It's Mere Bitches!
05-05-2006, 09:18 PM
One need only to look at the recent booting of John Salley of "The
John Salley Block Party" on Radio One's KKBT-FM (100.3) The Beat and
the chosen replacement of Dallas based personality Tom Joyner, to
see the crisis in black radio in Los Angeles.
In the nation's second largest media market that is home to almost
one million blacks, there is only one daily talk show that focuses
on issues relevant to blacks in Los Angeles and unless you're up at
4:30 a.m., you miss it. And this is not a plug for the "Front Page"
on KJLH, but it is what it is.
Please tell me that I am not the only black person in Los Angeles to
notice the gradual yet progressive downward spiral of black radio
into meaningless banter by obsolete personalities who are solely
focused on their own lives and use four hours during morning drive
time to tell you about it. And if it's not the "Chatty Kathy"
personalities then it's the celebrity who has a new movie,
television show, album, video, ring tone, sneaker, or whatever that
just won't shut up.
Then there's the issue of community news, you know news about issues
relevant to you and me. Well, that's just about disappeared too.
If radio stations read news, it's usually Associated Press or City
News copy that wasn't written by us and usually doesn't pertain to
us. How many black radio news reporters do you know of? Off the
top of my head I can only come up with one, Jacquie Stephens.
Let's be clear here. There are only two black owned radio stations
in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder's KJLH and Radio One's KKBT.
KJLH gets a pass simply because they are home to the only daily
black talk show in Los Angeles and they actually have a black
reporter that goes out into the community to report our news.
However, KJLH would do better by moving the "Front Page" into the
"Home Team's" time slot and vice versa.
Radio One's KKBT has been a constant disappointment for years. I
didn't think they could go much lower after hiring Steve Harvey but
then they hired John Salley and made a fool of me. It was a bad
move to nix then KKBT personality Dominique DiPrima, but Da Poetess
has been trying to hold it down over there for the community.
Consider this. Spanish language radio disc jockeys were the moving
force behind the mass numbers of people in attendance at the pro
immigration rallies and marches. They told their people where to
go, when to be there, what to bring with them, and the people came.
When was the last time John Salley, Big Boy, or Cliff Winston told
you to attend a rally in support of an issue that was important to
blacks? My point exactly.
Illegal immigration is all everybody is talking about these days,
everybody except you know who.
So imagine my own surprise when I found myself tuning in to KFI 640
AM of all stations to get briefed on the latest immigration news.
Notoriously known for being Los Angeles' conservative talk station,
KFI has been the only station in Los Angeles to really address
immigration in a language that I can understand, English. And even
though I don't always agree with their points of view, I can
appreciate a station that is actually willing to at least talk about
the issue. It was KFI not a black radio station that first asked
blacks how they felt about illegal immigration and had blacks call
in to the station to voice their opinions. Go figure?
Someone reading this article is going say, "Well, these stations
play music. Their focus is not news." That may be true, but if
it's a black station, we should also be able get our news from them
as well. I don't expect KFWB News 980 or KPCC 89.9 FM to do a
special broadcast on community news specific to blacks, although it
would be nice. I do however expect stations that cater to this
community to address the issues that are important to us and provide
us with comprehensive news that we can use to educate ourselves.
Who was voted off of American Idol the night before is irrelevant
when we are in danger of losing a community like Leimert Park.
Somehow I just don't think a Dallas based radio personality who has
no connection to the community is who we need on the airwaves in Los
Angeles. It's just a hunch.
# # #
Kennedy Johnson is a black writer who lives somewhere in Los
Angeles. Kennedy can be reached at johnson_kennedy@hotmail.com.
John Salley Block Party" on Radio One's KKBT-FM (100.3) The Beat and
the chosen replacement of Dallas based personality Tom Joyner, to
see the crisis in black radio in Los Angeles.
In the nation's second largest media market that is home to almost
one million blacks, there is only one daily talk show that focuses
on issues relevant to blacks in Los Angeles and unless you're up at
4:30 a.m., you miss it. And this is not a plug for the "Front Page"
on KJLH, but it is what it is.
Please tell me that I am not the only black person in Los Angeles to
notice the gradual yet progressive downward spiral of black radio
into meaningless banter by obsolete personalities who are solely
focused on their own lives and use four hours during morning drive
time to tell you about it. And if it's not the "Chatty Kathy"
personalities then it's the celebrity who has a new movie,
television show, album, video, ring tone, sneaker, or whatever that
just won't shut up.
Then there's the issue of community news, you know news about issues
relevant to you and me. Well, that's just about disappeared too.
If radio stations read news, it's usually Associated Press or City
News copy that wasn't written by us and usually doesn't pertain to
us. How many black radio news reporters do you know of? Off the
top of my head I can only come up with one, Jacquie Stephens.
Let's be clear here. There are only two black owned radio stations
in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder's KJLH and Radio One's KKBT.
KJLH gets a pass simply because they are home to the only daily
black talk show in Los Angeles and they actually have a black
reporter that goes out into the community to report our news.
However, KJLH would do better by moving the "Front Page" into the
"Home Team's" time slot and vice versa.
Radio One's KKBT has been a constant disappointment for years. I
didn't think they could go much lower after hiring Steve Harvey but
then they hired John Salley and made a fool of me. It was a bad
move to nix then KKBT personality Dominique DiPrima, but Da Poetess
has been trying to hold it down over there for the community.
Consider this. Spanish language radio disc jockeys were the moving
force behind the mass numbers of people in attendance at the pro
immigration rallies and marches. They told their people where to
go, when to be there, what to bring with them, and the people came.
When was the last time John Salley, Big Boy, or Cliff Winston told
you to attend a rally in support of an issue that was important to
blacks? My point exactly.
Illegal immigration is all everybody is talking about these days,
everybody except you know who.
So imagine my own surprise when I found myself tuning in to KFI 640
AM of all stations to get briefed on the latest immigration news.
Notoriously known for being Los Angeles' conservative talk station,
KFI has been the only station in Los Angeles to really address
immigration in a language that I can understand, English. And even
though I don't always agree with their points of view, I can
appreciate a station that is actually willing to at least talk about
the issue. It was KFI not a black radio station that first asked
blacks how they felt about illegal immigration and had blacks call
in to the station to voice their opinions. Go figure?
Someone reading this article is going say, "Well, these stations
play music. Their focus is not news." That may be true, but if
it's a black station, we should also be able get our news from them
as well. I don't expect KFWB News 980 or KPCC 89.9 FM to do a
special broadcast on community news specific to blacks, although it
would be nice. I do however expect stations that cater to this
community to address the issues that are important to us and provide
us with comprehensive news that we can use to educate ourselves.
Who was voted off of American Idol the night before is irrelevant
when we are in danger of losing a community like Leimert Park.
Somehow I just don't think a Dallas based radio personality who has
no connection to the community is who we need on the airwaves in Los
Angeles. It's just a hunch.
# # #
Kennedy Johnson is a black writer who lives somewhere in Los
Angeles. Kennedy can be reached at johnson_kennedy@hotmail.com.