Press Release

NAHJ Disappointed that NTIA has No Plans to Conduct Minority Broadcast Ownership Study

Washington, D.C. - The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is disappointed and concerned that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has no plans to conduct a study on the current state of minority broadcast ownership in the United States.

NAHJ sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez April 3 calling on the department to conduct a minority ownership study. The NTIA, which is an agency within the U.S. Commerce Department, has conducted several studies monitoring trends affecting minority owners. The last report was released at the end of the Clinton Administration.

Responding on behalf of Sec. Gutierrez, NTIA’s John M.R. Kneuer informed NAHJ President Veronica Villafañe that his agency had no present plans to conduct a minority ownership study, but that the Administration shared the association’s concern that “American media reflect the diversity of the nation’s people.”

The last report the NTIA published was in December 2000. It found that people of color only made up 3.8 percent of all broadcast station owners and that media consolidation posed a serious threat to the future of minority ownership.

“While we are grateful that the NTIA responded to our letter, we are extremely disappointed that the agency has failed to keep track and document the issues and trends affecting minority ownership,” said NAHJ Executive Director Iván Román. “We are concerned that lawmakers and federal regulators have failed to address how to increase minority ownership. Yet, these same lawmakers and regulators are considering measures that will lead to further media consolidation. The future of minority broadcast ownership is in jeopardy and nothing is being done to address this.”

NAHJ believes it is critical for the FCC and the public to understand the impact of regulatory action on minority owners. The association is concerned that any action to further deregulate the nation’s broadcast ownership regulations will reduce the number of minority owners and diverse news coverage, thus stifling diversity.