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ABC Owned Television Stations Launch Groundbreaking ‘Equity Report’ That Tracks and Measures Equities in 100 of the Largest Us Cities

‘Equity Report’ Reveals Significant Inequities in Police Diversity, Housing, Education and School Discipline, Environment and Health

ABC Owned Television Stations Set to Air Investigative News Stories Uncovering Health Insurance Inequities in the Hispanic and Latino Communities in Its Newscasts on Tuesday, Sept. 28, as Part of the Equity Report Findings

Today, ABC Owned Television Stations announce the public launch of its groundbreaking and proprietary “Our America Equity Report.” The Equity Report is an unprecedented data journalism tool to track and measure racial equity across 100 of the largest U.S. cities. Using the data, the stations go beyond the statistics to tell the stories of marginalized communities; and through solutions journalism, the stations additionally provide local and national resources to encourage a pathway to build more equitable communities. On Tuesday, Sept. 28, the eight-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh Durham and Fresno will air their latest investigative news stories powered by the Equity Report which uncovered gross inequities surrounding access to health insurance, particularly in Hispanic and Latino communities. This investigation follows recent similar analyses on police department diversity, home ownership inequities and education disparities, all powered by the Equity Report.

“The Equity Report represents an incredible amount of hard work and commitment from our data journalism team,” said Anna Robertson, vice president of Content & Partner Innovation. The Equity Report tracks equity, reports how cities are making progress, and offers ways for viewers to learn more, including a “Get Involved” page with community resources and a printable version of the report to start meaningful conversations.

“Our hope is that the Equity Report will become a vital tool toward progress around racial equity in our cities. By giving our communities access to dig into the data themselves, we can empower people to understand each other better and seek solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face,” added Robertson.

ABC’s data journalism team, led by Director of Data Journalism John Kelly, analyzed more than 10 million data points across five quality-of-life categories: policing, housing, education, health and environment. The results from the Equity Report are then used by ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations’ investigative and race and culture journalists, who examine social issues, explore historical meaning, and provide greater context to the inequities impacting underrepresented and marginalized communities.

“The most rewarding result of this project is how it’s powering local journalism of consequence,” said Kelly. “While the Equity Report helps document and track the disparate quality of life peopleof color are experiencing, the full impact is seen when our reporters take those hard facts into neighborhoods to tell people’s stories or our investigators interview local leaders to hold them accountable.”

The Equity Report has already powered more than two dozen stories reported across ABC Owned Television Stations, as well as national investigations on ABC News, including an analysis of race and policing in America by ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and featured on “Good Morning America.”

“By combining the power of local news and the efforts of the national team to bring together people and situations that fuel powerful stories like police diversity – the results are extraordinary and have a bigger impact with providing greater context and amplifying underrepresented voices,” said Mark Nichols, senior manager of data journalism for ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations.

On Tuesday, Sept. 28, viewers in each of the eight ABC-owned markets can watch the hyperlocal investigative news stories focusing on health insurance inequities revealed in the Equity Report. Each newsroom reported that there is inequity in the number of people who do not have health insurance in most major metros across the country. Hispanic and Latino people in most cities lack insurance at a rate at least twice that of white people.

A comprehensive list of stories from the Equity Report can be found on OurAmericaABC.com, where users can peruse past stories of inequities that ABC Owned Television Stations uncovered.

Previous “Equity Report” stories include the following:

• Police Diversity – The Equity Report’s exclusive nationwide data analysis revealed that police officers in 99 of 100 U.S. cities are less diverse than the people they serve. In six metro areas coast to coast, 90% of officers are white.*
  • New York coverage, Los Angeles coverage, Chicago coverage, Philadelphia coverage, Houston coverage, San Francisco coverage, Raleigh-Durham coverage and Fresno coverage
• Housing –The Equity Report analysis shows white families are more likely to have the advantage of owning their home in all 100 of the 100 metro areas studied, and the gaps are significant – more than 30 percentage points in more than half of metro areas.
  • New York coverage, Los Angeles coverage, Chicago coverage, Philadelphia coverage, Houston coverage, San Francisco coverage, Raleigh-Durham coverage and Fresno coverage
• Education & School Discipline – The Equity Report examined thousands of schools and found stark disparities between the discipline (and resulting lost classroom time) for Black students and Latino students.
  • Los Angeles coverage, Chicago coverage, Philadelphia coverage, Houston coverage, San Francisco coverage and Raleigh-Durham coverage

To understand how to use the Equity Report, viewers can watch an “Our America Equity Report” tutorial video. To “Get Involved,” individuals can search for resources on the Equity Report website under the ABC-owned markets of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh–Durham and Fresno.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

*The police diversity analysis draws data for every community from a special tabulation of occupation data released this year by the Census Bureau.

