THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250051
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
DATELINE: BURBANK, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
NBC News brought about 200 men and women together in Studio 11 here in the San Fernando Valley the other day to argue this point: Is affirmative action fairness or favoritism?
There was a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who said it was favoritism. Sgt. Doug Abney told of a promotion he deserved that went to a member of a minority race ``who was less qualified than me.''
There was Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. She said if it weren't for the government's affirmative action programs, she might never have had a chance for a good education (Hunter College) and the opportunities that came from achieving degrees in political science and law.
``Affirmative action has been good for me,'' she said.
``And good for you, too,'' she told other women who were invited by NBC to watch and take part in the taping of ``Affirmative Action: Fairness or Favoritism'' for ``Dateline.''
NBC News this week is devoting much of its programming to the affirmative action debate, which is sure to boil over into the politics of 1996, the year we elect a president and much of Congress. The ``Black, White and Angry'' theme carries through from Sunday's ``Meet the Press'' to the ``Nightly News With Tom Brokaw'' Monday to Wednesday night's ``Dateline'' - the town meeting-type special in which Abney and Ripston took part.
It was a curious affair, this taping of the ``Dateline'' special. NBC News assembled dozens of people with opposing views on affirmative action, including some who are quite upset with quotas and such.
But they kept their emotions in check until show time. They sat ever so quietly in the vast studio with the elaborate set's columns and nighttime cityscapes, waiting for the taping to begin, waiting for ``Dateline'' co-host Stone Phillips to appear, coatless at first.
It wasn't until some time later, after Phillips slipped on his jacket and the taping started, that the feelings for and against affirmative action bubbled to the surface.
The ``Dateline'' theme echoed throughout the large studio on NBC's spacious acreage in Burbank.
As the theme faded, Phillips faced the camera before him and began. ``Welcome to Los Angeles. Tonight, a town meeting on one of the most controversial and divisive issues facing the nation. Affirmative action.''
And then, right on cue, the emotional skirmishing over affirmative action began as Ripston debated with radio talk-show host Michael Reagan, and consultant Ward Connerly duked it out with Danny J. Bakewell Sr., chairman of the Pasadena Commercial Development Co.
If you watch ``Dateline'' on Wednesday night at 9, you will see that Ripston and Bakewell favor affirmative action, and Reagan and Connerly oppose it.
From Ripston: ``There is no question that women have been beneficiaries of affirmative action. But women still need more help to get past the glass ceiling and reach full employment in business and university settings.''
From Reagan: ``Affirmative action should not be a point of law that discriminates against some to bring others into the system.''
At times during the taping, NBC News producers asked members of the audience to step up to a microphone and speak their piece in support of or against the opinions of the four panelists. It was all so orderly, so controlled.
A good bit of editing will be needed to fit the show into two hours including commercials. The town hall meeting - Phillips called it a ``heated debate,'' but it wasn't all that fiery - brought no solution on how to eliminate one form of discrimination without creating another. MEMO: Television Columnist Larry Bonko is in Los Angeles for the
twice-yearly Television Critics press tour.
by CNB