Burns To Add Hispanic Contributions to The War

Civil rights group, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), has commended PBS President Paula Kerger and documentary icon Ken Burns for agreeing to modify The War, Burns' highly anticipated series on World War II slated for a September 2007 debut.

The letter followed complaints that the series omitted contributions by Hispanics to the war effort.

In a letter to NCLR President Janet Murguia, according to La Raza, Burns, who received critical raves and a honors for his Civil War documentary, and Kerger have agreed to "include Hispanic American contributions to the war effort." That will include adding footage to the existing documentary, and hiring a Latino producer to help incorporate the footage.

Murguia called it "an important step forward not only for the Latino community but also for everyone interested in a true representation of what all of our country's brave men and women did during World War II."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.