About ABC Owned Television Stations
Disney Media Entertainment & Distribution’s eight owned ABC stations are multiplatform leaders in local news and information. Collectively No. 1 across all U.S. television, reaching 23% of households and more than 34 million Total Viewers and 62 million digital visitors a month, the eight stations are comprised of WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The stations also deliver locally sourced storytelling to more than 17 million viewers across America through its multiplatform lifestyle network, Localish. In 2020, the stations received five Broadcast & Cable awards, including in the 2020 Best in Local TV Awards category as Station Group of the Year for its innovative and next-generation news reporting, and in the major market category for 2020: Best News Coverage, Best Digital Multiplatform or Website, Best Investigative Reporting Station Group and Best Public Affairs Programming, illustrating the group’s strength and ever-increasing growth and reach in the multiplatform space.

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ABC Owned Television Stations’ Race and Culture Team Captures the Heart of Juneteenth in ‘Our America: Black Freedom’ Available To Stream Now Across ABC Owned Television Stations’ 32 Connected TV Apps, With a Hulu Premiere on the Historical Day of June 19

ABC’s ‘Localish’ Spotlights ‘All Red Everything: Juneteenth Food Traditions’ From the “Black Freedom’ Special on abc.com/localish and on Social Platforms

‘Black Freedom’ Features the Song ‘Enough is Enough,’ From Emmy^® Award-Winning Songwriter, Artist and Activist Blush

ABC Owned Television Stations embrace the heritage and tradition of Juneteenth in the upcoming multiplatform documentary, “Our America:  Black Freedom,” available to stream now across the owned stations connected TV apps* on streaming platforms Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku with a Hulu premiere on SATURDAY, June 19, which marks the historical anniversary of Juneteenth. Produced by the station group’s race and culture content team, the special is a celebration of freedom and the “triumph of human spirit.”

“Our America: Black Freedom” begins with the holiday’s origin at the birthplace of Juneteenth – Texas. It is an intimate look at a holiday – many didn’t know about – that began 155 years ago. Juneteenth celebrates freedom and the effective end to slavery in the United States. It marks the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the last remaining enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas – two and a half years after its signing – on June 19, 1865. The following year on June 19, the first official Juneteenth celebration, also known as “Emancipation Day,” took place.

“Black Freedom” highlights community leaders, historians and local families who share the early history and artifacts unique to the Texas celebration. The special includes deeply personal stories, longtime traditions, modern-day celebrations, and the ongoing journey to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. While the documentary begins in the heart of Texas, the storytelling spans across the country, sharing how Black communities embrace Juneteenth and what “Black Freedom” means to them.

Led by the race and culture executive producers Porsha Grant, Nzinga Blake and Mariel Myers, the team wanted to ensure that community members familiar with the tradition would be the ones telling the celebratory stories that honor Juneteenth. From capturing heartfelt elements such as the 5,000-square-foot “Absolute Equality” mural in Galveston, Texas – that begins at the same spot where Gen. Gordon Granger issued the orders that resulted in the freedom of more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas – to understanding the historical depth of spiritual hymns and dance as part of Juneteenth. Through on-the-ground reporting by each race and culture journalist located across the eight-owned markets of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno, viewers will experience the tradition firsthand.

“It’s been amazing to watch Juneteenth flourish. Last year, people were looking for something to hold onto in the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd; and for many Black people, that was Juneteenth. For others, the holiday has been a family affair for generations,” said Porsha Grant, race and culture executive producer, ABC Owned Television Stations. “It is critical for us not only to educate our viewers about rich traditions but to share heartfelt stories told directly and accurately from the people that have always celebrated them.”  

