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Report finds ‘epidemic of invisibility’ throughout Hollywood

FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2015 file photo, Ava DuVernay poses at the Palm Springs International Film Festival opening night screening of "Selma," at Palm Springs High School, in Palm Springs, Calif. In one of the exhaustive and damning reports on diversity in Hollywood, a new study finds that the films and television produced by major media companies are “whitewashed,” and that an “epidemic of invisibility” runs top to bottom through the industry for women, minorities and LGBT people. A study to be released Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism offers one of the most wide-ranging examinations of the film and television industries, including a pointed “inclusivity index” of 10 major media companies - from Disney to Netflix - that gives a failing grade to every movie studio and most TV makers. (Photo by Rob Latour/Invision/AP, File) FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2015 file photo, Ava DuVernay poses at the Palm Springs International Film Festival opening night screening of "Selma," at Palm Springs High School, in Palm Springs, Calif. In one of the exhaustive and damning reports on diversity in Hollywood, a new study finds that the films and television produced by major media companies are “whitewashed,” and that an “epidemic of invisibility” runs top to bottom through the industry for women, minorities and LGBT people. A study to be released Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism offers one of the most wide-ranging examinations of the film and television industries, including a pointed “inclusivity index” of 10 major media companies - from Disney to Netflix - that gives a failing grade to every movie studio and most TV makers. (Photo by Rob Latour/Invision/AP, File)

By Associated Press February 21, 2016 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – In one of the most exhaustive and damning reports on diversity in Hollywood, a new study finds that the films and television produced by major media companies are “whitewashed,” and that an “epidemic of invisibility” runs top to bottom through the industry for women, minorities and LGBT people.

A study to be released Monday by the University of Southern California Annenberg School offers a wide-ranging examination of the film and television industries, including a pointed “inclusivity index” of 10 major media companies that gives a failing grade to every movie studio and most TV makers.

Coming just days before an Academy Awards embroiled in a diversity crisis, the report offers a new barrage of sobering statistics that further show a deep discrepancy between Hollywood and the American population it entertains.