Posts Tagged ‘Monica Talan’

A reader sent along word that back in March a number of heads rolled in senior management positions, most notably PROGRAMMING.  The timing of the move was more than “peculiar.”

Back in December of ’09, The Mo’Kelly Report published an editorial exposé on the possible racial hypocrisy at Latin programming giant Univision.

Click HERE

Mo’Kelly in the subsequent weeks dialogued with members of the communications department as to the many and varied issues surrounding the stated mandate of the company versus some questionable videos and programs featured on occasion in America.

Unbeknown to Mo’Kelly, it seems that in early March, Univision endured a tremendous shake-up of senior-level personnel…most eyebrow-raising in programming.

From Variety:

Spanish native Luis Fernandez, who was tapped to head the new production shingle Univision Studios in December, has had his role expand in the newly created position of entertainment prexy for Univision Network. Entertainment programming for sister channels TeleFutura and Galavision will continue to be overseen by Bert Medina and Sebastian Trujillo, respectively.

Each executive will report directly to Cesar Conde, upped to Univision Networks prexy in August 2009.

Meanwhile, Ronald Day, VP of programming and promotions for TeleFutura has been named VP of programming and promotions for the Univision Network, replacing Otto Padron who has ankled in order to “pursue other opportunities.” Day will report to Fernandez. The company expects to name a VP of programming and promotions for the TeleFutura Network in the near future.

Executive shuffle comes at a time when Univision has unveiled plans to ramp up its in-house production and seen overall net revs for 2009 dip 2.9% compared to the year prior.

Now, Mo’Kelly isn’t saying he IS the reason for the management restructuring, not at all.  Mo’Kelly doesn’t have delusions of grandeur THAT large.  But…but, Mo’Kelly IS saying…he surely didn’t help anyone keep their jobs.  If you do a search on Univision, it’s no coincidence the report is usually high in the search rankings.  You may also notice, Otto Padron (formerly Sr. VP of programming and promotions) was one of the executives who chose to “ignore” Mo’Kelly while conducting research for the special report.

It may all be just a slew of coincidences…but unlikely.

Mo’Kelly may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back or the anvil…either way, The Mo’Kelly Report didn’t help anyone in programming keep their jobs or place a positive spin on the perception of the network.

In truth, I was wondering why in the previous weeks that report saw an almost 300% increase in viewership for no discernible reason, or so it seemed.

Well there you have it.

Mr. Mo’Kelly

“The Most Interesting Blogger in the World”

RELATED: Special Report: The Racial Hypocrisy of Univision

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A Special Exposé by The Mo’Kelly Report

UPDATE 12.9.09 (3:40pm)  Univision responds to this report HERE.

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UPDATE 12.9.09 – The Smoking Gun: Here is the Video PROVING Univision lied about the racially deplorable video airing in America.  Notice in the clip, the Univision logo bug symbol can be found in the lower right.

Download clip HERE.

President Obama was met with both cheers and jeers when he announced earlier this year that comprehensive immigration reform would have to wait until 2010.

Click HERE.

Maybe 2010.  Maybe.

Remember, healthcare was supposed to get done in 2009, so don’t hold your collective breath.  That’s not a knock on President Obama, just an acknowledgment of the obvious.  The wheels on the bus (better known as Washington politics) go ‘round and ‘round.  Mere movement and discussion shouldn’t ever be equivocated with progress, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

For all the talk as to how this country should or should not effectively deal with both illegal and legal immigration to the United States, less has been discussed as to how we Americans are doing thus far on a human level.  Congress can legislate policy, but it can’t outlaw ignorance and insensitivity.

My concerns as an African-American man lie more with Black and Brown relations on a day-to-day level and less with one’s immigrant status.  The tension between African-Americans and Latinos has been well-documented and exists on varying levels from the gang-infested streets to the progressively

Cesar Chavez

integrated corporate suites.  Ostensibly African-Americans and immigrating Latinos are more similar than disparate, given the African diaspora and the historical issues of race in America.  And that’s saying nothing of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers Movement.  You’d think we’d be brothers-in-arms in 2009, yet reality suggests something else.

