With PBS backing Ken Burns on his refusal to re-edit his document...

role. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus told PBS in a letter it only will accept incorporating Hispanics’ “integral role… within the body” of the film. Once PBS responds, the caucus will decide what to do next, a Hill source said. PBS has engaged in a “lot of semantics” about recasting the Burns film to cover the Hispanic role, such as having it “incorporated,” seamlessly “woven” and “recut,” said Marta Garcia of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. This has created confusion over what PBS plans to do, she added, noting that protestors are leaning on GM and Anheuser-Busch not only to fix The War but make sure such omissions don’t recur. Meetings are planned with the CPB, she added. The War airs in Sept.; her group is inclined to give PBS until early June to explain how it would include the Hispanic experience in the film, Garcia said. “I think they [PBS] are working in good faith, but good faith is not going to be enough until we see very solid and concrete answers as to exactly how this is going to be done.” The Defend the Honor Campaign will give Hispanic documentary producer Hector Galan, hired by Burns to fill the gaps, a “chance” to learn the extent to which he can “affect” the film, campaign leader Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez said, adding that she expects to hear form him within days. PBS will be able to comment only after Burns and Galan have had a “chance to shoot the new stories, edit them and discuss fully how they will be used,” said Vp Lea Sloan. As for diversity efforts in public broadcasting, Garcia said the problem is that they focus on blacks and whites: “We would like to see people of all colors in diversity [sic] groups as opposed to 2 single groups.” National public broadcast entities decried interfering with content before a program airs. “Any attempt by the government or interest groups to influence content, especially before a program has aired, raises serious constitutional, statutory and policy concerns,” said a joint statement by the CEOs of CPB, APTS, PBS and NPR. The Public Bcstg. Act stresses the need to prevent interference with content, requiring that the CPB guard public broadcast entities from “interference with, or control of, program content or other activities,” they said. In passing that 1967 law, Congress sought to protect public broadcasting’s editorial integrity, they said: “We urge Congress not to forsake this ideal.” The signatories are CPB CEO Patricia Harrison, PBS CEO Paula Kerger, NPR CEO Ken Stern and APTS CEO John Lawson.