The End of Black Online Independence??? The premiere African American magazine and online site for Black women, Essence, is no longer Black-owned. Afrocentric search engine Rushmore Drive is a subsidiary of Barry Diller's IAC company. The Root.com is a collaboration with the Washington Post. BET.com belongs to Viacom. And with the company's stock in freefall, Cathy Hughes' TV One and Radio One empire is taking a drubbing.
Now comes word that the website Africana.com, provider of online news and education aimed at people of color, is also being subsumed by AOL Time Warner through AOL’s Black Voices channel.
Who's minding the store folks?
These examples of known Internet destinations being controlled by non-Black conglomerates present a vexing problem for the independence of African Americans increasingly flocking to the information super-highway. Other than such blogs as Bossip, The YBF, Rodonline, Mediatakeout, What About Our Daughters, and of course our sites, fewer and fewer "techpreneurs" are toiling in the virtual universe.
But these visionary pioneers are committed to ensuring that Blacks control their own content and combat the negative images that, surprise, are more prevalent through Yahoo as any Klan newsletter produced in the Appalachian Heartlands.
Exhibit A: If someone had performed a Google image search under "Black Men" a few weeks ago, they would have been privy to a picture of some anonymous brother's well-endowed genitalia. No, it was not the first image dispalyed. It was the second. While it has since been removed, the first image still remains. It depicts an older Black man's back, covered in welts, post an obvious plantation-style beatdown. This is what currently defines Black men.
Everywhere!
Admittedly, the Internet is still a place where individuals can control the news, visuals and perceptions upon which others form their views. Is that compromised when ownership changes hands? How radical can these minority publications be? Can they speak to corporate abuse, criticize hiring patterns or speak out against employment discrimination? What about disparate treatment as it pertains to the promotion of our political views, art, culture and everyday life experiences?
Earl G. Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise, said that before selling to Time Warner, the owners of Essence magazine should have at least allowed Black companies to make an offer to purchase the company.
But this mindset is the reason why African Americans have not succeeded when it comes to the business of media, journalism, radio, television and film. We are still falling short when it comes to the growth and opportunites availing themselves right before our eyes.
The Black community can and should learn invaluable lessons from the Jewish community, the Asian community and the Latino community. Tri Destined Studios CEO N.D. Brown was recently telling my business partner, Valencia Roner, how everyone in Hollywood is looking for content and Black people have so much material to give them if we effectively harness our resources.
Rainmaker President and CEO Gregory Campbell shared with me how African countries, as well as places in the Caribbean and the UK, are very interested in news and information coming out of the US. The challenge is that many of us simply are not paying attention to the shifting paradigm taking place.
Ironically, while mainstream newspaper circulations are down, Black publications are still doing very well. This despite not being able to garner the advertising dollars of their White counterparts. Black Congressional lawmakers are also aggressively attempting to defeat the current XM/Sirius Satellite radio merger, in large part because of the meager opportunities the deal provides their constituents.
And while we have Will Smith, Tyler Perry, and Oprah, fewer Blacks are being hired in televsion, both in front of and behind the camera.
Some would argue that websites owned and controlled by giant corporate media entities including Viacom (CBS, MTV et al.) Disney (ABC, ESPN, et al.) AOL Time Warner (CNN et al.) GE (NBC), and News Corporation (FOX, DirectTV) discourage alternative views and completely brainwash the American psyche. But can anyone blame these businesses for simply doing what their shareholders expect them to do, i.e. make money by any means necessary?
Thus, the issue over non-Black ownership of African American content, digital of otherwise, is not a difficult one. Nor is the conversation groundbreaking. What's unique about what we're experiencing right now, however, is this new "renaissance." A renaissance potentially more profound than what took place in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930's.
If we can put a man on the moon and a biracial Illinois senator with a strong, brilliant Black woman by his side in the White House over the next few months, we can do this.
Without excuses, pity-parties, or claiming victim status, we can do this.
It just needs to be handled.
Are you in?
By Kevin Ross, CEO and President of 3BAAS Media Group. Black Slate provided source information and written content for this article.