Social justice initiatives designed to bring long-needed advancement of positive change to the nation’s African American community have surged to the forefront in the weeks since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police Department officers.
But, is it “trendy,” or is it representative of a real sea change?
What role does Black Media play in this … and what exactly is Black Media.
Those topics were addressed across a lively, hour-long digitally delivered discussion with key Black media leaders in the first-ever Black Media Symposium, a RBR+TVBR online event presented by Triton Digital.
This FREE event can be viewed on-demand on the all-new
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Click Here: https://youtu.be/W0UYV5-fs9s
Serving as co-keynoters were journalists Ed Gordon and Roland S. Martin.
They were asked by Deon Levingston, an Urban One/Indianapolis Regional VP who co-hosted the event with RBR+TVBR Publisher Deborah Parenti, how African Americans are looked at and viewed in journalism.
Gordon’s response? “I don’t know, and we won’t know until history proves out, whether this is trendy, a trend, or whether this is a real sea change. I tend to believe that right now should not be hoodwinked into believing that this is a real change in substance and the idea that, all of a sudden, after the horrendous murder of George Floyd, that people’s minds changed after decades and decades.”
As such, America has an opportunity to “elevate” Black journalism. But, he quickly added that he believes “by any means that this is a slam dunk.”
Martin believes that what is occurring today is no different than what happened in 1968 when the Kerner Commission in March 1968 concluded that white racism — and not black anger — triggered 1967 riots in Detroit and Newark, N.J., that presaged the reaction to the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
One of the most important things to come out of that Federal investigation, Martin said: The lack of diversity in media. That yielded the first wave of Black journalists. Fast-forward to today, and now, following the George Floyd murder, several race-focused initiatives have suddenly appeared.
“Now all of these outlets are running to create these different things,” Martin said. “That’s all fine, but the issue that still comes out is, ‘Will Black folks be centered?'”
Explaining his comment, Martin, who also serves as VP of Digital for the National Association of Black Journalists, wonders what the particular focus would be with respect to the stories aired on U.S. media and, more importantly, who are the people making the decisions on what is broadcast. “Who are the people making the decisions … what do they look like?” Martin asks. “In the history of media you’ve never had an African American who has been the CEO or a top leader of a major news organization.”
The bigger issue, however, for Martin is where Black-owned media is in America. “We still have to control our narrative and not hope and pray somebody else tells our story the proper way,” Martin said.
It’s one big reason why Martin launched a podcast after the conclusion of News One Now, a TV One program that he said was cancelled by the Urban One cable TV channel. “I was not interested in going to work in mainstream media and being 51 and asking some 32-year-old White kid, ‘Can I go cover Black people?'”
With Levingston arguing that Black consumers get their information from Radio disproportionately, and Martin going so far as to dismiss any opportunity in the terrestrial media world by instead embracing digital avenues, Circle City Broadcasting owner and WISH-8 and WNDY-23 in Indianapolis GM DuJuan McCoy entered the conversation.
McCoy emphatically disagreed with Martin assessment, noting that as a 32-year TV industry veteran and in ownership since 2007, he’s launched local news and, as such, is familiar with the news game. “I also know the intricacies of the media and the distribution system,” he said.
Making the point that news viewership drives cable viewership, it is “the only place where you can get a consistent network platform.” Thus, “I think there is a place for another national, not a regional, cable news network.” And, it could serve as a home for an Executive Producer or GM.
It would also help establish trust, as cable networks are home to “real news” and not “fake news,” which McCoy believes is widely strewn across the digital landscape. This triggered a lively segment with Martin firing back, noting how he’d used the same set, same chair and same fiber optics as was seen during Brian Williams’ tenure hosting the NBC Nightly News. And, because he’s been a host on recognized networks, Martin believes the trust has been established with the consumer.
To add a network perspective to the mix, Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, CEO of American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) and Superadio Networks, stated that being in the content business meant not limiting distribution to any one platform. “We want our talent to be across multiplatform, because, look, Black people need news and information however they can get it.”
Digital works, she contends, but it doesn’t work ubiquitously across the U.S. by people in rural areas, who may not get the download speeds necessary to consume content online.
And, much like McCoy, Maddox-Dorsey — a former broadcast station owner through Access.1 Communications — argues, “Ownership is important, and I am not willing to give up on the FCC and suggest that, as a medium, radio and TV are one of many platforms … and we need them all.”
The final 15 minutes of the event included discussion over the return of the Minority Tax Certificate through Congressional legislation introduced by North Carolina House Member G.K. Butterfield. And, Martin argued that having African Americans on staff at Madison Avenue advertising agencies just isn’t enough, noting that a consortium of Black media executives could use their power to go after advertisers that aren’t using their radio or TV properties.
With that, Omar Thompson, a Principal for Dallas-based marketing strategy firm 1Nine Marketing & Media, implored, “From the agency perspective, we have got to deliver integrated opportunities if you want those dollars to fund these companies.”
Then, there are the power ratios, with station ratings still failing to match the dollars it can attract from advertisers. “I think that’s more of an unconscious bias,” Thompson said.
Karen Slade, Vice President and General Manager of KJLH-FM 102.3 in Los Angeles, a R&B station serving the Black community since 1965, was the final participant to be brought in to the discussion. She pulled no punches in stating that there is a conscious bias against buying Black radio among marketers and advertisers.
“I have been here a long time and we have always fought to get advertising dollars,” she said. “It’s always a battle, even when we had great numbers. It seems like when the majority owners came in and started doing Urban that’s when the money flowed right by us … Still, to this day 30 years later we’re still fighting to get ad dollars. Yes, they are making a conscious effort to include the Black consumer. But, what platform are they using? They are not using minority owned-and-operated media.”
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