Communities: African American

African-Americans continue to struggle to work in the media industry and own media outlets.  In addition, it continues to be difficult to find newspaper, television and radio content that showcases the breadth and diversity of the African-American experience.  Despite the tremendous buying power wielded by many African-American consumers, African-Americans are often faced with a lack of choice in programming. The "digital divide" continues to separate low-income African-American consumers from the educational, financial, employment and health resources available in the digital world due to high-priced or unavailable Internet services.

African-American Presence in Media

For many African-Americans, being concerned about the way in which African-Americans are, or aren't, represented in media is nothing new.  Yet recent events such as coverage of African-American "looters" in post-Katrina New Orleans, the remarks of influential conservative William Bennett linking the abortion of black babies to a reduced crime rate, and the controversy over the ad-campaign regarding the film, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," bring home the point that African-Americans have too little control over how the media portrays African-American images and stories.

Scholars, such as Prof. Leonard Baynes of St. John's University and Prof. Robert Entman of George Washington University, explain that the impact of media content can be understood by considering how it pervades the nation, so that the only image many white Americans may have of African-Americans are what white Americans see on TV, hear on the radio and read in newspapers. This makes evidence of media misrepresentation of African-Americans all the more troubling.  The National Urban League published a study (PDF) showing that on Sunday morning political talk shows, which play a pivotal role in the shaping of our nation's political discourse, a mere 8% of the guests, over an eighteen-month period, were African-American.   

African-American Media Ownership

While people of color make up about one third of the United States population, African-Americans own less than 4% of television and radio broadcast licenses.  People of color tend to have small (often single station) TV and radio properties and find it difficult to compete against media conglomerates.  Producers of African-American programming often find it difficult to get their shows and channels picked up by broadcasters and cable companies.

African-Americans are underrepresented in media employment as well.  The Radio and Television News Directors Association reports (PDF) that African-American employment remains low in the television and radio news workforce: between 1994 and 2001, African-Americans made up 8.4% of the television workforce and 4.8% of radio, and less than 1% of that number working as TV news directors.  The National Association of Black Journalists and UNITY: Journalists of Color continue to report low numbers for African-American journalists.  And researchers show that African-American actors still struggle to find well-rounded and positive roles.

Why does ownership matter?  In a case called Metro Broadcasting v. FCC, the Supreme Court cited several studies showing that minority media ownership increases minority employment, stories that focus on issues of interest and concern to minorities, and has an impact on how those stories are told. The need for minority owned and minority controlled media is critical.

African-American Access to Technology

Recent studies by Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America, as well as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, show that the more than 50% of African-Americans lack at-home broadband connections. These reports found that income is the key factor in having broadband at home: almost half of all households with incomes above $75,000 have broadband, only 17% of households between $25,000 and $50,000 have broadband, and less than 10% of those with incomes below $25,000 have broadband.

Access to broadband is critical because it is the gateway to a wide range of services and information that may be difficult for those without a high-speed or any at-home connection to receive.  An at-home broadband connection can provide access to low-cost telephone alternatives, such as Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP), programming alternatives to cable and TV, and to a wide array of education, financial, employment, and health resources.  

Solutions

Moving from these facts to solutions requires a cooperative effort of many individuals and organizations.  African-Americans must work together to develop and advocate for strategies that take advantage of legislative opportunities and community/market-based solutions to advance the cause of minority media.  Those working on the issues include:

• Mark Lloyd wrote about the link between civil rights and communications policy in his article, "Communications Policy is a Civil Rights Issue"
• Lisa Fager, whose organization Industryears is dedicated to revealing truth and promoting justice in media.  Industryears focuses on broadcast accountability in radio.
• The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has begun to assemble a comprehensive census, of African-American journalists and news directors at all levels in order to help promote their introduction into "high-profile, decision-making positions."
• Consumers Union advocates for communications policies that will serve consumers of color through the efforts of its telecom advocacy team, which includes a Minority Media Ownership Project. 

Visit the Community Organization and Resource Bibliography for a more comprehensive directory of groups and information.

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