BLACKS IN THE MEDIA

BECOMING CAPTAINS OF THEIR INDUSTRY?

�Some tell, some hear, some judge of news, some make it� � Dryden

All African Americans are aspiring to be part and parcel of the American mainstream.  It�s that true or false?  What is true: without some fundamental changes, the general Black community still has some waiting time for The Establishment to regard and record our interests and history in fairness.

As America�s largest group of Black media specialists gather in Dallas for the National Association of Black Journalists� (NABJ) 28^th conference, it should not be ignored that 95 percent of convention participants are affiliated with corporate media firms who still fill America�s press, airwaves and screens with stereotypical and demeaning imagery of Black Americans.  Major media in the U.S. are controlled and run by the Anglo-American establishment cartel; and routinely serve the traditional interests of that establishment, reporting what it wants, suppressing what it doesn't want, often slanting to conceal reality.

The NABJ is a 3,000-member organization of African-American journalists advocating for diversity in newsrooms and news content.  Philosophically, the NABJ seeks to improve the coverage of Black communities by increasing the number of Blacks in mainstream newsroom management and by monitoring treatment of Black journalists.  But, the question is: after you�ve been a White House or Congressional Correspondent, Pentagon embedded journalist or CEO for a multi-billion dollar media empire; are you party to Big Media�s manipulation and its maneuvers, especially in regards to Blacks and their leaders.

Mainstream media, and most of its associates, still render Blacks� interests invisible.  Few tell our stories, or speak truth about Blacks.  Blacks the likes of Fredrick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, etc. realized early on that connections between media -- its form, content, and who owns it -- is inextricably tied to issues of social justice, power, and equity.  NABJ meetings, which started in 1975, are upstaged by the one held by the Convention of Colored Newspapermen in 1875.   From America�s early days, Blacks have been shapers of our own images.  In 1827, John Russwurm and Samuel E. Cornish published Freedom�s Journal, as the first newspaper,  �to plead our causes.�  The first of many Black daily newspapers was the New Orleans Tribune published in 1864 by Louis C. Roudanez.   Thomas Morris Chester became the first Black to write for a major daily newspaper when he covered the Civil War in 1865 for the Philadelphia Press.   In 1983, one of the original NABJ founders showed the way into major media ownership.  Robert C. Maynard became the first African-American editor and owner of a major daily newspaper when he bought the Oakland Tribune.  That resulted in the �Trib� making Pearl Stewart the first African American woman editor of a major daily newspaper.

Black women editors are now numerous in mainstream newsrooms, editing �mainstream media� items and issues.  Whether headed by a Black CEO, or staffed by African-American managers, mainstream media continues its historical role of being propaganda machines for corporate and establishment interests.  Often NABJ members who�ve attained mainstream media positions elect to speak for their corporations� interests, at the expense of African Americans interests and issues.  It�s standard operating procedure for Black executives in mainstream media to take �traditional� postures regarding race issues in their �news� product and public forums.  For example, an issue often discussed among Blacks, �Reparations�.  When have you ever seen, or heard, a mainstream media employed Black ever advocate for Black Reparations?

Isn�t it time the greater community of Blacks stop being invisible and second-class in Media?  Initiatives for change need to be made to assure all institutions are held to standards that ensures media, and advertising companies, serve the needs of all, particularly Black people and publishers.  Whether CEO of AOL Time Warner, Managing Editor of the New York Times, anchor for NBC, or reporter for the Crain Communications, people of color must still be members of the ongoing continuum of struggle for fair and just media and business practices.

The world�s largest organization of journalists of color, the NABJ provides professional and social networks for Black Journalists to cultivate relationships with each other.  The next step is for NABJ members in mainstream media to encourage their companies� utilize Black suppliers, consultants and contractors.  And, Big Media needs to do more with Blacks� media enterprises.  Such actions will go beyond just your �access� inside traditional corporate media and establishment structures.  NABJ members are well positioned to create new relationships in Media as it expands.  In that expansion, NABJ members can provide new visions and realities for ownership, control, access, and structure in the industry.