TV Shows Contain Few Minority Characters, Study Finds

• UCLA Finds Zero Asian-American Characters

Many television series are set in some of the nation's most diverse cities, yet few have regular characters who are Latino or Asian-American, according to a UCLA study released Tuesday. The third annual study by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center was based on the fall 2004 primetime season on the six major English-language commercial networks. It focused on regular characters on TV series, or those characters with major recurring roles. "This fall, viewers can see eight series set in Los Angeles in which Latinos account for just 14 percent of total regular characters and appear on just one series," the study authors said in a statement. "There are no Asian-American regular characters." "Los Angeles County is 45 percent Latino and 12 percent Asian-American," the statement continues. "Thus, if television presents a microcosm of our society, it is a distorted one at odds with our nation's changing demographics." Chon Noriega, director of the Chicano Studies Research Center and a professor with UCLA's film school, co-authored the study with Alison Hoffman, a doctoral student with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. "Shows set in Los Angeles -- the very heart of the entertainment industry -- are among the most segregated series with respect to white, Latino and African American regular characters," Noriega said. The authors found that while Latino characters are spread across more primetime genres in fall 2004, their overall numbers have waned when compared to previous years. They account for 4 percent of primetime's regular characters, though Latinos make up more than 13 percent of the country's population, the study shows. [more] and [more]