
I just saw this posting, noted the date and unfortunately wasn't surprised that you received only one response. As much as I appreciate Independent Lens and POV there is a fundamental problem within public media when there seems to be such resistance at the opportunities to engage newer and younger audiences with diverse programming. The National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) has been funding public television programming content for almost 30 years and yet some of the producers we fund, even our most seasoned producers, still have problems not just completing their projects within a reasonable amount of time, but receiving a national broadcast as well.

So if it's true that public media employees include at least 20% people of color then what is the problem? I think we may have to inquire exactly where do the 20% fall in the management spectrum of public media. That, I believe, may lead us to a much deeper discussion that it's not just that there are people of color in public media, but are they in key decision making positions to effect change? No doubt there are some, but no doubt that they are rare.

If public media doesn't address the issue of diversity with a more proactive approach on all levels then the image and perception of public media will be much like the Saturday Night Live skit that parodied the Lawrence Welk Show. Note...the skit aired October 4, 2008! . Now that's a problem.

[Ron Perrone]

Beats me. But I have a feeling that a good deal of it is because of the structure of the public broadcasting system. It varies insanely from state to state and varies over time. To wit, my wife and I biannually travel to North Carolina from our home in West Virginia. Some time back we picked up what we mistook for a local radio broadcast, the Tavis Smiley Show. We always looked forward to it on our trips to N.C. only to discover years later who he was when WV Public TV briefly put him on. What breath of fresh air, even if it was LATE and even if the joke was on us for being so backward in our assumptions (I can take a joke on me, so long as its a good one). Then he was gone. Another victim of the survival strategy of our Public Broadcasters swimming in a grimly undereducated and white demographic.

For now people of color do have a solid representation as long as it is 'historical'. That may be the WV Public TV folks' way of sneaking up on its audience, who knows. I feel safe to say that as a group of people, they are a racially, religiously, and ethically diverse bunch. But they do what they gotta do to stay on the air. At least we still get Independent Lens and Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

As for music, I have often whined about how 'safe' NPR' and WVPBS music is. It's an embarrassment really, but those classical folks are the one's with the money. And when they do cover modern material, they treat PoP like an untouchable god and default to raising the most insipid material to cult status. Black musicians get on if they are from Africa, and that's good but I know that there are plenty of players, black and whatever, who can't get a listen because its modern. If its edgy or complicated, its off the air. Thank goodness for computers and the internet or else it would be 24/7 Bluegrass, Gospel, Pop, Disco (YES!!-still), Old Timey and guess what... LAWRENCE WELK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

So, maybe the dearth of current black programming is yet another symptom of a larger problem. An aging, moneyed, white audience. And the rest of us are stuck in line.