Showing posts with label Black Radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Radio. Show all posts

Saturday, June 04, 2022

Rep. Hank Johnson calls on U.S. government to spend more with Black Press

Four years after D.C. Democratic Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton publicly condemned federal agencies after a Government Accountability Office report revealed they spend very little of their advertising dollars with Black-owned media, another member of the Congressional Black Caucus has openly aired the concerns.

“The federal government spends billions of dollars a year in paid advertising. However, the federal government’s process for allocating advertising dollars fails to recognize and value the unique relationship that Black-owned media have with their audiences,” Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden.

Co-signed by Norton, Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Val Demings (D-Fla.), and 34 other members of Congress, the letter pointed out that the standard process for spending federal advertising dollars consists of giving a prime contract to a large White-owned advertising agency with the stipulation that the agency includes a multicultural agency as a subcontractor.

“However, the prime contractor controls how much money goes to the subcontractor and how that subcontractor spends that money,” Johnson wrote.

“This routinely results in a smaller fraction of federal dollars going to the subcontractors. And, when the subcontractor does get to spend money, it is usually directed to spend that money with Black-targeted media and not with Black-owned media.”

He asserted that “successful Black businesses hire and promote Black Americans at a much higher rate than other businesses. They are, consequently, the key to building successful Black communities.”

In 2018, Norton commissioned a GAO report that revealed that the federal government spent more than $5 billion on advertising over five years. Still, Black-owned businesses received only $51 million, or 1.02 percent of those funds.

“I will work with minority publishers to press [my colleagues] in Congress to demand greater spending on minority-owned outlets to reach minority audiences that most traditional outlets do not,” Norton stated during a 2018 news conference with members of the National Newspaper Publishers Association on Capitol Hill.

“The GAO report showed, as we expected, that the federal government has a long way to go to ensure equal opportunities for minority-owned news outlets,” Norton continued.

“As the nation’s largest advertiser, the federal government has an obligation to provide advertising opportunities to news outlets and media companies owned or published by people of color.”

In April, dozens of federal agencies launched plans for more equity to open federal programs to more people and reduce racial disparities caused by government decisions.

“Advancing equity is not a one-year project. It’s a generational commitment,” Biden stated. “These plans are an important step forward, reflecting the Biden Harris administration’s work to make the promise of America real for every American, and I mean every American.”

In the Johnson-led letter, members of Congress have issued a request for Biden Administration to investigate and report back complex data on “the process by which they grant advertising contracts, and how they oversee those contracts after they are granted.”

“The federal government spends billions of dollars a year in paid advertising. However, the federal government’s process for allocating advertising dollars fails to recognize and value the unique relationship that Black-owned media have with their audiences,” Johnson wrote.

[SOURCE STLAMERICAN]

Wednesday, June 06, 2018

Help this legendary black radio host get into the radio Hall of Fame


Joe "The Black Eagle" Madison is a radio talk show host and civil rights activist.   On his show he covers issues of interest to the black community that many on radio, or TV for that matter do not cover. For close to 40 years he has challenged his audience to do better and be politically and socially active. Now he has been nominated for the Radio Hall of Fame. To get in he needs our votes. 
So lets help this man who gives so much to his community get into the hall of fame by texting 600 to 96000. Let's give him so many votes that when he sees the tally he says something that makes him have to put money in the swear jar! 

George L. Cook III African American Reports.
Joe Madison is a groundbreaking radio personality and civil rights activist who has devoted his career to raising awareness about issues around the world, encouraging dialogue among people of different backgrounds, and raising money to support multicultural education and institutions. Known as“The Black Eagle,” Joe can be heard weekday mornings on SiriusXM’s Urban View.
While majoring in sociology at Washington University, Joe was an All-Conference running back and baritone soloist with the University’s concert choir.
As a young adult, Joe worked in urban affairs at Seymour & Lundy Associates and was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). At age 24, he became the youngest executive director of the NAACP’s Detroit branch, then rose to the position of director of the NAACP Political Action Department in 1978 before becoming a member of the national board.
Joe’s radio career began in 1980 at Detroit’s WXYZ-AM. In the early 1990s, he joined an otherwise white lineup at WWRC-AM. There, he worked to develop crossover appeal while discussing racial and other issues with the station’s multiracial audience. In the late 1990s, Joe started his own online talk show before moving to Washington, D.C.’s WOL-AM. The popularity of this led to syndication on the Radio One Talk Network and its XM satellite channel.
Joe uses his show as a platform for inspiring action on critical issues affecting the African American community. In 2013 and 2014, he hosted a series about the 1960s civil rights movement, featuring guests like the Reverend Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon Johnson. In 2015, Joe set a Guinness World Recordfor the longest on-air broadcast, 52 hours, which raised more than $200,000 for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Joe has also brought international attention to the struggles of the Sudanese people through 90 days of peaceful protests outside of the U.S. Embassy in Washington, D.C. He delivered survival kits to refugees and freed Sudanese people being held as slaves. In 2015, he led a campaign to secure a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for comedian, activist, and former St. Louisan Dick Gregory.
A Fellow of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, Joe has generously supported scholarships, athletics, and the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University. He has interviewed students for admission to Washington University for over 20 years.
Joe lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Sharon. The couple has four children and five grandchildren.


Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Black Celebrities, Athletes and Politicians Must Respect the Black Press

By Rosetta Miller-Perry, The Tennessee Tribune

Throughout history, the Black Press has been the best friend that Black celebrities, athletes and politicians have ever had. The Black Press often covers Black public figures from the very start of their careers, before they’re “discovered” by the mainstream media, all the way through to their ascension to star or leadership status. Before they became household names, had hit records, secured multi-million dollar contracts or became leaders in the United States Congress, it was the Black Press that was always there for their press conferences and events, often giving them extensive coverage when the mainstream media might only give them a brief mention in the B-section of their newspapers or 15 seconds at the end of an evening news segment.

When the mainstream media finally “discovers” these same Black celebrities, athletes and politicians and they attain a certain degree of fame and success, suddenly, they think it’s okay to snub the Black Press. Now they don't have time to give interviews to Black newspapers or magazines; there's no time to make the visits to Black radio stations, where they once made regular appearances; their (usually) White public relations and management staffers guard their time and appearances carefully, and shun Black-owned media.

This is a disgrace, because when things go bad and these Black celebrities want to get “their” side of the story out, the first place these folks run to is the Black Press. If there is a story about political corruption, infidelity or other alleged crimes involving a Black public figure, the mainstream media's attitude is usually “guilty until proven innocent.” It's the Black Press that usually takes the “innocent until proven guilty” approach, urging fairness and caution, telling readers, listeners and viewers to wait until all the evidence is in, frequently reminding folks of all the great things that their favorite hero did in the past.

The Black Press remains the advocate for Black celebrities, athletes and politicians, even now, despite the fact that so many of them seem oblivious to our existence. That is why, increasingly, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade group that represents over 200 Black-owned media companies, that reach more than 20 million readers in print and online every week, is reminding these Black public figures that Black newspapers are their champions and defenders 24/7, and that we have backed them in good times and bad. While the classic case of a Black superstar, who ran away from the Black Press for years and then returned at the eleventh hour, remains O.J. Simpson, it is instructive to see how mainstream media is covering the NFL in the wake of Donald Trump’s garbage claims that the players are somehow "disrespecting the flag and the military" if they kneel during the playing of the national anthem, a claim that was and continues to be absolute nonsense.

The Black Press backed Colin Kaepernick's protest against oppression and police brutality from the beginning, and continues to do so. The Black Press supports Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett and other players who have responded positively in the wake of criticism. Black newspapers have printed the entire Star-Spangled Banner, including its verses supporting slavery including its verses supporting slavery, while many mainstream publications have bought into the Trump idiocy. When conservative newspapers and publications attacked ESPN commentator Jemele Hill for her tweets about Trump, it was the Black Press that offered unqualified support. We've been there through decades of attacks on Black leaders, and we remain vigilant to the constant character assassination and innuendos lodged against Black public figures at the local, state and national levels.

What the Black Press wants from Black celebrities, athletes and politicians is respect, fairness, transparency and the same access provided to mainstream media outlets. Don't just advertise in The New York Times or The Washington Post; also do business with NNPA member publications; continue to make appearances at Black radio stations; order subscriptions to Black publications, in print and online. Our subscriptions and advertising rates are more reasonable than those of the big corporate newspapers, and despite what some advertising firms say, we’re more trusted in the Black community than “general” market publications.

It’s time for the Black celebrities, athletes and politicians who say they value entrepreneurship and economic empowerment to do business with the Black Press.