MISSING

On the recent Emmy telecast, Rich Frank, president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, introduced a series of clips reviewing “some of our best work from the past season” of a medium that Frank said is “called upon to deliver laughter, drama and information. At our best, TV does more than that: We confront and challenge, we define and develop, we expose and explore issues with power and immediacy no other medium can match.” Well said.

The clips showed a wide range of human issues, controversies, emotions and events. At the end of the well-edited 4 1/2-minute presentation, I was both impressed and depressed: impressed by the quality of productions included; depressed by the total absence of Asian Americans. It was as though--in the eyes of the TV industry--we do not exist on the American landscape, that we neither contribute to nor are affected by the American scene. Well, you’re wrong!

Mr. Frank, your industry has the talent and resources to correct this mistake. Now, does it have the wisdom and guts?

JACK ONG

Santa Monica