“We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I’ve come to believe we’re integrating into a burning house.”

-          Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One could make the argument that immigration in 2009 is “integration 2.0” where once again America in a legislative sense deals with the realities of the evolving hues of her citizens.  Dr. King feared that African-Americans were integrating themselves into a society that did not understand the plight of the disenfranchised and poor, disproportionately made up of people of color.

He was right.

I would submit the question today in relation to the immigration/integration conundrum confronting Black/Brown relations in 2009 is whether Black/Brown relationship-building must begin far in advance of those wishing to cross the U.S. border; not after we’ve been thrust together.

In recent weeks, a highly controversial and patently offensive video has made its viral presence felt on youtube, ironically enough, mocking the “integration” of African-Americans/Afro-Hispanics into Mexican society.

To which, a number of LATINO readers of The Mo’Kelly Report equally incensed by the content, responded by forwarding the clip in the hopes of me offering some editorial response.

Not African-American, only Latino.

Reasonable people should agree, the content is beyond reprehensible and nothing short of unforgivable.  It’s not satire and definitely not humorous.  Anytime you seek out the lowest common racial denominator of the patently offensive to elicit laughter, it’s the surest sign of not humor…but hatred.

But wait, there’s more.

Although the above program Cero en Conducta is produced by Televisa in Mexico it (the program) regularly aired on Galavisión; a subsidiary of Hispanic programming giant Univision, in the U.S. as well as Mexico.  Televisa still presently produces content for Univision and its subsidiaries.  It has been long connected to EMI Music and its success in making Latin artists such as the late Selena household American names well-documented.

Televisa has long been connected to the creation and shaping of broadcast media within the United States.  To that end,  three separate and unrelated sources contended that the television episodes in question also aired in the United States on Univision, emphatic in their proclamation.

To put Univision’s scope of influence in its proper perspective, here it is in their own words.

“(Univision is) One of America’s top five television networks regardless of language and the leading Spanish-language broadcast television network, covers 95% of all U.S. Hispanic television households.”

“Galavisión, (is) the leading Spanish-language cable television network, covers 81% of U.S. Hispanic cable households.”

In fact, that scope of influence just increased with the December 7 announcement of the creation of its own television production company.

Yes, I know…serendipitous.

Click HERE.

Univision’s statement of programming purpose on their website also reads as follows:

“For close to 50 years, Univision has been at the heart of Hispanic America. It’s where Hispanics turn to for the information they need most and the entertainment they prefer and is the reason why Univision continues to be the number one Spanish-language network in the country.”

I’ll come back to the clips in a moment but you see where this is going.

Ralph Lawler (left) and Mike Smith

Recently The Los Angeles Clippers play-by-play team of Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith were suspended for one game for racially questionable remarks surrounding the heritage of the first Iranian-born NBA player, Hamed Haddadi of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Click HERE.

Arya Towfighi, the vice president and assistant general counsel for Univision Communications Inc., the lone email complainant according to the Los Angeles Clippers and Fox Sports was quoted in the Los Angeles Times with the following reason for speaking out.

“…highlight the issue that a lot of folks who wouldn’t consider saying such things about African Americans or Hispanics but because this was an Iranian player, it just flowed more easily.”

Correct, the vice president and assistant general counsel for Univision Communications Inc. went on record as to who would or “wouldn’t” say “such things about African-Americans.”

The question became clear, was Towfighi speaking in earnest or error, given his position and knowledge of Univision?

I reached out directly to the following executives at Univision to ascertain the nature of the origin and truth behind the above Cero en Conducta youtube

Cesar Conde

clip, while also informing them of this impending story.

Cesar Conde – President of Univision

Otto Padrón – Sr. VP of Programming

Multiple requests to verify whether the clip aired on Univision in America were summarily ignored.  I’ve since taken this to be tantamount to “we can neither confirm nor deny.” The logical assumption is that any network asked to verify whether it aired a racially deplorable program would categorically (and quickly) deny the accusation given the world we live.

