"Black in America:" What the Corporate Media Won't Tell You

[Jacuma]

By Solomon Comissiong

The American mainstream (corporate) media is a paragon of selective
omission, and inaccuracy. The US corporate media is also one of the most
anti-democratic forces rarely discussed. And when it comes to the
depiction of black people, and their issues, the overwhelmingly white
American corporate media ostensibly prides itself in stories with no
context, inaccuracy, and stereotypical imagery.

It is necessary to expose ridiculous non-contextual corporate media
creations such as the recent CNN special “Black in America II” (which I
will a bit later). Corporate media in America is so bad that it is
virtually impossible for most people to find a point of reference when
it comes to comparing and contrasting “good” media from “bad” media. It
has become an “art” to know exactly where to look in order to find
solid, thought provoking, and independent media. However, once you find
an actually solid and progressive media source it becomes rather easy to
see how you have been duped for so many years.

It is utterly amazing how bad the US corporate media is despite the
billions of dollars that are pumped into it each year. Beyond blatant
inaccuracy and omission of key facts, the US media will often provide
its audience with a wide array of fictitious stories, as well as racist
& xenophobic imagery!

However, at its core it is vastly anti-democratic. Plain and simple, one
must have big money and big political clout (the two are inextricably
connected in America) in order to control the airwaves you pay for.
American taxpayer dollars go towards allowing the likes of the overtly
white supremacist, and factually challenged, Fox News to operate.

The fact that tax paying citizens of America own the radio and
television airwaves makes this a fairly large swindle in “American”
history. It’s not as big as when lazy criminal minded Europeans stole
this country from its indigenous, but big nonetheless. Fact of the
matter is corporations have been co-opting the media since the advent of
the Federal Communications Commission in 1934 even though its very
inception was supposed to prevent the media from becoming entirely
commercially based. And since big business is in bed with Capital Hill
they are easily able to turn criminal acts into law and policy.

This is, in essence, what commonly happens in Washington and is what
happened, with regards to the media in 1996 with the Telecommunications
Act. The Republican led congress and the Democratic white house (Bubba
Clinton) ushered in the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This paved the way
for a significant decrease in radio ownership by so-called minorities
and allowed large corporations to have unlimited access to various forms
of media (e.g., radio stations). Local independent radio and television
stations were killed off by the thousands. The telecommunications based
capability for people of color to contextually report on stories that
mattered to them, by way of radio & TV, significantly mitigated from
community to community.

The ability to use mediums, such as the radio, to accurately report and
discuss significant issues that affect black people was drastically
limited. As it stands now African-Americans own less than one percent of
all full power TV stations and less than four percent of all radio
stations. When you throw all people of color together they own less that
five percent of TV stations and less than eight percent of radio
stations.

Those are pathetic and paltry numbers to say the least. Those are
numbers that I am quite sure CNN’s “Black in America” will never report
on in any kind of context. The reason why should be obvious. When people
of color have little to no input on news and images that are relevant to
their communities it is a perfect recipe for “disaster”. It, however,
quite frankly, is a recipe that the white supremacist institutions in
America love so very much. Reporting on black issues in a slanted,
non-contextual and inaccurate light is one of the countless nefarious
things American corporate media does best. This is precisely how there
can be a CNN special entitled “Black in America”.

There are so many glaring issues with what now seems to be CNN’s annual
series “Black in America” that I would like to discuss; I just don’t
know where to begin. I guess I will begin with the fact that I actually
watched it. I clearly was caught up in a masochistic moment.

However, in my self-deprecating defense had it not been for this
specific article I would not have wasted a few hours of my life watching
that garbage. I sort of know how a movie critic must feel to sit through
an awful B rate movie. Unfortunately for me I didn’t get paid to watch
it. However, I guess I was drawn in by the same curiosity that sometimes
kills the cat.

Would CNN focus on the institutionally racist systems that have plagued
African-Americans since being stolen and brought to this country by
shiftless, murdering, thuggish Europeans? Would CNN focus on any
blanketed solutions for the wretched conditions that most
African-Americans subsist in? Do I really need to respond by saying no?

CNN’s “Black in America” was primarily sponsored by McDonalds, which
happens to be indirectly responsible for the poor health and eventual
death of scores of Americans, let alone African-Americans. Every other
commercial break viewers were force fed a steady diet of Mickey D’s
commercials showcasing adorable little black boys articulating to a
cashier the numerous opportunities McDonalds will provide them.

Not among those opportunities were high blood pressure, diabetes, and
the consumption of fecal matter riddled ground “beef”. These commercials
were laced with the slogan, “McDonalds is deeply rooted in the
community”. If they meant deeply rooted with high cholesterol; then they
were right. It was amazingly ironic that McDonalds was “Black in
America’s” primary corporate sponsor given the fact that one segment
focused on Jeffery Canada’s Harlem based School Zone and the steps they
take to keep the youth that attend his school healthy. I guess when you
are the American corporate media you can pretty much do whatever you
want…the sheep will follow.

A couple of the features did contain some elements of raw emotion and
pride. It’s hard to not route for sincere and dedicated brothers and
sisters busting their butts to improve structurally racist conditions
within their communities. If you love black people as does the writer
does it is difficult to watch a program like that and not be engrossed
with a range of emotions. However, CNN’s blatant disregard for black
people in America and the very root causes of the systematic oppression
that they live under was infuriating.

Even when it came to black South Africans they showed no regard for the
racially unequal conditions they still live under, more than a decade
after the end of Apartheid. When CNN’s cameras and their black person
“expert” reporter, Soledad O’Brien followed a group of kids from
Brooklyn to South Africa to do humanitarian work, they stayed as far
away from the topic of the structurally white supremacist conditions
they still live under. Soledad O’Brien stayed as far away from
approaching any kind of dialogue, with the kids from Brooklyn, as to why
their South African brothers and sisters were still living like that.

