Filed under: Interviews, Television
The Detroit-bred anchor became a household name while working at Black Entertainment Television in the 1990's. Despite a non-existent news budget and the network's emphasis on music videos, he was still able to land coveted interviews with the likes of music greats like Whitney Houston, Hollywood stars like Denzel Washington, world leaders like Nelson Mandela and his infamous sit down with O.J. Simpson right after his acquittal for the murder of his ex-wife.
After leaving BET, Gordon landed high-profile jobs at NBC, where he contributed to the 'Today Show' and 'Dateline NBC;' CBS, where he worked as a contributor on '60 Minutes;' and National Public Radio, where he hosted, 'News and Notes with Ed Gordon.'
Following his most recent stint of hosting the nationally syndicated 'Our World with Black Enterprise,' the 49-year-old journalist has returned to BET where he hosts a new sho
w called 'Weekly With Ed Gordon.'BV Buzz sat down with Gordon at the Washington, DC hot spot Busboys and Poets to talk about his new show and to get his view on some of the latest hot topics.
Returning to BET to host this show is a homecoming for you, isn't it?
Honestly, that's what it is for me. With all the back and forth I've had with BET - the fights and me wanting them to do things the right way - it is home and I'm happy to be back. I want to provide what I think the community has been clamoring for. More than anything, the response that I've received is that people have genuinely welcomed me back 'home' and they have been nothing but excited about the possibility of what we're gonna bring.
Talk television and this news magazine format is very prevalent now because of the cable news channels and the success of network shows like 'The View.' What will set your show apart from the rest?
Rev. Sharpton just joined the fray, but the reality is we don't have enough Black perspective when you talk about news and current affairs. What I wanted to do with this show is do what I think works particularly in our community but in today's world. We're not just gonna talk politics and social issues, but everything from politics to pop culture. If it is an issue of Reggie Bush giving the Heisman trophy back we're gonna talk about it on this show. If it is gonna be something that happened on the VMA's that our community is talking about we're gonna talk about it, but we're also gonna talk about what's going on in the White House, what we should be doing by virtue of getting out to vote, how we should be wielding our political clout. I understood that if it were strictly a political show we were going to have a fairly small audience truth be told. At the end of the day even 'Meet the Press' has a fairly small audience in comparison. I felt like if we could marry the idea of entertaining, not entertainment, but having frank discussions, the kind of discussions that we have around the table if you're at a barbeque or dinner with your friends and you're talking politics and the events of the day- that's what we hope this will be.
I don't have any dream guests at this point and people ask me that all the time. I don't know if it's that I've been blessed to talk to just about everybody, but I also think about for as long as I've been in the business that dream changes from year to year to year. What we want to be able to do though is just be in the game of getting the people when they're important. For instance, I think week two or week three we've already booked Condoleezza Rice and we're excited about getting that name and being on that list of people who will literally talk to her and being on the front line of this list. Often, African-American shows get people two, three, four months after they've been everywhere else. My goal and my history have shown we're in that game from day one and that's all I'm asking for. I want to make sure we're in that game. We want to make sure that the guests are A-list and that we're not just getting A-list celebrities but also making sure that the administration, the White House and the people in Washington take us seriously and they come see us like they see everybody else. I don't want to be visited once a year. You need to see us on a regular basis.
Since so much news is becoming opinion-news, let me have you weigh in on some hot topics. You mentioned Reggie Bush. What are your thoughts on him having to return the Heisman trophy?
I think it's two-fold. I think the first issue is that Reggie Bush is not the first or the last athlete who will have taken money in favor the way he took it. The hypocrisy is we can spank Reggie Bush and say isn't that terrible, but don't we really need to accept that's what really goes on and put it above the table or clean up the entire
world of sports. I suspect with the amount of money that goes in and out it's not gonna be that so we need to stop being a little less hypocritical and realize that college sports for many is the minor leagues. President Barack Obama is being criticized by Republicans and there are all these so-called polls that say his approval ratings are down. Why do you think that is?
I think the economy drives all. I think that he clearly would not be in the doldrums that he's in if this economy was percolating. I think the Democrats in general have done a poor job of selling their message to working together and dealing with the constituency that put them in. I think the driver and the idea of politics being in the game of taking care of those who put you in place has not been dealt with in the best way with this administration and by this school of Democrats. The President conversely has done a lot of wonderful things. He has fought for a number of issues and maybe their team has not been able to get that word out and sell it in the best way.
On the pop culture front, T.I. and his wife Tiny were arrested for drug possession. He's already on parole. What are your thoughts on this situation?
I think T.I. to a great degree is reflective of that generation. He seems to be and I've met him on a number of occasions. I don't know him well but he seems to be a decent enough cat. I think there is this draw of having to overcome as you get older the idea of what you think a Black man should, what you think our community feels is right and wrong and I think he is reflective of our inability particularly from young men to understand as you grow older there is some responsibility that you have to take, not only to yourself, but to our community. You have to leave some of it behind. I'm 50 this year and I didn't get to be 50 without stumbles and mistakes. I didn't get to be 50 and a Black male and not understand all the dynamic of being that. I have not always done things the right way. I hope as I get older to grow with the knowledge of if I keep making those same mistakes I go nowhere. As brilliant of an artist as he is, I hope he understands that you have to be that brilliant as a man and our community as Black men in general have to understand what we bring to the table. We bring a lot to the table but if you don't do it with the right dressing and the right surrounding then it's lost.
Let me be real candid here - people have said to me, 'Ed, we're so glad you're back, now you can save BET.' That's not what we're here for. What we are here for is to do slow change. I think BET realizes the power and potential they have and I think they're trying to put things in place to move to that end. I tell people what I think the President has to tell people. This stuff ain't gonna be turned around in 48 hours or even a season. Just take a look at what we're attempting to do and give us some time. Even during my tenure at BET, I've always been able to bring a quality program to air and that's not gonna change this time around. I think people have to accept what is change in terms of what they're seeing, be patient with the change but also be demanding. Be demanding to the network that this is what we want. Be demanding to those of us who produce it to say yeah, we like this. Tune in and be vocal to what you like and don't like and support it. I've always been blessed with great support when being at BET and I don't look for that to be any different, but I hope that this will be the start of a new day of new programming and quite frankly a powerful program as well.
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'Weekly with Ed Gordon' airs on BET every Sunday at 12 noon ET.
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