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I DON'T KNOW YOU ANYMORE? (A Look At Houston's Black Media)
Written by: Craig Shelton
4-24-2011
With the exception of men like Ralph Cooper, host of Sports Rap on KCOH and Max Edison, sports director of the Houston Defender, I find myself often in deep thought about other Black members of the Houston media market.
The more I examine the daily ongoings in the Houston media scene, I find myself questioning if Blacks are getting the job done in the Houston media market? The only thing that comes out of this train of thought is that it's not a fluid opinion. It's that there's no one single "yes or no" answer to my question.
Individual accomplishments by Blacks in the local media scene have no true relevance in answering my question. The individual achievements by Blacks working in the local media, such as the likes of 979 The Box's Madd Hatta, CBS's Butch Alsandor, ESPN's Carl Dukes, or the Houston Chronicle's, Jerome Solomon to name a few, has zero to do with determining a measure of relativity to the collective maturation of Houston's Black media.
What I do know about the Black media in Houston is there is zero solidarity among the Black women and men that work in media in this city. The fact that there is no forum for Black members of radio, print, and entertainment media to discuss and create platforms for discussions is un-settling to me at least. In order to better the output of quality work from Black media members and discuss other critical areas of concern, it's the fault of no one other than the Black media itself, that it has not consolidated in a pro-active and progressive fashion.
COMMON GROUND, NOT SO COMMON IN HOUSTON'S BLACK MEDIA.
There's zero wiggle room within the Black media to blame "THE MAN" for our lack of organization and interactively among our peers. I personally have spoken to numerous Blacks working in all formats of media locally and what I find is not much common ground within the local ranks. Some Black media members are considered by their peers to be "not Black enough" when they do their jobs, while others (like myself) are considered to be "too black" in how they approach things. Recently when the ESPN, Jalen Rose/Fab 5 story was published and Rose's controversial "Uncle Tom" blast aimed at former Duke and current NBA star Grant Hill, much conversation among Black media members was exchanged. The conversation made for some of the most compelling dialogue I've been privileged to be a part of.
The more I examine the daily ongoings in the Houston media scene, I find myself questioning if Blacks are getting the job done in the Houston media market? The only thing that comes out of this train of thought is that it's not a fluid opinion. It's that there's no one single "yes or no" answer to my question.
Individual accomplishments by Blacks in the local media scene have no true relevance in answering my question. The individual achievements by Blacks working in the local media, such as the likes of 979 The Box's Madd Hatta, CBS's Butch Alsandor, ESPN's Carl Dukes, or the Houston Chronicle's, Jerome Solomon to name a few, has zero to do with determining a measure of relativity to the collective maturation of Houston's Black media.
What I do know about the Black media in Houston is there is zero solidarity among the Black women and men that work in media in this city. The fact that there is no forum for Black members of radio, print, and entertainment media to discuss and create platforms for discussions is un-settling to me at least. In order to better the output of quality work from Black media members and discuss other critical areas of concern, it's the fault of no one other than the Black media itself, that it has not consolidated in a pro-active and progressive fashion.
COMMON GROUND, NOT SO COMMON IN HOUSTON'S BLACK MEDIA.
There's zero wiggle room within the Black media to blame "THE MAN" for our lack of organization and interactively among our peers. I personally have spoken to numerous Blacks working in all formats of media locally and what I find is not much common ground within the local ranks. Some Black media members are considered by their peers to be "not Black enough" when they do their jobs, while others (like myself) are considered to be "too black" in how they approach things. Recently when the ESPN, Jalen Rose/Fab 5 story was published and Rose's controversial "Uncle Tom" blast aimed at former Duke and current NBA star Grant Hill, much conversation among Black media members was exchanged. The conversation made for some of the most compelling dialogue I've been privileged to be a part of.
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| Jalen Rose |
COULD THOSE IN THE BLACK MEDIA THAT ARE CONSIDERED TO BE UNCLE TOMS & BOOTLICKERS BE UNDER ATTACK BY BLACK MEDIA BULLIES?