She surely didn’t focus her camera crews on the very different
neighborhoods of white South Africans or even discuss the fact that over
80 percent of South Africa’s arable land is still controlled by whites.
Interestingly white South Africans make up about 10 percent of the
overall population.

You see, Soledad O’Brien and her CNN cronies would prefer to empress
upon the black kids from Brooklyn that compared to black South Africans
their living conditions weren’t half bad. The brilliance of this slick
move is that it clearly moves deep contextual discussions of racial
inequality and white supremacy as far away from their lens, and the
viewers, as possible.

Throughout their piece, the critical eye, could not help but notice how
CNN was parading these kids around like pawns on a chessboard to display
some white liberal illusion of a post racial society where one’s lack of
‘success’ is more predicated on individual effort than it is on any
socially based institution of inequality. For instance, during her piece
on Jeffery Canada’s Children’s Zone, she actually said that it was proof
that poverty should be no barrier to success.

We clearly know that black people in America have overcome some
tremendous odds in the face of chattel slavery and continued white
supremacy, however that does not mean that we should ever accept
institutional racism. Black people do not need CNN to validate that we
can overcome various barriers caused by racism or white supremacy.

Black people need real justice and equality! African-Americans have
produced tremendous scholars, among so many other things, in spite of
institutional racism. However, knowing that we can overcome various
institutionally based instances of racism does not ever mean that we
should stop our fight against it until it is eviscerated. If
African-Americans are to collectively overcome institutional inequality
then racism and white supremacy, as institutions, need to be destroyed!

Accepting these institutions (racism & white supremacy) is exactly the
inference that O’Brien’s statement, and the entire CNN special reeked
of. Once again, there was no focus at all on the fact that those kids in
Brooklyn and Harlem have incredibly disparate public school
opportunities in contrast to their white counterparts at public schools.

Even when CNN focused its camera’s on all of the fried food venues
throughout black communities in NYC they never posed the question, why?
Asking why those communities do not have more organic and healthy food
venues/alternatives was purposely as far away from their limited radar
as possible. However, we should all know that CNN would not dare place a
serious focus on institutional racism because that would inadvertently
shine a very bright light on their media outlet, as well as much of
America. They are in fact, a part of the institution, whether some would
like to admit it or not.

I could go on and on about how repugnant CNN’s “Black in America” was
(at least to me), but I wont. I would rather close on a much different
note. However, it is very important for us to have a deep contextual
understanding as to how America’s media system works. It is, without a
doubt, one of the most dangerous, duplicitous, and manipulative
instruments the “empire” has at its disposal. Having a strong
understanding of this system puts us at a much better advantage of
further developing and sustaining our own media outlets.

Black people, and all people of color, must continue to place a serious,
well organized effort toward creating more cooperative media
institutions that we independently control ourselves. We can never rely
on the corporate media to tell our stories and our issues within their
proper context.

Whether it is Fox News, CNN, MSNBC or any other corporate media outlets,
they will always look out for their own interests as well as their
corporate sponsors’ interests, before ours. This is something
fundamental that we must understand.

As Malcolm X said, “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you
hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are
doing the oppressing.” Praising CNN and their piece “Black in America”
is doing just that. CNN’s “Black in America” series was superficial, at
best. It was, and is, a piece that white neo-liberals (and
conservatives) loved and accepted because it fits within their
mainstream ideals of what is acceptable when it comes to addressing
their oppressive system.

American born Africans must try to build off of the examples and legacy
of progressive black mediums such as David Walker’s Appeal, John
Russwurm and Sam Cornish’s Freedom’s Journal, just to name a couple.
There are so many powerful examples of strong progressive black media of
the past and of the present.

Black Agenda Report is an example of a contemporary one. Vox Union
Media, The Final Call Newspaper, and the Uhuru News : Home are a
few others. Support media outlets that support your community. Support
media that is holistically invested in your community and not just
trying to get you to buy their corporate sponsor’s products. If one
critically watches CNN’s “Black in America” it is easy to truly see who
they are beholden to.

There is much truth in the commercials that were riddled throughout the
airing of that program. They clearly contradicted the very essence of
some of the themes featured within that series. CNN very well
understands that Black America’s tenuous ‘buying power’ is a more than
700 billion dollar a year “carrot” (much on credit) that they, and their
corporate partners, would love to devour. Black America must continue to
build, support and sustain strong and progressive media outlets that
support the interests of our communities.

Solomon Comissiong is an educator, community activist, author, public
speaker and the host of the Your World News radio program
(Your World News on Blog Talk Radio). He may be reached at:
sunderland77@hotmail.com.

[SoularFlarez]

why WOULD they keep it real? lol that'd be counter-productive on their side

its important NOW more than ever that we tell OUR OWN story......... music movies text images whatever.... cant get on tv, cant get radio fuckit then use da internet, hell get a magic marker or spray can and write it on the fuckign wall sumwhere.........

but long as we flooded with BLUE PILLS, we will be stuck on zombie mode

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by SoularFlarez

why WOULD they keep it real? lol that'd be counter-productive on their side

its important NOW more than ever that we tell OUR OWN story......... music movies text images whatever.... cant get on tv, cant get radio fuckit then use da internet, hell get a magic marker or spray can and write it on the fuckign wall sumwhere.........

but long as we flooded with BLUE PILLS, we will be stuck on zombie mode

There you have it-the way around the corporate propaganda and its information blockade is by doing an "end run" around it. And, on our way around it, why not add a proverbial "kick in the pants" with a boycott of their advertisers?

[SoularFlarez]

lol yup

starve the beast