A league of one among broadcast editorialists. (Diversity of Opinion).

You can count us on one hand. No, make that one finger!

If you think broadcast editorialists are rare, broadcast editorialists of "color" are practically non-existent. To the best of my knowledge, I am in a league by myself.

Oh, there may be a few more, somewhere in this great land of ours, but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting them yet.

All I know is that when I think about my solitary status, it is a strong reminder for me to reach back and help other journalists of color. It's also a good reason to share with them a little secret. I have one of the best jobs in American journalism, and I would be happy to have some company.

On newspaper editorial boards, I have a number of counterparts. It's no longer impossible to meet an African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, or Native American print editorial writer. And occasionally, one of them will even be an editorial page editor. Overall, the numbers are much too few, but they seem to be improving, slowly but surely.

Another area where you can find opinionated voices of color is among television and radio commentators. Tavis Smiley, Juan Williams, Michel McQueen, Armstrong Williams, and others aren't speaking for the broadcast institutions they work for, but they are filling the airwaves with important personal opinions that need to be heard. Their insights are as relevant as George Will's, Bob Schieffer's, and Geraldo Rivera's.

But back to the broadcast editorialist. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see more journalists of color delivering opinions on behalf of their stations? I feel confident that in most markets, they would be accepted by the audience with the same degree of respect and openness as their white colleagues. At least, that has been my personal experience for more than a decade in Detroit. And I think the same could be said of the late Rich Adams before me. Adams was a popular African-American editorialist who delivered powerful opinions for the CBS-TV affiliate in Washington, D.C., during the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s.

However, early in my opinion-writing career, I vividly remember one of the most challenging obstacles I faced. There was a perception among some whites and blacks that my station would--or should--base our opinion on a racial issue by my ethnicity rather than my reporting and sense of fair play. After a little while on the job, that was no longer an issue. Over the years, we have praised and criticized select individuals belonging to practically every ethnic group in our viewing area.

What I think my ethnicity has done is bring another perspective to the editorial board debate process. The more diverse voices you have, the better the chances are the board won't become a victim of its own narrow-mindedness. I also have invited guests before the board that my colleagues may not have thought about or have not had the opportunity to meet. In short, I think the benefits that come from being a broadcast editorialist who happens to be of color, far outweigh any negatives.

But that said, how do we plan for the future? How can we increase the ranks of broadcast editorialists from the ethnic melting pot that has tightly woven this nation together? First, we need some kind of new campaign to encourage more television and radio stations to begin editorializing. A good place to begin may be the broadcast chains that have successfully hired and promoted people of color to lead their stations. Once the overall number of stations editorializing are up, I hope the diversity of editorial directors will follow.

We must also encourage more students and journalists to pursue broadcast opinion writing as a career. NCEW has had tremendous success with its 1 annual Minority Writers Seminar located at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center in Nashville. It's the best program I know of that gives aspiring opinion writers an exciting taste of what our world is really like. But the vast majority of participants have had print experience, not broadcast. And heaven knows, we've tried to find them over the years. But somehow, we must reach into the high schools, the colleges, the minority journalists associations, and yes, even the newspapers, to recruit future broadcast editorialists of color. I know it's an uphill battle, but the alternative isn't much of a choice.

More and more people are getting their daily dose of opinion from television and radio. Broadcast editorialists can have a lot of fun adding to that lively debate. I speak from personal experience, and I hope that one day I'll have a lot more company--white, black, brown, yellow, and red--joining me!

NCEW past president Chuck Stokes is editorial/public affairs director at WXYZ-TV in Detroit. His e-mail address is [e-mail]