Nielsen turns to Rev. Jackson to solve ratings ruckus: minority viewers feel they aren't getting their due with Local People Meters.

NIELSEN Media Research can track virtually every type of viewership--video games, billboards, Web sites--but has struggled with one particular demographic: minority homes.

Nielsen has been drawing fire since replacing the handwritten viewer diaries it had used to measure viewership for years with electronic Local People Meters. The company reported a sharp decrease in viewership for television shows that featured minorities. African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and other ethnic communities. That suggested the problem wasn't with the audience, but with Nielsen.

Feeling the heat, Nielsen turned to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, Bishop W. Todd Ervin and from 1,000 Churches Connected and several community leaders to address the questions at a forum.

"It is hard to speak for people if you don't speak to them," Jackson said. "Accountability matters."

Los Angeles is the second largest media market in the United States, with roughly $3 billion spent on advertising here.

The event was one in a series of community outreach meetings nationwide to address such concerns, and Nielsen has established minority advisory councils for the African-American, Latino and Asian-American populations. The company has committed to including a "representative sample" of all segments of the population in all of its ratings data.

Staff reporter Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 225.