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We Keep Losing Our Black Media to the Mainstream

By The Hilltop Editorial Board

Remember the days when you actually learned something from BET? It was worth it to wake up to see "Teen Summit" or "Rap City" with Joe Clair and Big Lex because the materials on the programs were geared toward you and your life.

You bopped your head (entirely too hard) to the Biggie videos with asymmetrical bobs and loud '90s colors. The videos and the shows represented you and what you wanted to see as a young African American.

That same spirit and vision could have been such a tool for the black community if it had continued on the uplifting path.

Now when we watch BET, we are bombarded by images of scantly clad video girls, "Uncut," "Hey Monie" and "College Hill." Many of us find the programming inadequate and insulting.

Times have changed and shows will, too, but we have to wonder what Viacom's role has been in the decline in quality. Since BET was sold to Viacom in 2000, BET has mirrored programming on MTV, also owned by Viacom. "106 & Park" is the black "TRL." "How I'm Living" is the black "MTV Cribs." "College Hill" is a lame attempt at "The Real World."

Robert L. Johnson

We're not saying BET is horrible, but we wonder how different it could have been if Bob Johnson had held on a little longer. We also felt disappointed to hear that Essence magazine is being sold to Time Inc.

What goes through Bob Johnson's mind when it is time to sell a dream? Where does the social conscience go when it is time to sign away something so important and potentially useful for the black community?

Maybe cutting the check is more incentive than making sure that African Americans control their image in the media. We live in a capitalistic, crab-in-the-barrel society that keeps the dollar signs in our eyes.

It isn't always strategic to continue holding on to a company when a person has the opportunity to get a large lump sum and begin another project. However, no amount of money can take away the power and dignity that comes with ownership.

The media need more black hands dictating what is and is not appropriate, and simply calling the shots. We can only hope that TV One and other media geared toward us will keep our needs in mind.

By the editorial board of The Hilltop at Howard University. The views expressed in "Voices" are those of the writers and do not reflect the opinions of Black College Wire or its affiliates.

Posted Jan. 24, 2005