Latinos Fear Loss of Voice if TV Stations’ Sale Is OKd

Latino groups appealed Friday to the Federal Communications Commission to block the sale of five Spanish-language television stations, including KMEX in Los Angeles, to a syndicate headed by Hallmark Cards Corp.

The Los Angeles coalition of Latino groups said the Kansas City, Mo., greeting card company, which formed a partnership with First Capital Corp. of Chicago to tentatively acquire the stations a week ago, has no experience in serving the Latino community.

The president of the Mexican American Bar Assn. of Los Angeles County, Armando Duron, said the proposed sale runs counter to the longstanding federal government policy of encouraging minority ownership of broadcasting stations.

Duron was joined at a news conference at the Greater Los Angeles Press Club by leaders of other Latino organizations, who expressed fear that the nation’s burgeoning Latino population will lose valuable representation in a media that often ignores its needs.

“The sale of the Hispanic television stations will literally tear the tongue out of our Spanish-speaking communities across this country,” said Larry Amaya, regional chairman of the American GI Forum.

In addition to KMEX in Los Angeles, WLTV in Miami, WXTV in Paterson, N.J., KWEX in San Antonio and KFTV in Fresno, Calif., were tentatively sold for $301.5 million by Spanish International Communication Corp.

The sale is subject to approval by the FCC, which had threatened to lift the licenses of the stations because the family of Mexican television magnate Emilio Azcarraga had established an “abnormal relationship”--foreign influence--with Spanish International.

Coalition members endorsed a bill introduced by Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park) that would block the sale of the television stations to non-Latino owners.

Would Reduce Ownership

Martinez said the sale would deprive Latinos of owning stations that broadcast programs to more than half of the nation’s Spanish-speaking people in their native tongue, a contention supported by the Latino coalition.

Under the tentative agreement, Hallmark must continue the stations’ Spanish-language format for two years--and the company has indicated that it is committed to serving the Latino community beyond that period.

But Duron said the issue is Hallmark’s competence, more than its commitment.

“We (the Latino community) have a long history of corporations that have given us promises which have netted us nothing,” he said.

Firm Not Responsive

Gil Sanchez of the Mexican American Grocers Assn. said that until recently Hallmark did not produce Spanish-language greeting cards, and he charged that the corporation has repeatedly failed to address requests for Latino salesmen.

Alan Clayton, an attorney for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said legitimate bids were made by Latino groups for the chain of television stations. One of the bids, he said, was higher than the sale price.

But since the sales committee, which was set up by a federal administrative law judge to review the offers, could not reach a unanimous decision, U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer broke the logjam by picking Hallmark.