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Has Traditional Black Media Missed the Bus?

Started by baratunde aka jack turner · 12 months ago

Or perhaps just decided to move to the back of the bus? NewsOne’s over-reliance of Associated Press article recycling is pitiful. Online-only outlets BlackAmericaWeb and The Root manage to do far better, probably with fewer resources at their disposal. A post over at Black Web 2.0 just before the holiday has a few interesting [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ ... Continue reading »

11 comments

  • TruthSeeker

    12 months ago

    They don't take public transit anymore.
    reply
  • Booky

    12 months ago

    Black media hasn't "missed the bus", they are being kept off the bus by the mainstream media.

    Instead of giving Michael Basden a nightly TV show, Cathy Hughes and TV One should have Bev Smith, or Warren Ballentine, Jesse Jackson Jr., Cynthia McKinney, Montel Williams, or even fast talking Roland Martin do a public affairs program, you know, something that will educate and uplift the community.
    reply
  • Nardwilly

    12 months ago

    The Root is some new stuff an a lot of articles from WashingPost/Newsweek.
    reply
  • djchefron

    12 months ago

    We are the new media. It is us who scan the net and decide what is important to discuss.The days of the MSM is coming to an end and that is why anytime net neutrality or broadband access comes up we have to fight for our rights. When every home has broadband then we will truly be an informed citizenry.
    reply
  • Booky

    12 months ago

    Gimme some Dap on that djechfron. We are the new media.
    reply
  • CantEvenGo

    12 months ago

    Given the limited local markets many black newspapers serve and the resultant small revenue streams from advertising, i can understand why they were reluctant to invest in the Web at a time when they saw the big dogs (NYTimes, WaPo) go in and lose money hand over fist.

    Essence (at least pre-Katrina), and the Johnson Publishing clan were even worse IMHO; they HAD resources but treated the web as a direct-mail service to drive readers to their print issues. bad move.

    Moreover, early attempts at Black information provision online didn't do well - NetNoir, everythingblack.com - because their target audience hadn't yet reached the web in numbers that could support them. Other properties that reached a moderate level of success were bought up by larger concerns (BlackVoices, Africana) that immediately diluted their message in order to "reach a broader audience".

    i think that Katrina was a wake up call for Black websites and bloggers - they realized the paucity of Black-oriented news available on the web and stepped up to meet the demand.
    reply
  • cheryl aka jill tubman

    12 months ago

    BlackPlanet is the 5th largest social network worldwide (I think). Investments in African-American targeted internet properties have tended to do much better than those for the general public if you take the wide view. I think it's the same as underinvestment in supermarkets, drug stores and services in working class African-American neighborhoods. There's some assumption among some that we can't support businesses which just ain't factual at all.
    reply
  • CantEvenGo

    12 months ago

    BlackPlanet is the 5th largest social network, i agree. but it is considered a "niche" SN because of its overwhelmingly Black demographic.

    i'm not sure i agree with your statement about investments in AA-targeted internet properties, tho. Whither goest MSBET? for that matter, BET.com is only now beginning to use its resources to be more than a video-delivery and tv-show promoting website.

    Supporting an internet business is decidedly different from supporting brick-and-mortar businesses. the revenue streams are different and the demands by users of of the medium (for timely AND relevant content) seem to be a major stumbling block in terms of sustainability.

    I'm hopeful for theRoot.com, given its backing by WaPo. But that same backing makes me give the site the side-eye because i'm not entirely convinced of their (WaPo's) ethos w/regard to Black culture.
    reply
  • RonnieB

    12 months ago

    As a 44-year-old, let me agree: Black Media have missed the bus. And the plane. And the train. And the vanpool.

    Black Boomers have little or no connection to relevant news and information, primarily because (a) they/we rely on the MSM, who don't address our issues anymore; and (b) because we still treat regard the internet as a "play thing"-- and we ain't got time to play. The result is an ill-informed population of Black folk who have no idea how or why we're ill-informed.

    This is a dangerous proposition, IMO. It leaves us waiting for the MSM to inform us -- in much the same way that Katrina victims were waiting for authorities to rescue them. We need information, but the MSM isn't going to provide it anytime soon. And if we as Black consumers aren't going to demand it in the form of Black television and radio, then we'd better get used to sitting on roof tops and waiting for the information to come to us.
    reply
  • cheryl aka jill tubman

    12 months ago

    I agree -- black boomers as parents and now grandparents -- and increasingly managers and executives with authority are key to keeping media accountable such that the info we need is being distributed appropriately
    reply
  • kalagenesis

    12 months ago

    In my post the' writing is on the wall'I explained that the black bloggers are the future.This is where news concerning our people gets out.This was key in breaking the chains the Clintons and traditional black leaders had over our community.
    reply
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