The answer to my own question in the headline is a resounding YES. But let me qualify that by saying that we need GOOD black media (and indeed other ethnic media). Black media that perpetuates stereotypes and limits the scope of our interests to crime and entertainment stories, and doesn’t take into consideration the changing nature of the black experience, is a waste of time in my opinion.
This post over at Advertising Age is very interesting and makes some pertinent observations. The first being:
Given the web’s format, where one can interact with information and people anonymously, it’s no wonder that many marketers and some consumers view targeted sites as separatist or discrimination in disguise.
Smikle fires back, responding to the marketer’s question: “Why do we need hockey websites? No one would question the need for hockey info.”
So what are Blacks doing differently in the digital space that warrant Black websites?
First of all, we need to understand what the role of black media is. If you think it exists as an anti-white, blacks-only space then I might see why you’d find it discriminatory. But the role of the black media, in stark contrast to what many might assume, is actually to broaden the media and make it more inclusive by presenting voices, perspectives and stories that often go untold and unheard.
In fact, media that does not have space for the perspectives of other groups is what’s actually divisive, exclusive and problematic. I also see black media as a space for non-black people to learn and understand more about what’s going on in black culture, just as I read newspapers targeted at Hispanics and watch Telemundo every now and again to see what’s going on in Hispanic communities.
Those who say that there should be no such thing as ‘black’ (or ethnic) media have – probably unwittingly – bought into the notion that the mainstream perspective is THE right and only perspective, that how a dominant group of people views the world is how it is. And it’s precisely for that reason that black media exists and is needed.
On a number of occasions, I have pointed out magazines which I know are not not talking to me as a black woman. They do not have ‘white’ written on them, but I know that’s the target audience. Let’s take for example a magazine which talks a lot about tanning, or that never mentions afro hair, or shows particular colours of makeup that a dark skinned woman like me could never wear. If black media doesn’t exist, where would I go to get that type of information that pertains to me?
Futhermore, while we all know that we all belong to the human race, it’s delusional to believe or act as if there are no differences in culture, perspective or experience. I am a well-educated, well-travelled, middle class black woman and I can guarantee that my experience of life and how I see it is different from my well-educated, well-travelled middle class white friend. That’s not necessarily problematic – it just is what it is. I wouldn’t assume that I have the same experiences as a Chinese person or an Indian person and I’m not offended by Asian magazines because I accept that there are differences in culture.
In any case, we don’t live in a ‘post-racial’ age… and even if we did, would that mean that we wouldn’t need black media? Would that mean that I wouldn’t have questions about my hair, or skin care, or health concerns (e.g. black women are more likely to get certain types of cancers), or that I wouldn’t have any cultural aspects to discuss? I don’t think so.
Differences aren’t a problem to me, it’s how we view differences that’s the problem. The world is full of people with different experiences and perspectives, and our media should reflect that.
I say yes ! I feel it helps the culture move forward when we are open to different perspectives of the way we see the world and each other.
Hi Lola, Interesting post, but I can’t agree with you. Black media is nice to have, but not a must. Even if were not in the post-racial age.
You’ve said if it’s just celeb, crime or bikini information then it’s just a waist of time. But in the US there are a lot of websites and magazines stuffed with this kind of information. Sure, sometimes it’s interesting to know that Jada Pickett Smith has founded a school. And chances are you wouldn’t find that information in the mainstream media. But it’s just black celeb information!
And black woman magazines? I would call them advertising magazines for woman with a dark skin, and not ‘black’ magazines. I think black women can also be catered with post-racial magazines like the Oprah Magazine. And where are the ‘black’ magazines for black woman and ‘men’!?
So what’s left? The untold stories? I can imagine that there are still some untold stories left from the segregation past that could be uncovered because they still are relevant today. But are important black stories today very often not covered or ignored by the media. More then ‘white’ stories? And if so, what kind of information would that be? When I look at my own recent experience of plugging black news, I think the ‘black’ news just speeded things up for about one hour. But eventually it would also have become mainstream news.
Another kind of black media are the mom and pop magazines and websites from the countries (Caribbean/Africa) of origin. In Europe you see those black magazines disappear one by one. When you look at the websites, you will recognise the interest group: first generation, tourists and second generation men and women who are tired of the rat race in Europe.
