Asian Pacific American Media Coalition’s Annual Television Report Card – 2012

LOS ANGELES – In the 12 years the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC) has issued report cards grading the top four television networks on their efforts to include Asian Pacific Americans in their programming and business dealings, no company has received an F—until now. Fox failed to provide the data the APAMC has consistently requested and which the other networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—have delivered for over a decade. As a result, for the 2011-2012 season, the Coalition had no choice but to give the network a grade of F/Incomplete–the worst grade ever given to any network in the history of the report cards. APAMC Co-Chair Marilyn Tokuda remarked, “This is especially disappointing because Fox had some very positive stories to tell about its diversity initiatives under its new Audience Strategies department.” Added co-chair Guy Aoki, “We require each network to provide the same information every year on a timely basis so we can evaluate them fairly and evenly compared to other networks and to their own past performance. Since Fox did not give us the necessary data, we cannot give them any credit.”

Ironically, the only network to meet the coalition’s challenge from last year to cast at least one Asian Pacific American actor as the main star of a TV show by Fall 2014 was Fox. “The Mindy Project,” created by and starring Indian American actress Mindy Kaling, began airing in September. It emerged from a diverse writers initiative at NBC and is produced by Universal Television, the television studio/production unit affiliated with NBC. The Coalition looks forward to seeing if “The Mindy Project” will flesh out the lead character’s background and provide viewers the opportunity to see her family and learn more about her heritage. “The APAMC began meeting with the major television networks in late 1999 and early 2000 to press for greater diversity for severely underrepresented Asian Pacific Americans (APAs),” said co-chairs Guy Aoki and Marilyn Tokuda in a Coalition statement. “Since then, there have been incremental increases in the number of APA actors, writers, producers, directors and network executives at all four of the networks. But in the 2011-2012 season, the numbers have somewhat stagnated,” they said.

Asian Pacific American Media Coalition’s Annual Television Report Card – 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 8, 2011, 11 a.m. PST Asian Pacific American Media Coalition Challenges TV Networks to Create Asian American Stars in Next Three Years LOS ANGELES- Concerned with the slow progress of TV networks in the area of diversity casting, the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC) has released its 2011 report cards

Pilots Featuring Asian Pacific Americans In Contention for the Fall 2004

The casting of Jason Mamoa and South Asian Navi Rawat on the already picked-up Fox drama, “The North Shore” already guarantees that there two Asian Pacific American series regulars on TV this coming season. If you’re concern about negative portrayal in “North Shore” Navi character is very strong and if you know Jason’s work or if you seen any of his photos, you know that Fox did not cast him to be a geeky side kick.

But most of the pilots are not picked up and some of them have Asian Pacific Americans in prominent roles. MANAA is encouraging the Asian and Pacific Islander American to be as vocal as possible either by writing, emailing or calling in your support of these shows. Please let these networks know that you’re:

1) You’re Asian American or Pacific Islander
2) You are a viable consumer/demographic.
3) You will support positive Asian American and Pacific Islander portrayals.