The Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus weekend in Albany gave lawmakers and their constituents an excellent opportunity a few days ago, not simply to rub shoulders but to exchange ideas on the Empire State's most pressing challenges.
They seemed to have taken full advantage of every hour and minute. For the issues on the agenda ranged far and wide during workshops, luncheon and dinner sessions and informal gatherings that zeroed in on the budget crisis, education, health care, the aged and economic and cultural development.
Interestingly, a lively and well attended session gave media professionals, elected officials and a diverse audience a much-needed chance to look at the crucial role of newspapers, radio, television and the Internet whose audiences are the ethnic communities that dot the state and the City of New York. And when they assessed how communities are portrayed and, in many cases, how their images are mangled by "mainstream" media institutions, and the way Black, Hispanic and Asian media houses in the state and across the country must come to the rescue by bringing balance to their coverage, the verdict was clear: the ethnic press must continue to work in their audiences' interest.
Moderated by State Senator Bill Perkins, a Harlem Democrat and ranking member on the upper chamber's committee on corporations, commissions and authorities, the exchanges served their purpose and Perkins handled the chairman's duties with aplomb.
Inevitably, the forum brought into sharp focus the essential purpose of minority media institutions in an era of a Black President in the White House in Washington, a Black minority leader in the State Senate, more than 40 Blacks in the U.S. House of Representatives, not to mention the people of color who are leaders in corporate America, academia, civil society, law enforcement and the military.
Some things became crystal clear as the panelists articulated their views on questions of balance, relevance, editorial judgment and emphasis, equal access and on the need for their institutions in the first place.
Historically, the role and value of the Black press to society, for instance, can be traced to 1787, when led by the Rev. Richard Allen and Black parishioners staged an anti-discrimination protest against forced seating in church balconies that eventually spawned the birth of the Black press from the Black church. In 1827, the country saw the birth of its first Black newspaper, The Freedom Journal, a venture launched by John Russwurm, a Caribbean immigrant, and the Rev. Samuel Cornish, an African American, both of whom saw the imbalance in the coverage in the "mainstream" media as an urgent call to action.
Sadly, that imbalance is a fact of life in 2011 and it was underscored in the State of New York when David Paterson was Governor, State Senator John Sampson was Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus in Albany, and when Bill Thompson ran for Mayor of New York City less than 18 months ago and came within 50,000 votes of capturing the coveted prize. It was as if open season had been declared on Black and Latino office-holders. The need for a press that targets the ethnically diversified City and state would remain vital as long as we have a Black, Hispanic and Asian Church; schools and neighborhoods that are virtually segregated; minority and women owned businesses that are fighting to keep their doors open; cultural institutions that aim to serve specific communities. In short, as long as we have a country divided along racial lines, the vitality of ethnic media would continue.
That brings with it the responsibility of focusing on the strengths and the weaknesses of the neighborhoods and communities. It's a task which the papers, most of them weeklies, and radio and television programs undertake with a passion but aren't always given the equal access to centers of power and influence in Albany and city halls across the state.
John Liu, the New York City Comptroller and the first Asian American to be elected to such a powerful position, attended and participated quite effectively in the forum. He raised the thorny matter of access by minority media enterprises to the large sums of money spent by the state and New York City on advertising. As he explained it, the vital organs of mass communication that reach into the heart of ethnic communities aren't being considered for a justifiable share of the state advertising budgets. It was a bold step for the comptroller to take. After all, calling for better access and a measure of balance in the allocation of state and city agency advertising, Liu runs the risk of triggering the ire of the large newspapers which enjoy what is virtually a monopoly on advertising budgets.
But New York City and the state aren't alone. The National Newspaper Publishers Association, the oldest and most influential Black newspaper organization in the country, argued for equal access when it members held their 2011 mid-winter conference in the U.S. Virgin Islands. After all, the lifeblood of the publishing business is advertising and papers would wither and die on the vine if denied it.
It's not simply a matter of advertising, as Senator Perkins and the others in the hearing room heard from Elinor Tatum, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Amsterdam News, Dame Babou, a host of the African Times radio show; Roberto Perez who produces and presents a web-based radio show, The Perez Notes; Tony Best, a senior editor of Carib News, and other journalists. Equal access brings into sharp focus the need for better communication between media houses and elected officials whose districts and voters turn to many of the papers and electronic media centers for news and opinions in the issues of importance to them. The useful forum needs the effective follow-up promised by Senator Perkins.