When you talk about good black media, I presume you a referring to media like theRoot. But let’s be frank, that’s mainstream news sandwiched with some popcorn black news. The popcorn part is the black cook, the black personal coach or the latest financial news from black personal finance advisor.
So, I think today black magazines and websites are just nice to have. But really needed? I don’t think so. Black is a colour, not an interest group.
But I agree with you that we are not in a post-racial age.
Hi Erik
Thanks for your post… Hmmm interesting. I’m not sure I agree with you though!
I do agree that The Root etc is mainstream news with some other black stuff in there, but of course black people want to read mainstream news too.
So untold stories – how about health and black people? There are many illnesses and diseases which affect black people more or differently. Heart disease, certain types of cancers and so on. This means reporting on these topics is different in the mainstream than it might be when covered by a black publication.
Eating disorders – how does this pertain to black women and men? We RARELY ever hear about that from a black perspective and most eating disorder education is not targeted at black people.
Obesity and healthy living – another angle – 2 things which affect black people. But when it comes to living well, we are less likely to be in communities in which there is access to great food stores (esp in America).
Climate change and the green revolution – how do these play out in the communities in which black people live especially when it has been shown that such people are more likely to suffer from environmental justice issues (e.g more likely to live near waste grounds and so on?)
I see across all areas: health-travel-personal finance-education-the work place that there are specific things that black people confront. Think for example, when it comes to finance – in the US for example, black people have been really hard hit by foreclosures and predatory lending. That means that finance information on mortgages and that kind of thing needs to be different or focus on those kinds of topics.
Mental health/depression/psychology – approaches to mental health are different not only in terms of how black people are treated in the system but how we talk about it. There’s a great book called Black Pain written by a woman called Terrie Wiliams. she talks about how many black people are depressed but due to cultural norms we are often unwilling to call it for what it is or seek help. Those are the kinds of things that a black publication can talk about.
Furthermore, in the US there are specific incidences where black media has brought stories to light which would have gone hidden. Jena 6 is one of them. The shooting of Oscar Grant is another. Sean Bell too. Crime stories yes, but important ones that the mainstream didn’t consider important until they were told.
At the moment, the news industry is hemaorraging minority staff. There’s a very important discussion to be had there about what that means… and how minorities deal with that.
I don’t think to date that most black publications have necessarily done a good job.
of course ‘black’ is a colour, but is there an interest group there? I’m not sure how you can posit that there isn’t.. and if there isn’t, why do you run a site that focusses on the Afro-Europe experience? surely if there’s no specific interest you should just run a site about being European?
Hi Lola,
Of course you are right – at least from certain point of view – on the issues you mentioned. I mentioned teenage pregnancy, single mothers and black underachievement in a post myself. So I would contradict myself if I would say that there is no black news to cover. But you have given the answer yourself: most black publications aren’t covering those topics very well. Which is an understatement.
But to address some of your examples. Some of the stories of police killings and racial discrimination you mentioned even made to Europe. They are so exceptional that you can argue if they would have remained untold if it wasn’t for the black media.
Mental health. I agree that these problems have a specific black angle. The racial context and history in the US aggravates everything even more. I’ve also read about the story of Terrie Wiliams. But I think that everyone would be interested in this subject after seeing the film “The Soloist”.
Obesity and healthy living. You and I both know you need a targeted health campaign to change eating habits in the black community. Sure black media can help (magazines and papers) but it’s not the only media channel.
But if there was such a need of black media then how is it that in Britain a mayor black newspaper has gone out of business and that Ebony and Jet magazine are in deep financial trouble. They where losing readers long before crises. Where are all the black readers that are in need of that black information?
And to address your pinch. What I meant with ‘black is a color, not an interest group’, was that black by itself is not a interest group. Spike Lee spoke about it by saying that that ‘the black community’ is often looked at as a monolithic block. And that while the community is very divers. The black community is Europe is even more diverse then in US. That’s Afro Europe is just about certain things that connects certain black people in Europe. It’s not it’s about black people in general. Maybe I left out the nuance in the statement.
