As part of a far-reaching agreement that adopts goals and timetables to increase opportunities for people of color at the television network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has announced plans to increase the number of minority lawyers in its in-house legal department and to continue to retain diverse outside lawyers. The agreement sets up a number of systems designed to bring a more diverse group of talent into the company.
After months of negotiations, NAACP President and CEO, Kweisi Mfume and NBC President Bob Wright released details of the unprecedented deal in January. The agreement includes many initiatives, including several that would make a steady progression toward the full inclusion of people of color in employment, casting and image portrayal, content creation and development, program production, distribution, promotion, financing and professional services.
“The NAACP has worked extremely hard with our coalition partners over the last six months to create opportunities for qualified men and women of color. Their ability now to significantly impact the executive, production and talent ranks of network television is greatly enhanced,” says Mfume about the impact of the agreement. “Bob Wright, Scott Sassa and the people of NBC are to be commended for their efforts to make their network an industry model. Out of an air of confrontation has now come real progress.”
“NBC is committed to making sure that equal opportunities exist for everyone including African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans—both in front of and behind the camera, says Wright. “We have always felt that it is in our best interest – from a human and a business perspective – to place a high priority on diversity. We realize, however, there are areas where we need to do better. Working with the NAACP and a coalition of other minority organizations, we have come up with a series of aggressive initiatives to widen the pipeline of diverse talent and raise awareness in our community on these issues.”
Effective immediately, NBC agrees to use its best efforts to increase deals with other minority-owned production companies and will conduct senior level reviews designed to ensure that such deals are fully commensurate with current marketplace compensation levels. Moreover, NBC will recruit a minority-sourcing executive who will be assigned the responsibility to increase the amount of products and services bought from minority vendors.
To get things off to a fast start, Mfume, Wright and Scott Sassa, NBC West Coast President, will host an intensive, all-day seminar in February for current and prospective producers, series producers, studio heads and agency heads to emphasize NBC’s commitment to diversity in all areas and to exchange ideas for achieving that diversity in writing, casting and directing.
Highlights of the NBC Initiatives
- Plans to increase the number of minority lawyers in its in-house legal department and to continue to retain diverse outside lawyers.
- Establishment of a policy to seek out and hire qualified people of color as directors for the 2000-01 season.
- Encourage producers to recruit and consider minority writers to fill Writers Guild Association legislated freelance writing assignments.
- NBC will fund an additional writing position on the staff of every second-year show to help achieve diversity – regardless of whether a series is produced by NBC Studios or one of the company’s outside program suppliers.
- Inform all executive producers of shows that NBC seeks to have diverse writing staffs on all shows, and beginning with the 2000-01 television season, NBC will fund an additional writing position on the staff of every second-year show to help achieve diversity.
- NBC will expand an Associate Program to include 25 year-long training assignments within the News, Entertainment, Sports and Stations divisions.
- The network advertising and promotion department will identify opportunities to increase purchases in minority-owned media, consistent with the audience and promotion goals of NBC.
- NBC will expand the pool of minority job applicants by:
- Providing six NBC Minority Fellowship scholarships for graduate studies;
- Supporting 18 positions for students enrolled in the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media;
- Enhancing NBC’s relationships with local universities to bring diverse candidates into NBC internship programs; and
- Ensuring that a substantial number of the NBC pages each year are minorities.
- Setting a goal of increasing the amount of products and/or services purchased from minority-owned businesses by 100% within the next 18 months.
- Issuing instructions to network creative executives, production studios and executive producers that NBC does not and will not participate in the practice of racially identifying writing samples for network television series.
From the March 2000 issue of Diversity & The Bar®