Press Release

NEW ORLEANS AREA RACIAL ATTITUDES SURVEY TO BE RELEASED

Local Media Unite to Launch ONE COMMUNITY INITIATIVE

New Orleans, LA (December 15, 2008)-The New Orleans media collaborative, The One Community Initiative, will release the findings of a benchmark survey about area race relations and attitudes toward race and diversity Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 10:30 am in Room 256 of the Lindy C. Boggs International Conference Center, 2045 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans, LA.

The survey, which was conducted in October 2008 by the University of New Orleans Survey Research Center, represents the opinions of 525 respondents to questions regarding attitudes toward race and diversity. The sample includes a specific sub-set of Hispanic and Asian respondents.

"What we learn from this survey is that there still exist race-based prejudices within the community," stated UNO Survey Research Director, Dr. Robert Sims, "However we also find that these attitudes are not pervasive."

The New Orleans Area Racial Attitudes Survey was commissioned by the newly formed One Community Initiative, a collaborative involving local print, broadcast, cable and electronic media, meant to foster dialogue about race, race relations and diversity in the New Orleans region.

"The One Community Initiative is an unprecedented cooperative project by the region’s media organizations," according to Randall Feldman, President and General Manager of the project coordinator, WYES-TV, " The issue of race in our community was brought to the fore by the national media during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is only natural that the local media should want to work toward ways of improving the situation. The first step is to find out where we are. This survey starts that process."

The One Community Initiative website, OneCommunityInitiative.org, will provide local stories and information about race relations and diversity issues, as well as the survey results. Media participants will also be able to identify news reports or public affairs campaigns under the One Community Initiative heading creating a consistent message regarding race and race relations.

Future activities of the One Community Initiative include a public forum to focus on issues of race relations, diversity and inclusion, and also a follow-up survey to continue to measure attitudes toward race in the New Orleans area.