The BLACK PRESS: Soldiers Without Swords

Anerdyblackguy

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Oh wow I didn’t even know this thread existed. This brings me back to my undergraduate years at Stonybrook taking my Blacks and Mass Media course with Dr. Miletsky.

The importance of the Black press really can’t be understated especially during the reconstruction era. From the “Oppurtunity magazine” that helped usher in the Harlem renaissance to IDA B Wells anti lynching campaign the black press has always been an instrumental institution in our culture. I really wish it would come back
 

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NAB Inducts Donnie Simpson into Broadcasting Hall of Fame​



Feb 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced Donnie Simpson as the 2024 NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee for radio. Simpson, a legendary media trailblazer and award-winning program director, will be inducted at the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame event at NAB Show, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.


Simpson began his distinguished career at age 15 when he was discovered by WJLB, a popular Detroit radio station while they were broadcasting from his mother’s record shop. Soon after, he became a teen reporter for WJLB and was then given his own radio show.


Simpson later moved to Washington, D.C., to work for WKYS-FM as the morning show host and program director. Under his leadership, the station achieved unprecedented ratings success, and Simpson was selected as the country's number-one Program Director of the Year as well as Air Personality of the Year in 1983 by Billboard Magazine. In 1993, Simpson went to work at WPGC-FM.


“Donnie Simpson’s life-long love of radio and music, incredible talent and commitment to his audience make him well-deserving of this honor,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “We are excited to welcome Donnie into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame for radio during NAB Show in April and look forward to celebrating all that he has accomplished over his distinguished 55-year career.”


In 2010, Simpson took a hiatus from radio after 30 years as a D.C. morning host. He returned in 2015 to host the afternoon drive at Majic 102.3, a Radio One station in Washington, D.C., that went to number one after he joined.


In addition to his many accomplishments in the radio industry, Simpson worked in television and movies. He served as the backup sports anchor to George Michael on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., before joining America’s first Black television network, BET where he hosted their flagship show “Video Soul” for 14 years. Simpson appeared on the popular sitcoms, “Martin” and “The Jamie Foxx Show.” He was also in classic films such as “Krush Groove” and “The Five Heartbeats.”


His illustrious career has earned him many accolades, including being inducted into the R&B Music Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Radio Hall of Fame in 2020.


In addition to Simpson’s notable on-air work, he is dedicated to supporting several charities and nonprofit organizations. In 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Simpson stayed on the air for 16 hours, raising over $220,000 for those impacted. He also has served as honorary chairman of the National Black Family Reunion and has assisted in fundraising efforts for AIDS research and the United Negro College Fund. Donnie and his wife have established The Donnie & Pam Simpson Scholarship Fund to help minority college hopefuls in need of assistance
 

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The 2024 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Special Citations and Awards
May 8, 2024

Greg Tate​




A special citation for the late writer and critic Greg Tate, whose language – cribbed from literature, academia, popular culture and hip-hop – was as influential as the content of his ideas. His aesthetic, innovations and intellectual originality, particularly in his pioneering hip-hop criticism, continue to influence subsequent generations, especially writers and critics of color.

Biography​


gregtate.042.jpg

Photo: Nisha Sondhe

Greg Tate was a music and popular culture critic and journalist whose work appeared in many publications, including The Village Voice, Vibe, Spin, The Wire and Downbeat. He was the author of Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America and Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience and the editor of Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture. Tate, via guitar and baton, also led the conducted improvisation ensemble Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, who toured internationally.
 

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Inaugural Newsroom Innovation Challenge Supports 10 HBCU Student Newsrooms​

May 13, 2024

Student newsrooms at select historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) can expect thousands in additional monetary support soon thanks to an initiative at Howard University.
Members of The Hilltop pose with a check from Howard University's Center for Journalism & Democracy, from which fund will go toward technology and staff for the newsroom.
Members of The Hilltop pose with a check from Howard University's Center for Journalism & Democracy, from which fund will go toward technology and staff for the newsroom.

HBCU student newsrooms brim with talent, but often lack the resources needed to give students access to the cutting-edge technology and operational support that so many of their peers at predominately white institutions have,” said Nikole Hannah-Jones, founder of Howard’s Center for Journalism & Democracy, whose mission is to help prepare HBCU students to become investigative journalists.

The Center for Journalism & Democracy plans to award some $200,000 to 10 such newsrooms through its inaugural Newsroom Innovation Challenge. The newsrooms will receive award packages, ranging from $4,000 up to $29,000, aimed at improving newsroom technology, business operations, audience engagement, and reporting at campus newsrooms.

“This grant program seeks to even the playing field by upgrading student newsrooms and paying stipends for student journalists,” said Hannah-Jones, who serves as Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard’s Cathy Hughes School of Communications. “Investments in the talent and ambitions of aspiring journalists will fundamentally transform these newsrooms.”

The initial grant program was open to members of the Center for Journalism & Democracy’s nine HBCU cohort schools. Newsrooms were invited to apply for competitive funding last fall by submitting their vision and goals for strengthening their newsrooms and operations.

  • The grantees are The Hilltop and HU News Service, both of Howard University;
  • Morgan State University
  • University of the District of Columbia
  • Morehouse College
  • Florida A&M University
  • North Carolina A&T University
  • North Carolina Central University
  • Savannah State University
  • and Texas Southern University.

The newsrooms will receive a one-time technology award and funding for two years to pay select newsroom staff and funding to hire contributing writers. Newsrooms can apply to renew the funding for the contributing writers for up to five years.
“It will make a significant impact on our ability to bring news and information to our readers,” said Milton Kent, professor of practice and advisor to Morgan State’s The Spokesman student outlet. “I can tell you that The Spokesman has lost talented journalists because some of our students can’t afford to work in the newsroom without being paid, so this is huge.”
 
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FlimFlam

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Aug 20, 2024


Its paradoxical for me to consider these types of outlets "black" media based off the business model alone: advertisers. The capacity to operate a commercial outlet through any medium is anchored to the capacity attract and maintain white capital (african Americans don't have that capital.. even the "rich" ones... combined)

Those dynamics alone set and limits the parameters of discourse... the matter of which topics are framed (or even acknowledged at all) ... ideology... so on and so forth. Its white corportate media with black faces
 

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Its paradoxical for me to consider these types of outlets "black" media based off the business model alone: advertisers. The capacity to operate a commercial outlet through any medium is anchored to the capacity attract and maintain white capital (african Americans don't have that capital.. even the "rich" ones... combined)

Those dynamics alone set and limits the parameters of discourse... the matter of which topics are framed (or even acknowledged at all) ... ideology... so on and so forth. Its white corportate media with black faces

I disagree. The doc. in the OP points to, hints at the fact that the original Black newspapers received advertising dollars from white companies in addition to Black businesses and organizations that supported them.

One of The Great Migration pull factors was Northern and Eastern city jobs from white owned business. Advertised and recruited to African Americans in Southern cities where these papers were also distributed.
Also, Black people didn't manufacture and produce all the goods and services that we used, so of course the white companies purchased ads in Black publications.

Those things were true in the era covered in the doc., were true when John H. Johnson ran Ebony and Jet, and are true today.

Responsible media covers stories, and discloses if they accept revenue from company when they report/discuss them during news coverage.
In the case of RMU, he says that his platform is largely user supported, and shouts out his contributors regularly.
BringTheFunkClub_Support2Ways_RVSD-768x189.jpg
 
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