Personally, I was completely amused witnessing conversation between individuals that suddenly have similar interest in a lead story. I observed individuals who have been labeled as "Uncle Toms", suddenly engaged in intellectual dialogue with the same individual(s) who labeled them as "Uncle Toms" in the first place. Whats even more amazing, is what I heard from those who had been labeled as "Uncle Toms"? Almost to a man, they all at some point in the conversation pointed out that they them selves had never experienced being called an Uncle Tom by another African-American.
What's clear for me from that experience is as a community of Black media members, we have a vast and clear divide among our collective thinking. If you ask why that's even notable Craig, it's for several reasons, and I'll point out a few.
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| #WhatKobeSaid |
SAY WHAT IT REALLY IS?
The bottom line in this blogger's opinion is that what's in place now in the Houston market as far as Blacks in media is not working together in a fashion that's beneficial to the entire Houston scene in the long term. In fact, I'll say what we see in place now from Houston's Black media is primarily selfishly implanted into their positions. The dynamics of the business is made so difficult for minorities and women to excel, it breeds a culture of "me over we" even to reasonable levels of expectations.
There are a few pockets of Black media members that work together behind the scenes, but for the most part, Blacks are tucked away in their cubicles checking in on their personal portfolios when the boss leaves the room. Guys like myself, Max Edison, and Ralph Cooper seem to be the only local media members willing to "keep it real" openly and not via private "inbox" messaging on Facebook and Twitter.
KEEP SLEEPING UNDER YOUR ROCKS
Often when I find myself involved fighting a battle out front or taking an unpopular or controversial stance, I'm usually contacted by supporters of all race and gender with words of support. The issue with that is, it's normally done as I stated via private "inbox". Black media members typically react cowardly when it comes to touchy issues. Oh don't get me wrong, the moment Quanell X or some national black activist gets involved, the Black media turns up in great numbers after-the-fact, talking strong and stern as if we have a collective spine?
Obviously, I'm unhappy with what I've witnessed since 2007 when I began working in the local media arena. So here's my recommendation and pledge to Houston's Black media:
Stay your sorry asses outta my damned inboxe's pumping my head up with your disingenuous support. (You go Craig, you tell them man, we're pulling for you my brother"!) Please!, who the hell needs that?!
To be totally honest, I have some of my white friends and associates that supported me and my efforts to work towards a more equal playing field in Houston's media market. Most of you are so afraid of losing your nice little birds nest that you don't stand for anything but a pay check. I know, "we all gotta get paid Craig"!
I get that, but we also have a greater obligation to leave things better than we found them. So don't sell me that your personal tenure in your particular media format accounts for a better situation for the next generation. Your personal career in print media means zero to the next Black woman or man looking for a fair opportunity, so don't sell that. Sell the truth, all you give a damned about is the here-and-now!
How long you did TV or radio means nothing if you don't help young Blacks get opportunities to intern and learn up under professionals. I've spoken with numerous kids from TSU that told me of the lack of feedback they receive when they petition Houston's sports talk stations for internships. This is why Ralph Coopers helps so many youth. This is why my show "THE CUT" is working towards programs to involve kids from Pro-Vision and Harris County Juvenile Detention Centers to participate on my show, as a reward system for their improvements under the programs of their institutions.
A NEW WORLD ORDER
Houston Media Watch.Com was launched on March 22, 2010. In the past year I've written many blogs focusing on the unfair playing field in regards to women and minority hiring in Houston's local sports talk arena. I'm far, far, far, from done with you guys that run our four sports talk stations (Granato, Spittle, Erickson, and Tepper.)
Houston Media Watch.Com was launched on March 22, 2010. In the past year I've written many blogs focusing on the unfair playing field in regards to women and minority hiring in Houston's local sports talk arena. I'm far, far, far, from done with you guys that run our four sports talk stations (Granato, Spittle, Erickson, and Tepper.)
Your continued lack of focus on a more balanced landscape in my opinion shows your arrogance, lack of backbone, and flat out incompetence on the part of a couple of you guys when it comes to running a successful station. All that said, HMW will be putting much more focus in coming months on "Blacks" in the Houston media. HMW will chart the activity of Blacks in high profile media positions and offer analysis on the contributions of the Black media.
Craig Shelton
HMW
Email: houstonmediawatch.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/CutLifeKCOH
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/LesbianCraig
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