CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / PROPOSITION 187 : Spanish-Language Media Fight Initiative : Group that owns KMEX-TV gives $100,000 to the fight against the plan, which targets illegal immigrants. Other help from TV, radio stations and a newspaper includes free or reduced-rate ads.

Led by a $100,000 contribution from the television giant Univision, Spanish-language media in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California have joined funding efforts aimed at vanquishing the hotly contested ballot initiative known as Proposition 187.

Harold Ezell, a co-author of Proposition 187, called the Spanish-language media involvement outrageous and said it indicated a bias in coverage--a charge disputed by Spanish-language media representatives.

The Univision Television Group, parent body of KMEX-TV, Channel 34--the leading Spanish-language channel for news in Los Angeles--has donated $100,000 to Taxpayers Against 187, the chief anti-proposition coalition, reports show. That contribution is one of the largest so far.

The Univision group, based in New Jersey, owns and operates 11 stations nationwide, including other California outlets in San Francisco and Fresno.

Besides Univision’s donation, Spanish-language television and radio stations have been airing free ads soliciting donations for the campaign against Proposition 187.

Monica Lozano, editor of La Opinion, the influential Spanish-language daily based in Los Angeles, personally contributed $5,000 to the anti-187 effort. In addition, La Opinion also has agreed to run reduced-rate advertisements soliciting money for the effort against Proposition 187. Times Mirror Co., parent of the Los Angeles Times, owns 50% of Lozano Enterprises, a California Limited Partnership, which does business as La Opinion.

Proposition opponents, fighting an uphill battle against strong voter support for the initiative, are struggling to raise money for a planned advertising push before Nov. 8, Election Day.

La Opinion, along with Glendale-based KVEA-TV, Channel 52, is also hosting a fund-raiser for Latino business leaders next week to benefit Taxpayers Against 187.

“Proposition 187 is a direct attack on the Latino community,” said a strongly worded invitation--signed by Jose L. Lozano, publisher of La Opinion, and Michael G. Martinez, vice president and general manager of KVEA--sent to prospective donors.

“Latino children, like our own children, may be detained, questioned and reported to INS (the Immigration and Naturalization Service) because of their surname and the color of their skin,” the invitation said.

Proposition 187 advocates deny that the measure is aimed at any single community and say that no one will be targeted because of name, color, nationality or ethnic background.

Ezell, the initiative’s co-author, said it was “not fair” that Spanish-language media outlets have shed the usual press reluctance to associate directly with campaigns.

“That may be the way they do it in Mexico, but that’s not the way we do it in America,” said Ezell, former INS regional commissioner, who has been a lightning rod for criticism by anti-Proposition 187 activists. “I wish I knew what they were saying about me.”

Univision Television Group is a United States corporation. Its minority shareholders include Grupo Televisa, the Mexican media conglomerate headed by Emilio Azcarraga, Mexico’s preeminent press baron.

Representatives of the media said their current level of political involvement was a first, reflecting the gravity with which many Latinos view the initiative.

“We’re trying to educate the people, because we believe (Proposition 187) can be defeated if people know what this really stands for,” said Maria Gutierrez, director of public affairs and labor relations at KMEX.

Yet the supercharged debate has forced Spanish-language news executives to wrestle with a wrenching ethical dilemma: Are they crossing the line into the advocacy camp? Most general interest newspapers and broadcast outlets generally avoid strong positions outside of clearly marked editorials or commentaries.

“We normally do not take sides, but this is a very unusual time, and a very unusual proposition,” said Claudia Camarena, spokeswoman for KVEA.

An exception was made, Camarena and others said, because of perceptions that the proposition would engender discrimination against all Latinos, even legal residents and U.S. citizens. “This would make all Latinos suspect,” Camarena maintained.

Not so, say initiative supporters, who note that the measure targets all people in the United States illegally, regardless of nationality. Polls have shown considerable support for the proposition among Latino voters. Among other things, Proposition 187 would bar illegal immigrants from receiving public school educations and most tax-supported health care and other benefits.

“Illegal aliens are an equal opportunity problem,” said Ron Prince, initiative co-chairman.

Despite their clear anti-187 orientation, Spanish-language media executives said their activities had not compromised news content. The Spanish-language press has generally devoted much more coverage to Proposition 187 than its English-language counterparts, reflecting the intense immigrant interest.

“I would say (coverage) has been fair, but we’ve certainly become more actively involved as a newspaper in an electoral issue than we ever have before,” said Monica Lozano of La Opinion, who said her $5,000 contribution reflected a personal commitment.

Media organizations regularly run paid political advertising, but it is unusual, albeit not unheard of, for mainstream outlets to donate time or space to campaigns.

In 1992, Times Mirror Co. donated advertising space for sponsors of Charter Amendment F, a police reform measure later approved by the voters. At the time, critics said the donation lent credibility to accusations that The Times coverage was skewed. Times executives denied any bias.

The Federal Communications Commission, which licenses broadcast outlets, also places no limits on partisan activity by stations, so long as the sponsors are clearly identified, said Milton Gross, chief of the commission’s political branch.

Nonetheless, Ezell said he would seek a commission investigation into the contribution by Univision and other anti-187 activities by Spanish-language broadcasters.