The powerful storytelling by the ABC Owned Television Stations’ race and culture journalists includes the following:

• The History of Juneteenth – the history of Juneteenth is explained in a candid and eye-opening discussion with distinguished historian Claude Clegg, who specializes in the history of the African diaspora in America.
• The Grandmother of Juneteenth – ABC13 Houston Journalist Cory McGinnis conducts an in-depth interview with the “grandmother of Juneteenth.” The 94-year-old Texas native Opal Lee has been marching two and a half miles in designated states across the country as part of a walking campaign pushing for Juneteenth to become a nationally recognized holiday. Symbolizing the two and a half years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation (signed in January 1863) to reach Texas on June 19, 1865, Lee hopes the walking campaign will raise awareness about the importance of this historical day of slave liberation.
• Hymns of Freedom – ABC11 Raleigh Durham journalist Akilah Davis shares with viewers the legacy and beauty of spiritual hymns and how they played a critical role in how enslaved Black people would uplift each other while on plantations. While these songs were songs of solace and sorrow, spiritual hymns were also used to celebrate their new freedom, resilience and hope.
• All Red Everything: Juneteenth Food Tradition – ABC7 Los Angeles journalist Anabel Munoz sits down with a Southern California family keeping the Juneteenth tradition alive in their home. The family’s matron walks Munoz through the symbolic meaning of “red” foods served during Juneteenth. As she opens her kitchen and home, through food, the bloodshed by those enslaved and the resilience and hope tell a powerful story through the preparation, textures, smells and tastes of why she continues to preserve history through cooking.
• Juneteenth in NYC – ABC7 New York Crystal Cranmore looks at how Brooklyn celebrates Juneteenth. In New York, they only formally recognized it last year in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Cranmore speaks to Councilwoman Inez Barron and her husband, New York state assemblyman Charles Barron, about a bill to conduct a study on how to determine reparations for Black people.
• Carrying on the Juneteenth Legacy in California –ABC30 Fresno journalist Linda Ha sits down with Dr. Francine L. Oputa, the cousin of Opal Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth.” She shares how the tradition of Juneteenth is about justice, fairness and equity.
• Generational Wealth – 6abc Philadelphia journalist TaRhonda Thomas examines how generational wealth, long denied, stolen and withheld from Black people due to years of racism and structural barriers, plays a part in Black Freedom. Thomas speaks to financial analysts that provide background and a plan for the future on how to start building wealth.
• What About Reparations? – ABC7 Chicago journalist Will Jones reports that qualifying Black families in Evanston, Illinois, will receive a version of reparations through Evanston’s Restorative Housing Program. But local activists are against calling the program reparations.
• What Does Back Freedom Mean Today? – ABC7 San Francisco journalist Julian Glover sparks the conversation and addresses the important question being asked nationwide, “What Does Black Freedom Mean Today?”

Grant adds: “We hope this documentary proves to be a love song to Texans and others who have celebrated the tradition for years. We invite those that are learning for the first time to watch “Our America: Black Freedom,” and as newcomers learn about the celebration, we invite everyone to join in the jubilee.”

ABC’s “Localish” is shining a light on Juneteenth traditions. The multiplatform lifestyle brand dedicated to telling positive stories will spotlight “All Red Everything: Juneteenth Food Traditions” from the “Black Freedom’ special on abc.com/localish and on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The documentary also features the song “Enough is Enough” by Emmy® Award-winning songwriter, artist and activist Bianca “Blush” Atterberry.

“Our America: Black Freedom” is available via streaming across each *Owned Stations Free News App: ABC7/WABC-TV New York, ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago, 6ABC/WPVI-TV Philadelphia, ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco, ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston, ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno, and connected TV Apps on streaming platforms Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku and Hulu on June 19.

About ABC Owned Television Stations   
Disney Media Entertainment & Distribution’s eight owned ABC stations are multiplatform leaders in local news and information. Collectively No. 1 across all U.S. television, reaching 23% of households and more than 34 million Total Viewers and 62 million digital visitors a month, the eight stations are comprised of WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The stations also deliver locally sourced storytelling to more than 17 million viewers across America through its multiplatform lifestyle network, Localish. In 2020, the stations received five Broadcast & Cable awards, including in the 2020 Best in Local TV Awards category as Station Group of the Year for its innovative and next-generation news reporting, and in the major market category for 2020: Best News Coverage, Best Digital Multiplatform or Website, Best Investigative Reporting Station Group and Best Public Affairs Programming, illustrating the group’s strength and ever-increasing growth and reach in the multiplatform space.