::THE SLICE REPORT WITH MONA AUSTIN

buzzz worthy. . . Bowing to the pressure from #oscarssowhite and actress Jada Pinkett Smith starting a boycott over thelack of diversity among this year's nominees,  The Academy has responded to backlash over the nominations controversy. Three seats, appointed by the president, are being added to the board of governors, and individual members' voting rights will be reviewed every ten years to determine if they have remained active in the business. The Academy unveiled on Friday several dramatic changes in its structure and voting regulations in an effort to promote diversity. Its goal, the Academy said, is to double the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020. The Academy also said it will take immediate action to increase diversity by adding new members who are not on the board of governors to its executive and board committees, where decisions about membership and governance are made in the hopes of allowing new members to have a more act...

buzzz worthy. . . By Mona Austin The Academy Awards is no stranger to controversy over its lack of racial diversity.  Last year the sparse number of Blacks among Oscar nominees sparked protest and a social media firestorm, spawning the hashtag #oscarssowhite.  This year the absence of color is worse.  The over 5,000  member voting body  (which is 95% White and 77% male) selected the  palest Oscar list of nominees list in the last nearly three decades of cinema, recognizing no people of color in the major categories, despite the slate of critically acclaimed films featuring Blacks. Backlash over the white dominated awards has mounted since the nominees were announced in 24 categories in Hollywood Thursday morning by  Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Guillermo del Toro, John Krasinski and Ang Lee.  Boone Isaacs, the first African American President of the Academy who has held the position for the last 3 years, said she is addressing the...