EthnicMajority

Are you ready for the digital TV conversion? According to Nielsen Media Research, three million American households will lose their ability to watch television when the conversion takes place on June 12th. According to Hispanic Business, about 2.5% of the population is not ready for the conversion, including 5.1% of African Americans and 4.3% of Hispanic Americans.

Why is the government forcing us to use digital TV? According to DTV.gov, the FCC-sponsored website set up to provide information about the conversion, we are running out of bandwidth on the public airwaves that could be used for more technologically advanced communications services.

The advancements that have been made in consumer electronics, wireless phones, and personal computers in recent years have been nothing short of amazing. I would never want to stand in the way of technological innovation, but why does the price of this progress have to be paid by the ones least likely to be able to afford it?

Ethnicmajority media/entertainment page.

We now have the same number of African Americans playing the PGA and LPGA golf tours as we have Presidents of the U.S. – one. And his name is Tiger Woods.

Tiger’s success was supposed to bring a whole generation of African American golfers who could turn pro, but that has just not happened. There were more black pros on tour decades ago after the color barrier was broken by Charles Sifford.

So what happened? I think the answer is more about access than it is about racism. Golf is an expensive sport, not just to play, but also for equipment, instruction, and quality practice facilities. And while there are programs like First Tee that help expose golf to low-income kids, this is not enough to give someone with talent the years of financial backing that it takes to see if they are good enough to turn pro.

In a recent episode of ESPN’s Outside the Lines program where this issue was discussed, there were two schools of thought. Former pro basketball player Julius Erving (who now owns a golf course) took a position similar to mine – that the main problem is access. Others on the program blamed the problem on discrimination by the clubs and others who want to keep the status quo, and complained that the tours and Tiger Woods don’t do enough to promote diversity in the sport.

While I do think there is some truth to these points, this smacks more of victimization rather than the harsh reality that golf is an expensive sport. You can say the same thing about other sports, such as auto racing, skiing, sailing, and ice hockey. Not a lot of diversity in those sports either.

Here’s the ESPN Outside the Lines program:

Leave it to Jon Stewart at Comedy Central to do what the rest of the news media is too afraid to admit: that they, especially CNBC have been complicit in bringing on the collapse of Wall Street, the housing market, the banking sector, and AIG. Stewart’s scathing, tragic yet sarcastically humorous commentary ripping CNBC for cheer-leading rather than investigating Wall Street has been right on point and should lead to follow up on this issue.

Why are we not holding the regulators of these industries accountable for gross negligence? The first reaction has been to blame the CEO’s of the companies, then Congress for deregulating the industries, then maybe the heads of the regulatory bodies like the SEC, FDIC, etc. Although there is plenty of blame to go around at this level, the heads of the regulatory agencies are temporary political appointees. What about the career bureaucrats at the SEC who were repeatedly warned about Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme and should have been able to stop him years ago?

Congress doesn’t want to investigate this because they will just make themselves look bad. And the media doesn’t want to dig deeper because it is too much work and doesn’t carry the entertainment bang for the buck that stalking a CEO’s helipad does.

The mass media stopped functioning as the fourth estate a long time ago. Now it’s up to the bloggers – and Comedy Central.

Here’s the video of Jon Stewart’s interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer:
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The Phoenix Suns NBA team fired Terry Porter after giving him half a season to turn the franchise around. Half a season? Time to impeach Barack Obama. He hasn’t solved the crises in the banking or housing sectors, or ended the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan in the month he has been on the job. Clearly he has to go.

True the Suns have been a disappointment this year due to expectations that they could contend for the NBA Championship. But they are still 29-23 and contending for a playoff spot. The Chicago Bulls have a rookie coach with no previous head coaching experience, a losing record, with some questioning why he is still on the job.

The problem I have is that half a season is not enough time for any coach to implement their own system, and as I cited in a previous post, there appears to be a double standard when it comes to black coaches. Getting hired is much harder, and getting fired is much easier.

Sports Illustrated has a nice article about the expanding role of Latinos in sports. While there is prominent mention of superstars like baseball’s Alex Rodriguez, golf’s Lorena Ochoa, and soccer’s Ronaldinho, it is more important to look at the overall influence of Latinos on the sports industry – both on and off the field.

