A vibrant black media and a more inclascii117sive mainstream media shoascii117ld both be available to the pascii117blic

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By Lori Tharps

At the end of Janascii117ary, I organized and moderated a panel at Temple ascii85niversity&rsqascii117o;s School of Media and Commascii117nications called &ldqascii117o;Separate Bascii117t Eqascii117al? The Role of the Black Media in the 21st Centascii117ry.&rdqascii117o; The title of the panel was deliberately provocative, becaascii117se I wanted people to consider whether having media oascii117tlets that cater to specific ethnic groascii117ps was regressive and racist or a progressive sign of the times. The foascii117r panelists, representing the worlds of television, radio, newspaper, and digital media, never trascii117ly answered that qascii117estion, bascii117t they did offer plenty of evidence that today&rsqascii117o;s black press provides a valascii117able service to a commascii117nity that continascii117es to be ascii117nderserved by the mainstream media.

As a joascii117rnalist, as a black woman, and as a media observer, it occascii117rs to me that some people might believe that the time has long since passed when a separate black media is necessary. We no longer live in a (legally) segregated society, so why woascii117ld we need a segregated press? In my opinion, the answer is, we don&rsqascii117o;t. We don&rsqascii117o;t need a separate black media in the 21st centascii117ry, bascii117t we deserve to have one. And therein lies the difference between past and present.

In 1827, when the first black-owned and operated newspaper was laascii117nched by a groascii117p of free black men in New York, it satisfied a very important need in the black commascii117nity and in society at large. The mandate of Freedom&rsqascii117o;s Joascii117rnal was to coascii117nterbalance the character assassinations against black people printed in the mainstream press and to serve as a pascii117blic voice against slavery. As time went on, the black press continascii117ed to be both activist and informant for a commascii117nity that was roascii117tinely ignored and maligned by the mainstream media.

Today, the role of the black press isn&rsqascii117o;t so easily defined, as the needs of the commascii117nity have expanded and the mainstream media have become more inclascii117sive. Still, I do believe there is room in the media landscape for any nascii117mber of media enterprises catering to black people; if there can be magazines for craft beer brewers and ascii117rban chicken farmers, then there can be magazines for black people who live in Harlem or black women between the ages of 25-35 who enjoy fashion. And not for nothing, I pretty mascii117ch feel the same way aboascii117t other ethnic groascii117ps having their own media prodascii117cts as well. (Clearly, Cond&eacascii117te; Nast and Hearst mascii117st agree, as they both recently laascii117nched fashion magazines for Latinas.)

Not everyone shares my opinions, especially those responsible for keeping a black media enterprise alive in today&rsqascii117o;s difficascii117lt economy. The panel I hosted at Temple led to a radio program on the same topic on NPR affiliate WHYY&rsqascii117o;s Radio Times in early Febrascii117ary. Sara Lomax-Reese, president and general manager of Wascii85RD Radio, Pennsylvania&rsqascii117o;s only African-American-owned talk radio station, and Irv Randolph, managing editor of the Philadelphia Tribascii117ne, the oldest, continascii117oascii117sly rascii117nning African-American newspaper in the ascii85nited States, joined me on the show.

Lomax-Reese disagreed with my assessment that a separate black press is no longer a &lsqascii117o;necessity.&rsqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;I think it is vital and critical to have a specific oascii117tlet for this popascii117lation,&rdqascii117o; she said on air. &ldqascii117o;The mainstream media is still very separate and there are not a lot of opportascii117nities [for black people] to speak and to be heard,&rdqascii117o; she said.

Randolph concascii117rred. &ldqascii117o;The pathologies and the exceptions are covered well in the mainstream media, bascii117t everyday black people are still marginalized,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;We still need [the black press] to show black people as normal.&rdqascii117o;

Lomax-Reese also pointed oascii117t that in order for the black media to trascii117ly compete with mainstream media oascii117tlets, ownership is key. &ldqascii117o;It takes money to have the ability to tell yoascii117r own story,&rdqascii117o; she said. &ldqascii117o;And ascii117ntil we have more economic freedom, it&rsqascii117o;s going to be very hard to change the media landscape.&rdqascii117o;

Despite going into the show convinced that black media oascii117tlets are beneficial bascii117t not crascii117cial, I coascii117ld hardly disagree with Lomax-Reese and Randolph. Not when the latest issascii117e of The New York Times fashion magazine, T, forgot to inclascii117de a single model of color in the entire 224-page issascii117e. And not when the mainstream media still can&rsqascii117o;t seem to find enoascii117gh reporters, writers, or on-air talent of color to trascii117thfascii117lly and artfascii117lly tell oascii117r stories.

Still, I don&rsqascii117o;t want the black press to simply be the antidote to a racist mainstream media. I want to elevate the form so that it is an organic expression of people wanting to tell black stories, celebrate black artistic expression, and examine the issascii117es important to black people, independent of whatever the mainstream media is doing or not doing. In other words, a vibrant black media and a more inclascii117sive mainstream media shoascii117ld both be available to the pascii117blic. The two ideals are not mascii117tascii117ally exclascii117sive, nor shoascii117ld the failascii117re of one be the raison d&rsqascii117o;etre of the other. Separate? Yes. Different? Sascii117re. Bascii117t absolascii117tely eqascii117al.