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PUBLISHER'S ANALYSIS: Tyson’s saga shows continued need for minority media
- By Roy Douglas Malonson
- Published 06/1/2009
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Roy Douglas Malonson
Roy D. Malonson is publisher of the African-American News&Issues.
View all articles by Roy Douglas Malonson
I’ve always heard that you don’t kick a man when he’s down, but apparently the majority media believes George Wallace’s quip, “Why not? That’s when his head is closest to your feet!” That was made apparent when Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson recently lost his 4-year-old daughter in a tragic accident. Exodus Tyson died one day after becoming entangled in the cord of a treadmill.
Yet, most of the articles centered on Tyson’s troubled past and posted a litnany of his sins instead of focusing on the fact that he is still a father who has just lost a child. The closest writer who at least halfway tried to get it right was Tim Dahlberg, a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Dahlberg shared some personal memories of a “kinder, gentler,” Tyson and one who has been sober and clean for over a year, but even he wrote nearly 400 words about the old Tyson before he even mentioned Exodus.
This has nothing to do with censuring the news. When those things happened to Tyson, or to be more specific, when he did them, they were newsworthy and there will be times when they are newsworthy again. But this isn’t one of them.
It’s the old story of demonizing anything Black. Even in such a time like this. There shouldn’t be a wonder why hate-mongers like Rush Limbaugh can become the mouthpiece of a political party that got its start under the slogan, “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men ...” over 150 years ago?
Blacks portrayal in the majority media is brought to you by some of the same people who gaveus “Negroes Under Seige,” a while back. You know, the police series that focused on crime which highlighted cases whereby the perpetrators were almost always Black, although anybody can tell you that Prisons for Blacks only do not exist in America.
I’m often asked if there is a need for strong-African-American newspapers today. The slagardness of today’s major news outlets causes us to press harder although operational strategies may change. In fact, the people’s disenchantment with the majority media might be showing up in an unexpected place.
According to Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media (NAM), “a somewhat surprising development has been the sustained growth of ethnic media, even as major daily newspapers struggle to keep their readers.” She states that a new poll commissioned by NAM has found that the penetration of Spanish-language radio stations and newspapers has increased substantially since 2005. African-American audiences for television stations, radio stations and newspapers have increased about 10 percent since 2005; Chinese-language television stations and newspapers now reach 70 percent of all Chinese adults in the US, up from 55 percent in 2005; and Korean-language newspapers reach 64 percent of all Korean adults in the country, a boost from 46 percent in 2005.
NAM, made up of more than 2,500 ethnic media outlets, is working to sustain and grow ethnic media in America. On June 4-5, 2009 at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency Hotel, it will sponsor the National Ethnic Media Expo & Awards, which highlights the successes of the ethnic media and help the outlets develop strategies for surviving the economic downturn.
Yet, most of the articles centered on Tyson’s troubled past and posted a litnany of his sins instead of focusing on the fact that he is still a father who has just lost a child. The closest writer who at least halfway tried to get it right was Tim Dahlberg, a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Dahlberg shared some personal memories of a “kinder, gentler,” Tyson and one who has been sober and clean for over a year, but even he wrote nearly 400 words about the old Tyson before he even mentioned Exodus.
This has nothing to do with censuring the news. When those things happened to Tyson, or to be more specific, when he did them, they were newsworthy and there will be times when they are newsworthy again. But this isn’t one of them.
It’s the old story of demonizing anything Black. Even in such a time like this. There shouldn’t be a wonder why hate-mongers like Rush Limbaugh can become the mouthpiece of a political party that got its start under the slogan, “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men ...” over 150 years ago?
Blacks portrayal in the majority media is brought to you by some of the same people who gaveus “Negroes Under Seige,” a while back. You know, the police series that focused on crime which highlighted cases whereby the perpetrators were almost always Black, although anybody can tell you that Prisons for Blacks only do not exist in America.
I’m often asked if there is a need for strong-African-American newspapers today. The slagardness of today’s major news outlets causes us to press harder although operational strategies may change. In fact, the people’s disenchantment with the majority media might be showing up in an unexpected place.
According to Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media (NAM), “a somewhat surprising development has been the sustained growth of ethnic media, even as major daily newspapers struggle to keep their readers.” She states that a new poll commissioned by NAM has found that the penetration of Spanish-language radio stations and newspapers has increased substantially since 2005. African-American audiences for television stations, radio stations and newspapers have increased about 10 percent since 2005; Chinese-language television stations and newspapers now reach 70 percent of all Chinese adults in the US, up from 55 percent in 2005; and Korean-language newspapers reach 64 percent of all Korean adults in the country, a boost from 46 percent in 2005.
NAM, made up of more than 2,500 ethnic media outlets, is working to sustain and grow ethnic media in America. On June 4-5, 2009 at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency Hotel, it will sponsor the National Ethnic Media Expo & Awards, which highlights the successes of the ethnic media and help the outlets develop strategies for surviving the economic downturn.