Filed under: Dr. Boyce Money, News
The group is arguing that the NBC/Comcast merger should not be allowed to proceed without Comcast agreeing to allocate 10 percent of its channel capacity and 10 percent of its programming budget to African American owned networks.
According to the group's website, two of the men behind the move are Stanley Washington, a former media executive, and Kevin Martin, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Martin has gone as far as filing a lawsuit challenging the pending merger between NBC and Comcast, and has even pushed for a Comcast boycott.
The group's open letter appears to paint President Obama as a leader who has reversed his position on black media ownership. They start by quoting a letter that Obama wrote to the FCC as a senator, in which he stated that, "....the commission has failed to further the goals of diversity in media and... it is in no position to justify allowing for increased consolidation of the market."
The letter goes on to suggest that the Obama Administration has been kept silent by massive lobbying efforts on the part of Comcast to get the merger approved:
"If you continue to follow the path of the Beltway Elite, and turn your back on the African American community, and the critical goals you set for yourself and your administration (jobs, transparency in government, opportunity for all, net neutrality, etc.), it will foster widespread disappointment moving forward."
The pending merger between NBC and Comcast would be an intimidating concentration of power within the communications industry. Many outside observers don't believe that President Obama, nor anyone within his administration, feels positioned to challenge the merger, especially in light of the spending that both companies are doing to gain support in Washington. The decision to support a merger of this magnitude would certainly run counter to principles of net neutrality and open access to media. It would also continue a disturbing trend of corporate media control that occurred during the Bush Administration.
How media access is allocated should be of incredible significance to the black community, given that media shapes our lives, our messages and how we view the world. Part of the reason that a disproportionate number of black boys want to be rappers or basketball players is due to the fact that the black male images they see and hear in media are saturated with athletes, entertainers, criminals and almost nothing else. While there are a plethora of white talk radio options, there is almost nothing for black America other than stations owned by the same companies that play Lil Wayne songs over and over again. It's time for a change, and the change must occur at the top.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.