NIELSEN SYSTEM CRITICIZED COALITION SAYS NEW WAY OF MONITORING DISREGARDS MINORITY VIEWING HABITS.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer A national campaign to block a new system of electronically measuring television viewing habits came Monday to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , where a group of local officials called on the Nielsen Media Research Co. to delay its plan. The Don't Count Us Out Coalition - composed of leaders from various minority groups along with Rep. Hilda Solis Hilda L. Solis (born October 20 1957), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing the 32nd District of California (map). , D-El Monte, and Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. members Bernard Parks and Jan Perry - complained about the methodology to be used in the Nielsen local ``people meter'' system. They fear that ineffective measurement of minority viewing habits could result in fewer programs for African-American and Latino audiences. ``It doesn't really tell you who is watching a program,'' Solis said. ``There is no way of distinguishing who the audience is - it could be a child, it could be a grandmother, no one knows.'' Solis said she hopes to hold hearings on the issue this summer in Washington, D.C. Parks and Perry said the issue was as important as matters such as the U.S. Census and the undercount un·der·count tr.v. un·der·count·ed, un·der·count·ing, un·der·counts To record fewer than the actual number of (persons in a census, for example). of minorities. ``This is an economic issue,'' Perry said. ``It is as important as whether everyone in the country is counted.'' Parks said he believed the issue was important because of how television reflects the community. Nielsen officials said the system being launched this summer in Los Angeles would replace the system in which viewers fill out journals listing what programs they watch. The journal also allows for the identification of viewers by age, race and other characteristics. ``Nielsen has offered to meet with these officials to explain this, but they have been rebuffed,'' said Hal Dash, a spokesman for the company. Also, he said the firm has contracted with the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. to analyze its methodology and a study that was critical of the new system. Similar protests have been launched in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and Chicago. Alex Nogales Nogales (nōgä`lās), city (1990 pop. 19,489), Santa Cruz co., S Ariz. on the Mexican border with its adjacent city, Nogales (1990 pop. 105,873), Sonora, NW Mexico. There are copper, silver, and lead mines. of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which organized the protest, said the issue is about more than which television shows are broadcast. ``This is a civil-rights issue,'' Nogales said. ``It is about jobs and it is about the perception people have of minority communities.'' Rick Orlov, (213) 978-0390 rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com |
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