Kilpatrick responds to FCC Minority Advertising Study

Washington - Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-MI) today called the findings of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) study on the impact of advertising practices on minority-owned and minority-formatted broadcast stations "bleak and shameful."

Congresswoman Kilpatrick today joined FCC Chairman William Kennard, FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani and other advertisers, broadcasters and advertising executives in a solution-oriented forum to discuss the study's findings.

"This report's findings are bleak and shameful," Congresswoman Kilpatrick said. "However, they come as no surprise."

Congresswoman Kilpatrick has taken a special interest in monitoring minority representation in the media and advertising industries. She hosted a highly successful forum on the topic at the 1998 Congressional Black Caucus Annual Conference and has convened a panel of high-profile industry experts to examine the issue and to seek a reasonable, realistic solution to the challenge of equal opportunity.

"I hope the study will help expose the unacceptable practices that are now occurring in the advertising industry. I am working with my advertising panel, the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the FCC to schedule a meeting in February with regulators, decision makers from advertising agencies and decision makers from companies that advertise to discuss the outcomes of the study. What we want to do is foster an environment where we will have constructive dialogue about where we go from here. We are seeking a collective win-win arrangement for minorities, businesses and all Americans."

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