Latinos are responsible for half the population growth in the U.S., and watch sports in greater percentages than non-Latinos (36% to 30%). 94% of Latino males consider themselves sports fans. Put these facts together and it doesn’t take a PhD in math to figure out who the industry (TV, media, leagues, teams, sponsors, etc.) should be catering to.

A YOUNG man with an unusual perspective on the ups and downs of life is singing the praises of being prepared financially.

The verb in that sentence may help you guess his identity. He is Sanjaya Malakar, who may be the most talked-about contestant to appear on the popular reality series “American Idol.”

Mr. Malakar, who turned 19 on Wednesday, is featured in a commercial for Nationwide Financial that is part of the next installment of a campaign carrying the theme “Life comes at you fast.”

There is also a special Web site (sanjaya-ize.com) where visitors can customize photographs of themselves with different looks sported by Mr. Malakar on television; the results can be shared with friends and family.

The rise of Mr. Malakar last year from unknown Seattle-area teenager to national sensation as a finalist on the sixth season of “American Idol” was meteoric. The debate over his talent, or lack thereof, and his oddball hairstyles, like the “ponyhawk” — ponytails crossed with a faux mohawk — attracted so much attention that he has become part of American popular culture.

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SACRAMENTO – After over 50 organizations joined forces to oppose a discriminatory policy by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), the Tour announced today they would back off plans to suspend players who could not efficiently speak English.

“While it is quite unfortunate that in the 21^st century any organization would think such a policy is acceptable, I am pleased that the LPGA heard the millions of American voices who opposed this unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory mandate,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo).  “While these types of incidents unfortunately still seep into our society, it is refreshing to see the overwhelming number of people who will fight for equality, fairness, and justice.”

Despite there being no relevance to the sport, the LPGA claimed that it was important for players to be able to interact with American media and event sponsors.  No other professional sports league in the United States has such a mandate.  One major sponsor, State Farm, had already announced they would no longer support the LPGA if they do not rescind the policy.

“The LPGA has received valuable feedback from a variety of constituents regarding the recently announced penalties attached to our effective communications policy,” said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens.  “We have decided to rescind those penalty provisions.  After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player. In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse Tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008.”

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SACRAMENTO � Representing millions of Americans, several leading civil rights organizations have joined Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) in opposing a recently announced policy by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) to require its athletes to speak English starting in 2009.�

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Among the groups condemning the LPGA is the California National Organization for Women (NOW), the largest state organization of feminists in the United States, as well as two of the oldest and most respected Asian American civil rights organizations � Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA).�

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Washington, D.C. � The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) urges the LPGA sponsors to withdraw support of the Tour until the English proficiency policy is retracted. The LPGA will require all players to be proficient in English starting in 2009 and those who cannot pass an oral evaluation of English skills face suspension from the Tour. There are currently 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour.

“This policy is tantamount to national origin discrimination, which is prohibited under Civil Rights Act,” said Vincent A. Eng, deputy director of AAJC. �The policy is an affront to our American principles of diversity and equality. It is even more unconscionable that the LPGA is devolving to past divisive and exclusionary practices of their sport following the successful closing of the unifying Olympic Games.”

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Beverly Hills, Calif.� During its recent Television Critics Association Press Tour presentation, The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC Family announced that it will return scripted police drama Lincoln Heights for a third season.

The announcement was noteworthy because the series, which features a predominately African-American cast, was the only series among the numerous new and returning scripted shows presented during the three-week TCA Tour in which minorities represent the majority of leading roles.

While numerous reality series highlighted during the tour � such as Bravo�s Housewives of Atlanta, TV Land�s Family Foreman and MTV�s The Cho Show � feature predominately minority casts, none of the scripted shows expected to debut during the 2008-09 television season feature such casts.

This year�s crop of shows featuring minorities in the majority of lead roles was made leaner with the cancellations earlier this year of UPN�s African-American led comedy series Girlfriends and CBS�s Hispanic actor-driven series Cane.

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