And to boot. It’s strange that especially you, of all people, are arguing that we need black media. You are writing for a mainstream paper about black issues, such as racial discrimination in British schools. You are the example, or even better, the best evidence that black news can be covered in the mainstream media.
Erik – I don’t know if you ever read the New Nation (the publication in the uk that just went out of business) but it was NOT a quality publication. It was a tabloid and even though it was catered towards a black audience I believe much of it was irrelevant and/or poor quality. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a need just that the publication was not in line with the market. As you have pointed out, the black ‘community’ is increasingly diverse and any publication that can’t keep up with that will die. Simple. That doesn’t show there’s no desire just that you need the right product.
One of the reasons why I started reading Essence magazine is because it boosted my esteem and sense of pride to open a publication and see women who looked like me. That’s significant. Living in the uk everywhere I turned were images of women who looked absolutely nothing like me and I was being told that was the standard of beauty.
There was another publication in the UK called Untold – aimed at black men. It was ahead of its time and excellent. It folded not because the market wasn’t there but because advertisers didn’t think they should put their ads in a black publication. I find it hard to believe that black men, for example, particularly in places like the uk and europe wouldn’t be interested in a quality publication in which they are not constantly deemed as drug dealers, baby fathers, rappers or basketball players. Untold did well because it showed another side that we virtually never ever seen in the mainstream. And note by the way when I talked about black media I talked about GOOD black media not just that which perpetuates stereotypes.
Using my writing in the guardian is not a good example. The guardian is one of the only papers in the uk which has a number of black voices and even then that number is TINY…and do you think that three or four black voices in a mainstream paper with hundreds of writers is sufficient?! There is a guy called Joseph Harker, who is assistant comment editor at The Guardian and someone I consider a mentor. He wrote a recent article in the British Journalism Review about the lack of black/ethnic voices in the media – google it and have a read. He actually used to run a black newspaper too.
At the same time the mainstream is really always going to represent the dominant voice and I don’t expect that the minority voices will be well represented, because we are the minority! And of course if you or anyone else wouldn’t be interested in it then you would be perfectly free to continue reading existing publications.
There are magazines for Asian people for example for the same reason. In the US, there are Hispanic publications – “hispanic” is a generic term for many many people of many shades from many different countries but the point is that the publications address things that you might not see otherwise in the mainstream.
As I said it’s not about being divisive but about a multiplicity of perspectives.I want mainstream news but do I only want the voices of a homogenous group (and much of the media is made up of a certain type of person, from a certain type of background and socio-economic and educational status) to be heard, no! That is not representative of the world in which we live.
Hi Lolo, thanks for the detailed arguments (with information). I have googled the information and it’s really interesting stuff, especially the information about Joseph Harker. So thanks.
Maybe it seems that that I am opposed to black magazines. But I am not. I even wrote for a black magazine, so I can relate to a lot issues you mentioned: lack of advertisement, the other view, different people, etc.
Also I see a ‘gender’ difference here. The absence of black woman in mainstream magazines is something I know (as a black man), but it’s not something I automatically think of when I am arguing about black magazines and papers. So, sorry for that.
Taking you as example for why we don’t need black media is of course absurd. The lack of black journalists in the mainstream is a problem everywhere where black people are a minority. In Netherlands a mayor newspaper has only 2 ‘minority’ reporters on a total staff of 400. But that’s another discussion which you wrote about in a previous post.
I think we really don’t have a total different view. When I first read your post, I thought: of course she is right. But when I thought of the black news and magazines articles I realised that most of it was celeb news, stories about black relationships, etc. But I also read the interesting information you are referring to. Maybe some of the stories could have been published in mainstream publications.
So yes I agree with you that we need good black media. But if BET is still a mayor force, a website as “Black Ghetto Mess” a big hit, and if most black newsmakers are athletes and entertainers then it’s sometimes difficult to see the big reader base for quality black magazines like Untold. But I agree with you, we need that kind of black media. But who is ‘we’?
I think you and I have a different opinion about what the percentage of ‘we’ is. That’s why I argued in favour of mainstream. But as I said I overlooked the gender issue here.
And no I’ve never read the tabloid New Nation, but I saw their website and it was clear it wasn’t the media you were talking about.
So I do agree with you on a lot of issues, although we may have a slight difference of opinion on specific details.