commercial black radio

The Titans of Technology: The Internet, Radio and Our Newton’s Laws

Tue, 02/23/2010 - 22:55 — Dr. Jared A. Ball

by BAR columnist Jared Ball

Click the flash player to listen to or the mic to download an audio in MP3 format.

We are constantly told that media fairness and effective access is always just over the horizon, awaiting the maturation of new technology. Yet we never arrive at the technological Promised Land. The internet, for example, will not cure what ails Black-oriented radio. It is quite possible that “the next generation of the internet will be less open than the already less-than-free medium that it is now.”

Black Radio Speaks With Forked Tongue

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 01:40 — Anonymous

by Paul Porter

Black radio owners and those who depend on them for publicity and profits are waging a propaganda offensive against a bill to compensate artists for airplay. Radio One founder Cathy Hughes “and her staff have done a great job of concealing the facts” of the legislation, HR 848, sponsored by Detroit Congressman John Conyers. Hughes has been joined by syndicated hosts Tom Joyner and Michael Baisden, and Rev. Al Sharpton, who is also a radio personality. Radio One is crying economic hardship, but the firm recently awarded CEO (and Hughes' son) Alfred Liggins “a 10 million dollar bonus.”

A Federal Bailout For Black Radio? Under What Conditions?

Wed, 05/27/2009 - 09:12 — Bruce A. Dixon

By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

News has surfaced that powerful members of the Congressional Black Caucus are asking for a bailout of minority broadcasters, specifically black radio. But black radio, like the rest of commercial media, has long dodged any hint of the public service obligations to which it is legally bound. Is the crisis of black radio a chance to finally impose real public service obligations upon broadcasters?

Our thanks to Davey D for this video...

Who Killed Black Radio? -- Journalist's Roundtable at Jared Ball's Jazz & Justice, WPFW-FM in DC

Wed, 05/27/2009 - 06:58 — Anonymous

jared show Every Monday afternoon at 1PM on WPFW, Baltimore-DC listeners can hear a fine example of The Other Black Radio -- Jared Ball's Jazz and Justice. This week the first hour featured HipHop historian, producer and entrepreneur Davey D, Black Agenda Report's Bruce Dixon and longtime radio analyst Paul Porter, now of Industry Ears discussing the state of commercial black radio, and whether it's worth saving.

Tap the flash player below to listen to or the mic to download the show. About 60 minutes, and worth it.

Find more of Dr. Jared Ball's work at voxunion.com. The latest headlines from voxunion.com are always available right here in the right hand margin of BAR's front page.

Black Radio and the "Performance Rights" Toll Booth

Wed, 05/20/2009 - 07:52 — Bruce A. Dixon

radio by BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon

The cynically misnamed "Performance Rights" legislation will not benefit performers. It will extract a premium from radio broadcasters, killing some, and transforming others for the worse. It will create another piece of "intellectual property" which the recording industry is poised to benefit from at the expense of artists, radio broadcasters and the public, and legaiize payola. And once the performance rights toll booth is established in broadcast radio, it can and will be deployed elsewhere. HR 848 is bad news for broadcasters, bad news for artists, and bad news for almost everybody.

Making Real Change: Taking On Black Commercial Radio

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 10:02 — Bruce A. Dixon

by BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon montage084

Black commercial radio station owners, like all other broadcasters, hold their licenses on the condition that they faithfully serve the public interest. But commercial black radio, whether owned by African Americans or not, is failing that test. Commercial black radio treats its audience exclusively as a market, not a polity, and acknowledges no public service obligation worth mentioning.

At the coming National Conference For Media Reform, plans will be unveiled for a national campaign to bring locally gathered news and local news departments to commercial black radio. Changing the way black radio operates is only possible by mobilizing key constituencies in the communities broadcasters treat as passive markets. And this may be the time it begins to happen.

Hip Hop Profanity, Misogyny and Violence: Blame the Manufacturer

Tue, 05/01/2007 - 18:00 — Glen Ford

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford

The often convoluted debate over hip-hop lyrics and images frequently misses the point: mass marketed rap recordings, videos and stage acts are corporate products, and the artists are virtual employees and subcontractors of huge multinationals. Corporate control of the cultural marketplace is the real villain in this story, not artists who did not pick themselves for stardom and cannot on their own alter boardroom business models. Corporations have been usurping and reshaping Black mass culture for decades - hip-hop is just the latest product line.

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