OAKLAND, Calif., April 21, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- A new study of race and gender diversity on television has found a significant increase in the visibility of Latinos on this season's primetime TV.
But the study also found that representations of Asian/Pacific Islander characters declined, while characters of certain races were typecast or absent. In addition, male characters outnumbered females nearly two to one, and women were more likely to play roles such as domestic workers, secretaries and homemakers.
The study, entitled "Fall Colors 2003-04: Prime Time Diversity Report," is the fourth such report by Children Now, a child research and action organization. This year's report also provides a benchmark, five-year examination of the major TV networks' stated efforts to increase diversity in their shows.
While researchers praised the progress made by networks in showing more Latino characters, it was tempered by the prevalence of low-paid jobs those characters were likely to have compared to other racial groups. Whites, for example, were three times as likely to hold professional occupations such as doctors or lawyers than Latinos, who in turn were four times as likely to portray domestic workers than characters of other races.
"The message that primetime TV sends to kids about the world in which they live is that some groups are privileged while others are underrepresented or even invisible," said Patti Miller, director of Children Now's Children & the Media program.
Among the findings:
-- The presence of Latino characters rose from four percent of the
total prime time population in the 2001-02 season to more than
six percent in 2003-04. Among "opening credits" cast, the
percentage increased threefold, from two percent to six percent.
More than half of all primetime shows now include at least one
Latino character.
-- The percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander characters did not
increase over the past five years, and the percentage of Asian
"opening credits" cast actually declined, from two percent in
1999-2000 to one percent this season. Both Asians and Latinos are
twice as visible in real life than on primetime TV.
-- Nearly two-thirds of all characters were male (65%) while one-
third were female (35%), a proportion unchanged in five years.
Female characters were also younger than their male
counterparts: female characters were more likely to be aged
19-29 than any other age group, while males were more likely
to be 30-39. Researchers said older women were difficult to
find on primetime TV.
-- Nearly half of Arab/Middle Eastern characters (46%) were
criminals, compared to 15 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander and
Latino characters, 10 percent of African American characters and
five percent of white characters. In fact, Latinos were more
likely to be criminals than to have a professional job such as a
doctor or a judge.
-- There were no Native American characters in any episode in the
study's sample.
As in previous years, the study found that the 8 o'clock hour, when children are most likely to be watching, was the least diverse hour of programming on primetime. Similarly, situation comedies, the most popular genre among kids, were the least likely to have racially mixed casts.
The study examined two episodes of each entertainment series airing between 8pm and 11pm on the six national broadcast networks. The sample did not include mid-season replacements. Most networks had very similar on-screen racial representation; only UPN featured significantly more racial minority characters.