Congressional Hispanic Caucus Members Call on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to Update Diversity in the Media Report

WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) led by Chairman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) is calling on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to update their "Diversity in Media" reporter. In a letter to Commissioners Dhillon, Lipnic, and Burrows, CHC members urged the EEOC to update their report for the first time in 16 years.

The letter was signed by CHC Chairman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Diversity Taskforce Co-Chair Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Diversity Taskforce Co-Chair Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), First Vice Chair Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Congressman José Serrano (NY-15), Congressman Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39), Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (NY-12), and Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-51).

"While discrimination and lack of equal opportunity for underrepresented groups is present in many fields, the media industry is unique in its ability to influence the broader culture and shape the perception of entire groups," the Members concluded. "The CHC views greater transparency around employment data through publicly available information as critical to increasing representation for Latinos and other underrepresented communities."

Full text of the letter follows and can be found here.

Dear Chair Dhillon, Commissioner Lipnic, and Commissioner Burrows:

Since its creation, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has utilized employer collected data to aid in its enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with other anti-discrimination laws operating as the federal government's anti-discrimination watchdog. To that end, in 2004 the EEOC produced a report titled "Diversity in the Media: A Chart Book for Selected Industries." As Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), we believe the EEOC is in the unique position to determine whether the media industry has improved in its efforts to increase employee diversity across its industries and if not, help illuminate the reasons for it. Given the EEOC's role and responsibility, we write to respectfully request an update to the 16-year-old report.

The 2004 report published data on the diversity of the Newspaper, Periodical, Book, Database Publishers, Radio, Television, Cable Networks, and Program Distribution industry by grouping them into three major categories: Broadcasting, Publishing, and Cable. However, over the past 16 years the media industry has drastically changed through the emergence of digital content and streaming providers. Therefore, we request that a new, updated report on diversity in the media reflect these changes by including:

1. Disaggregated data on race, ethnicity and gender by individual industry rather than the grouping format used in 2004.
2. New industries such as digital content and streaming providers.
3. Updated data for all positions in each industry from entry level up to and including executive level positions.
4. When possible, data on salaries and wages disaggregated by race, ethnicity and gender for each of the employee categories, including executive level positions for each industry.

While discrimination and lack of equal opportunity for underrepresented groups is present in many fields, the media industry is unique in its ability to influence the broader culture and shape the perception of entire groups. When Latinos do not have the opportunity to shape the media's depiction of our communities, it ultimately emboldens a misunderstanding of our communities that weakens the social fabric of American society. The CHC views greater transparency around employment data through publicly available information as critical to increasing representation for Latinos and other underrepresented communities.

Understanding the challenges to the workplace presented by COVID-19, we respectfully request that the EEOC initiate the process of updating this report no later than 60 days from the receipt of this letter. We also request progress reports every 30 days until the completion of the final report. We thank you for your attention to this important issue and look forward to your response on this matter.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.