Your Online Connection to the Community
How the Internet and Technology Are Changing the Media Industry
By Scotty Reid
When it comes to African American media ownership, much has been written about the lack of it and the controversial programming of the existing Black owned corporate media as well as the non-Black owned media conglomerates they market to our communities. Mainstream conglomerates are not serving the real needs of the community in that they are not using the power of the media to influence positive changes in our communities but are exerting a negative influence from the music and senseless chatter they promote. Rosa Clemente who was the 2008 Vice-Presidential nominee of the Green Party said it best when she said:
"As a new mother, with a two-month old, I refuse to let these companies, these corporations, call my daughter a 'bitch,' a 'hoe,' a 'nigger.' It's over. It's not about 'free speech.' It's about you're peddling drugs into the mind of our community. What you do is addicting our children to violence." - Rosa Clemente at 2005 Hot97 Protest.
Media experts and critics advocating for change are too quick to dismiss the Internet and Internet radio specifically as means to combat and negate the media conglomerates. Arbitron released a study last month that stated that 33 million Americans tune to Internet radio stations a week. Arbitron Inc. is a media and marketing research firm serving the media as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States and has been tracking and documenting the increasing reach of Internet radio for years.
To dismiss Internet radio as vital tool to building and maintaining alternative forms of media would be a tragic mistake. To say that we need to focus right now on setting up traditional terrestrial radio and television stations to reach our people is another mistake. The Internet is the future of media distribution and distribution costs are why so many newspapers have gone out of business or in danger of going out of business. Black Newspapers are doing so poorly that the Black publishers of the National Newspaper Publishing Association are pushing for Stimulus money from the U.S. government.
The problem with traditional media services is that they have become a victim of advances in technology, the affordability of computers, cell phones and other hand held devices that allow people to instantly access information and entertainment. With so many traditional mainstream media outlets flocking to the internet, a window of opportunity has opened up for those with a social entrepreneurial spirit.
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When it comes to African American media ownership, much has been written about the lack of it and the controversial programming of the existing Black owned corporate media as well as the non-Black owned media conglomerates they market to our communities. Mainstream conglomerates are not serving the real needs of the community in that they are not using the power of the media to influence positive changes in our communities but are exerting a negative influence from the music and senseless chatter they promote. Rosa Clemente who was the 2008 Vice-Presidential nominee of the Green Party said it best when she said:
"As a new mother, with a two-month old, I refuse to let these companies, these corporations, call my daughter a 'bitch,' a 'hoe,' a 'nigger.' It's over. It's not about 'free speech.' It's about you're peddling drugs into the mind of our community. What you do is addicting our children to violence." - Rosa Clemente at 2005 Hot97 Protest.
Media experts and critics advocating for change are too quick to dismiss the Internet and Internet radio specifically as means to combat and negate the media conglomerates. Arbitron released a study last month that stated that 33 million Americans tune to Internet radio stations a week. Arbitron Inc. is a media and marketing research firm serving the media as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States and has been tracking and documenting the increasing reach of Internet radio for years.
To dismiss Internet radio as vital tool to building and maintaining alternative forms of media would be a tragic mistake. To say that we need to focus right now on setting up traditional terrestrial radio and television stations to reach our people is another mistake. The Internet is the future of media distribution and distribution costs are why so many newspapers have gone out of business or in danger of going out of business. Black Newspapers are doing so poorly that the Black publishers of the National Newspaper Publishing Association are pushing for Stimulus money from the U.S. government.
The problem with traditional media services is that they have become a victim of advances in technology, the affordability of computers, cell phones and other hand held devices that allow people to instantly access information and entertainment. With so many traditional mainstream media outlets flocking to the internet, a window of opportunity has opened up for those with a social entrepreneurial spirit.
Read More
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