That is…assuming the accusation were untrue.

Undeterred, I also reached out to Univision Communications, as the division of the company has a history and record of being “more sensitive” to such issues (e.g. Lawler and Smith).  I contacted the following individuals:

Mónica Talán –  Univision – VP of Corporate Communications

Rosemary Mercedes – Univision Public Relations Manager

Javier Ramis – Director of Marketing and Promotions

My first round of requests was also ignored but when I followed up with a bit more irritation and impatience, Ms. Talán did eventually respond in two separate emails.

“Morris,

The material does not have the Univision logo bug and Univision has a policy against airing any material with derogatory stereotypes.  As a voice for the minority community, we take these issues very seriously.

Thank you,

Mónica Talán

(And then later)

“Morris,

Here is the information you requested: the show is called “Cero en Conducta” (“F” in Conduct) and it is produced in Mexico by Televisa. We reviewed our records and found that we rejected the episode in April 2006 in accordance with our policy.”

The subsequent questions are more than obvious.

1. If this controversial episode did NOT air in America; why seemingly was there the great consternation and hesitation by Univision to address my request on ANY level, since it is a “voice for the minority community?” (Remember that key point if/when Univision comes out with a “rebuttal” or “response.”  The “voice” was silent.)
2. Given the existence of the youtube clip, we know for certain this episode aired “somewhere.” If it only aired on Galavisión Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries in which Univision programming is aired, is that somehow “less” offensive or “less” in contradiction with the “policy” referenced by Ms. Talán?
3. (Given the veracity of the readers who swear this aired within the United States) What does it mean if Univision both flaunted (and covered up) the broadcast of horrendous stereotypes of African-Americans on American airwaves; yet also condemned a singular yet inappropriate remark on an NBA broadcast?

At this point, we know for certain that the program Cero en Conducta did previously air on Univision or one of its subsidiaries in America and Univision does not dispute this fact (despite its reticence).  What is still in contention is whether this particular episode aired in America, running directly counter-intuitive to its “policy” against airing material with “derogatory stereotypes.”  Not only that, does this “policy” extend to Univision properties outside of America?

According to Ms. Talán, the proof is in the absence of the Univision logo in the corner of the clip.  Meaning, the smoking gun would be none other than a clip containing the Univision “bug.”  As of this publishing, my sources allege that this smoking gun exists.

UPDATE 12.9.09 – The Smoking Gun: Here is the Video PROVING Univision lied about the racially deplorable video airing in America.  Notice in the clip, the Univision logo bug symbol can be found in the lower right.

Download clip (if pulled from youtube) HERE.

This clip aired in 2009!

Professor Mark Sawyer of UCLA, his letter to Univision of protest can be found HERE

(Mo’Kelly doesn’t like being lied to…)

That aside, if the Univision logo delineates any and all Univision programming, then why (for example) is this clip without the bug logo (note the artists are holding a Univision microphone, so clearly it aired on Univision.)  The logo argument is now specious at best.  This clip below was posted less than a week ago.  Maybe this is a “new” policy.

Maybe…

If African-Americans and Latinos are to reasonably co-exist and develop a mutual, healthy respect for one-another, we must be honest.  We must be honest in how we feel about one-another, the messages and media which shape these beliefs and our roles in promulgating them.  Somebody, as late as 2006 thought such drivel would appeal to the Hispanic masses.  Somebody wrote it, produced it and aired it not because they individually found it humorous but because they felt the Hispanic MASSES would find it humorous; pelted bananas and all.  Its existence is telling, it’s airing (anywhere) is equally troubling.

African-Americans and Latinos will always struggle to live and love side-by-side as long as programming similar to Cero en Conducta can be somehow found where…

“ Hispanics turn to for the information they need most and the entertainment they prefer.”

Immigration reform in Washington likely begins in 2010.  “Integration Reform” for the rest of America can’t wait as long and must begin long before Latinos arrive in America.  Otherwise, it’s integration into a burning house, 21^st century-style.

RELATED: Seeing America from Beyond La Ventana