Media Mix: Back to the Future
The Black Press in the Age of Obama
2009-01-14

Recently a report in Politico by writer Nia Malika Henderson about the changing nature of Black media in the age of Obama and the decision by networks like BET, TV One and Essence (and our sister magazine, Ebony) to beef up their presence in Washington got the chattering classes all atwitter about the Black press and its obligation to cover serious issues.

Most of the debate flying around e-mails was supportive and constructive, but a troubling undercurrent in the discussion was the suggestion that somehow because of Obama, Black media organizations are only now awakening to the importance of political news now that there is a mark of racial pride to cheer. And unfortunately a number of people making that suggestion have been African American. But the facts don’t support this notion.

While it is perfectly acceptable to be post civil rights as an accident of birth, or post-racial as a choice in consciousness, it is never acceptable to be post-historical. And to suggest that covering Washington is a new thing for the Black press because of the Obamenon is not only factually inaccurate but does a substantial injustice to the people who laid the foundation of Black journalism.

Because the decisions made at the highest level of government have always been critical to the fate and fortune of Blacks in America, the presidency, Congress and the courts have been a serious focus of the Black press since its inception. That was especially true in the civil rights eras when Ebony, Jet, The Afro-American, The Amsterdam News and others carried full time Washington offices. Their collective coverage of the movement and legislation were vital to inspiring readers to organize in support of the changes that were eventually made. Further, the Nation of Islam’s newspaper, The Final Call, has had a Washington bureau for decades. Ditto for the radio networks Sheridan Broadcasting and NBN.

Before gutting its news department, even Howard University’s local radio station, WHUR carried a staff of a dozen reporters, including a full time State Department correspondent. And as late as the 90s, Jet’s Washington bureau (located next to the White House) had a complement of six full-time photographers and writers.

If over the years those resources have fallen away, it has not always been by choice. When audiences fall away, priorities change.

The more accurate story is that Black audiences, inspired by a dynamic campaign season, are demanding substantive coverage and have become more engaged in the issues, and Black media organizations are responding in-kind.

It bears remembering that with few exceptions, most of the Black media organizations that now focus on entertainment started out as news and information outlets. Finding insufficient audiences, they quickly moved to more profitable territory.  With that in mind, the move to upgrade political coverage should be considered a leap in faith that audiences will sustain their demand, at least for the next four to eight years.

That is of course the great unknown, whether this new inspiration is a flame raging into a fire, or simply a spark that will burn out after the intensity has died down.

To be sure, the historic nature of the Obama victory and the coming Obama administration is worthy of close examination for both its political and cultural implications and the shift in the American mindset that the victory symbolizes.

But it’s my hope that this heightened coverage won’t end in Washington but only begin there. If direct impact on the Black community is the test of what the Black press chooses to cover then arguably bureaus should have popped up in the Bush White House directly after Katrina. And if the global impact on Black America and the diaspora is a test, we should be using today’s technology to rally freelancers around the world who will examine say, the oil economy and its impact on West African democracy, the political ramifications of Afro-Brazilians adopting American civil rights activism as well as the topsy-turvy nature of the Chinese economy.

Either way, what media organizations will ultimately decide to do won’t be a unilateral decision. In the end, the audience must decide. Hopefully they will make the more substantive choice.

Eric Easter is Chief of Digital Strategy for Johnson Publishing Co., Inc. He writes about politics, culture and technology.