| FCC PETITION:
The Federal Communications Commission has asked the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to revisit its Jan. 16 ruling that found the agency's equal employment opportunity rules unconstitutional. The FCC had issued the new EEO regulations last year after a federal court found its old regulations unconstitutional. The new rules called for broadcasters to achieve broad outreach in their recruiting efforts by widely disseminating information about job openings. The court found that the newregulations "put official pressure upon broadcasters to recruit minority candidates, thus creating a race-based classification that is narrowly tailored to support a compelling governmental interest and is therefore unconstitutional."
NETWORKS LACKING:
Latino correspondents were the reporters in only 1.3% of all news stories that aired last year on the evening news programs of the nation's three largest networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, according to a study released Feb. 28 by the Center for Media and Public Affairs. The report found that out of 12,752 news stories which aired last year, only 172 were reported by Latino correspondents. NBC's Jim Avila accounted for practically all them, with 144. He ranked sixth overall among the most featured correspondents. After Avila, the number of stories filed by Latino correspondents dramatically dropped off. CBS's Vince Gonzales filed 24, followed by ABC's John Quiñones, with three, and ABC's Antonio Mora, with one. Overall, 89 % of news stories were reported by whites and 76% by white males. "Despite the networks' recent commitment to diversity in prime-time entertainment, this attitude has apparently not reached the news bureaus," said Robert Lichter, the director of the center.
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