TriCaucus Calls on National Networks to
Increase Diversity in Daily and Weekly News Programs

Washington, DC – Today, members of the TriCaucus, comprised of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), called on national news networks to increase diversity on their daily and weekly news programs. Members of the TriCaucus cited two recent Media Matters for America studies, “Locked Out: The lack of Gender and Ethnic Diversity on Cable News Continues” and “SUNDAY SHUTOUT-The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows,” which show lack of gender and ethnic diversity on the Sunday morning talk shows and on America’s cable news networks’ daily news shows.

“As an African American woman and sixth term member of Congress, I have supported—and will continue to support—increased opportunities for all minorities and women in mass media. We must demand that networks and other media organizations implement policies and practices that promote diversity and inclusion,” said Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Chair of the CBC. “Diversity is America’s strength. We need to ensure that networks provide minorities and women with employment opportunities that increase their numbers not only in front of the camera, but also in decision-making positions behind the camera. We must work in collaboration with colleges and universities to offer training, mentoring, internship, and scholarship programs that encourage minorities and women to pursue careers in the media.”

“Millions of people depend on national cable news for information on our nation and our world,” said Congressman Joe Baca, Chair of the CHC. “These studies show a troubling trend about the lack of gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in our news. Now that the Hispanic community has grown to become the largest minority, this trend becomes even more alarming. News executives have a responsibility to assure that diversity has a home in their newsrooms and in their programming, and I will work with my colleagues in the TriCaucus to help news networks rise to this challenge.”

"I commend Media Matters for America for producing its recent reports on diversity on broadcast and cable news programs," said Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15), Chair of CAPAC. "The findings were astounding and showed lack of gender, racial, and ethnic diversity across the board. The results for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities were dismal. On NBC's Meet the Press, CBS's Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox News Sunday, zero percent of guests on these programs in 2005 and 2006 were AAPI. Broadcasts programs should reflect and showcase the incredible talent that exists within all our diverse communities. I plan to work with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus to hold broadcast networks accountable to improve diversity on these influential shows."

 It is apparent that only during a debate on gender and race do we see meaningful improvements in diversity.

KEY FINDINGS- from daily cable news shows:

• On shows airing on cable news networks CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, and Fox News between 4 p.m. and midnight, there are 35 hosts and co-hosts—29 are men and 6 are women, and all 35 are white.  
• In the three weeks covered by the study, less than 2 percent of the guests on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC were Latino, despite the fact that one out of every seven Americans is Latino. Almost half of that small number of Latino guest appearances were by Geraldo Rivera.
• Excluding African-Americans, in the three weeks covered by the study, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and members of other ethnic groups never made up more than 5 percent of the guests on any of the three cable news networks--CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.
• On none of the networks, in none of the weeks studied, did women comprise at least half of the guests appearing. In some cases, they represented as little as one-fifth of all guests.

KEY FINDINGS from Sunday morning news shows:

• NBC’s Meet the Press, ABC’s This Week, CBS’ Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Fox News Sunday – feature guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male.
• Overall, men outnumber women on Meet the Press, This Week, Face the Nation, and Fox News Sunday by a four-to-one ratio on average.
• Overall there were nearly seven white guests for every guest of any other race/ethnicity on average. On Meet the Press and Face the Nation, there were nearly nine white guests for every guest of another race/ethnicity on average.
• The top-rated Sunday show – Meet the Press – shows the least diversity of all. The NBC program is the most male and nearly the most white (it gets beaten out by Face the Nation by 1 percent.)