National Latino Media Council

Villazon to sing again Star tenor Rolando Villazon says he will make his comeback at the Vienna State Opera in March after recovering from throat surgery. The singer announced in April that he needed surgery to remove a cyst on his larynx and has been resting his voice in order to make a proper recovery. Villazon said on his website Monday that he will perform the role of Nemorino in Gaetano Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" -- known in English as "The Elixir of Love" -- in the Austrian capital on March 22. It will mark his first public appearance after surgery and will be followed by more stints in a slew of other cities, including Berlin, Paris and Zurich.

' Naturalist John James Audubon's "Birds of America" sold at auction in London on Tuesday for $10 million, making it the world's most expensive book. FOR THE RECORD: "Birds of America": A Quick Takes item in the Dec. 8 Calendar section said that a rare edition of John James Audubon's "Birds of America" had been sold at auction for $10 million, making it the world's most expensive book. That figure excluded the buyer's premium, which was added later and brought the price to $11,567,575.

A broad coalition of groups representing African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans said they would join forces in demanding more ethnic diversity from the four major broadcast television networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. The Rev.

Villazon to sing again Star tenor Rolando Villazon says he will make his comeback at the Vienna State Opera in March after recovering from throat surgery. The singer announced in April that he needed surgery to remove a cyst on his larynx and has been resting his voice in order to make a proper recovery. Villazon said on his website Monday that he will perform the role of Nemorino in Gaetano Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" -- known in English as "The Elixir of Love" -- in the Austrian capital on March 22. It will mark his first public appearance after surgery and will be followed by more stints in a slew of other cities, including Berlin, Paris and Zurich.

' Naturalist John James Audubon's "Birds of America" sold at auction in London on Tuesday for $10 million, making it the world's most expensive book. FOR THE RECORD: "Birds of America": A Quick Takes item in the Dec. 8 Calendar section said that a rare edition of John James Audubon's "Birds of America" had been sold at auction for $10 million, making it the world's most expensive book. That figure excluded the buyer's premium, which was added later and brought the price to $11,567,575.

Closely mirroring last year's findings, a coalition of minority advocacy groups on Tuesday concluded that the four major television networks had made some progress in increasing ethnic diversity in front of and behind the camera but still fell short in demonstrating an overall commitment to cultural diversity in their prime-time lineups.

A report released Monday by an advocacy group monitoring diversity on TV applauded the increasing visibility of blacks and Latinos in front of and behind TV cameras, but lamented the continuing invisibility of Asians and Native Americans. Leaders of the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition, which tracks how well ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are honoring a 1999 agreement to increase diversity, said at a news conference that they would continue to pressure the networks to better reflect a multicultural society.

Latino television viewers are undercounted by the company that has a monopoly on measuring TV audiences, hurting the odds of success for Latino-oriented programs, a group claims. Nielsen Media Research's methodology is at fault, a study released this week by the National Latino Media Council contends. Among other problems, the council said, is that the company fails to include enough U.S.-born Latinos in its sample, skewing its ratings for Latino viewers of English-language shows.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, National Latino Media Council Chairman Esteban Torres, American Indians in Film & Television President Sonny Skyhawk and leaders of the Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium launched a campaign in early 2000 to pressure the four major networks to increase cultural diversity in their prime-time lineups.

Three minority advocacy groups reported this week that the four major broadcast TV networks have made some strides in increasing ethnic diversity in front of and behind the camera, but still have fallen short in demonstrating an overall commitment to multiculturalism.

A broad coalition of groups representing African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans said they would join forces in demanding more ethnic diversity from the four major broadcast television networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. The Rev.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Chief Executive Alex Yemenidjian expressed interest Wednesday in acquiring Paxson Communications Corp. if the movie company could buy Paxson for a low-enough price. "I think Paxson would fit very well with MGM with the right structure and the right price," Yemenidjian said at the UBS Warburg Media Week conference in New York. He spoke a day after Paxson, owner of 65 U.S. television stations, asked the Federal Communications Commission to block General Electric Co.'

Issuing its first report card on prime-time diversity on the four major networks, a minority coalition announced Tuesday that representation of African Americans in television has increased modestly as the networks continue to respond to an outcry last year over the near exclusion of minorities both in front of and behind the camera.