by: B.J.
Posted: September 10, 2007
“Black”
talk radio, or as I call it, “civil-rights” radio, is the laughing stock of
radio broadcasting today. What we
are painfully experiencing today is nowhere near the brand of radio that was
pioneered by arguably the most influential black figures in radio
broadcasting—the late Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene, and Dewey Hughes,
ex-husband of Cathy Hughes, the founder of Radio One, which was created after
their initial purchase of WOL-AM in Washington DC.
WOL-AM was the station that cemented Petey Greene’s phenomenal legacy
in radio broadcasting, and it’s a crying shame that the magnificent efforts
that Petey Greene pioneered are just as dead as his flesh.
I know his spirit isn’t happy, however, and neither am I.
Black talk radio is a disgrace to radio broadcasting, and the saddest
commentary of all is that virtually no is willing to take advantage of the road
that was paved by Petey Greene.
This
is why The Exceptional Radio Network was created, to revive the legacy of the
late Petey Greene—by providing the listening public with an entertaining brand
of candid, honest, and politically incorrect commentary that is virtually
non-existent in black talk radio especially.
In addition to those important attributes, we at The Exceptional Radio
Network believe that there should a place for intelligent discussion for the
black community, and this is the void that our network fills.
Unlike
what’s heard on “civil-rights” radio today, Petey Greene believed in
speaking his mind—REGARDLESS if his views were deemed controversial or not.
He said what needed to be said, and what many others thought but were
unwilling to say. That’s what
made his show a success. When Petey
Greene expressed his views on the airwaves, his comments generated discussions
amongst his listeners. Unfortunately,
black talk radio today doesn’t operate in the same fashion.
Those who have been entrusted with the opportunity to broadcast their
horrible shows downright REFUSE to facilitate even a halfway decent talk show.
They would rather flood their shows with guests and callers, offer no
commentary of their own for fear of being deemed “controversial”, and
promote only ONE side of every issue—and that is usually the liberal or
Democratic side. No way do these
people even think about allowing the opposing view to surface on their shows,
because they cannot effectively counter the opposing view without utilizing
personal attacks, which are usually made AFTER callers with an opposing view
have been hung up on without the opportunity to defend their position. This is NOT a good example of a dialogue, and that’s what
TALK radio is supposed to be all about.
Talk
radio without a healthy dialogue isn’t good talk radio, and this is why black
talk radio today is so bad. These
people believe in the very warped view that “everyone must all get along” in
order to have a successful black talk radio show.
In short, they are under the belief that if everyone doesn’t agree
100%, then it isn’t a good show for blacks.
There are no statements further from the truth.
If that alone isn’t outrageous enough, then the allowing of this
garbage to be otherwise labeled “the voice of the (black) community is a
blatant insult to blacks, and we should be in outrage over this. The truth of the matter is that “black” talk radio should
be no different than traditional (white) talk radio, which primarily focuses on
producing an entertaining, informative, and thought provoking talk show.
Furthermore, traditional talk radio understands the importance of call
screening, which primary focus is to protect the show quality by imposing high
standards of its callers that they allow on the air.
Unfortunately, “civil rights” radio is so desperate for callers to
make their shows for them, that they would allow any idiot to comment on their
shows—regardless how stupid their comments are.
To add insult to injury, since the “hosts” of these shows have no
interest in offering THEIR views on the issues, they would rather pit calls
against each other instead of engaging in a conversation with the caller
themselves. This is absolutely
pitiful, and why so many people cannot stand to listen to black talk radio.
Also,
black talk radio has NO entertainment value, and I honestly believe that it ‘s
their INTENTION not to be entertaining. This
makes it easier for them to convey their “doom
and gloom” message to the very few people who are compelled to listen to that
garbage. This is the primary reason
why their bumper music is depressing, the hosts have NO energy or personality
when they speak, and why they are so eager to put whiney and depressed callers
on the air time and time again. They
perpetrate a fraud to their listeners by giving off a perception that blacks are
in a permanent state of despair, and have no hope of living a happy and
successful life in America simply because of the color of their skin, or because
of the actions of the highest-ranking Republican elected official.
This mindset keeps the ignorant blacks permanently entrenched on the
Democratic plantation, which does nothing but ensures that their votes will be
taken for granted by the very people that they blindly support.
Just think of how damaging this medium would be if it actually rated
well?
They
don’t rate well because the vast majority of blacks either don’t believe in
this message, or they downright don’t find this medium interesting enough to
listen to it on a consistent basis. Moreover,
the very people black talkers could attract with this terrible programming
content would rather listen to music radio anyway.
Talk radio is for those who like to USE their minds, and it takes thought
provoking content in order to do so. What
civil rights radio “decision makers” don’t realize is that predictable
commentary doesn’t provoke anyone to think, nor does it compel anyone to
listen on a consistent basis. What
cemented Petey Greene’s legacy is his unpredictable and thought provoking
hard-hitting commentary. Unfortunately,
all civil rights oriented talk radio today is the absolute same show, no matter
who’s behind the microphone hosting it.
Consider
the shows that were cancelled on XM The Power, which should’ve NEVER been on
anyone’s airwaves in the first place. These
shows were boring, predictable, and hosted by people that weren’t all that
bright. However, they “carried
the water” for their slave masters, i.e. white racist liberals, and
unfortunately the blind sheep that followed that garbage is expressing outrage
because “their” show was cancelled. I
pray each and every day that these morons would open their minds someday.
The same people who are screaming the loudest in outrage over the
cancellation of “We Ourselves” cannot produce one example of what made that
show so entertaining to the listening public, nor can they provide us with any
example of a thought provoking comment that was conveyed by the host of this
program. What more could we expect
from a demographic that is the first to say that conservative talk radio is
“hate” radio, when the truth of the matter is that they’ve NEVER taken
time to listen to it?
When
Radio One decided to create this colossal failure called “The African-American
Talk Project” (Syndication One), their stock plummeted.
Many stations that carried this garbage right after the launching of this
project have since dropped the programming entirely, or moved the programming to
overnights, because virtually NO ONE is interested in listening to this junk.
Instead of listening to constructive programming advice, they would
rather run their company in the ground instead of making the necessary
programming changes that would lead to an obvious increase in listener interest.
This is the saddest commentary of all, and is also the primary reason
that any person of color that’s interested in hosting a talk radio show
isn’t taken seriously in the industry overall because they are mistakenly
branded as bad of a talent as those that are already on the radio.
If it isn’t a “civil rights” nutcase, it’s an ass-kissing
“wannabe” conservative that’s constantly afforded opportunities to host a
radio show. When a company’s
mission is social engineering, then this behavior makes sense.
However, when a company’s mission is supposed to be about the
“uplifting” of its race, then these types of programming decisions should
not be tolerated. What can be said
about a talk radio channel geared for blacks when the “powers that be”
believe that a show hosted by a flamboyant gay person would generate more
interest among blacks than a show that is thought provoking, conservative,
entertaining, and focuses on intellectually stimulating conversation?
What we must do to turn things around is support the very few shows out there that focus on continuing Petey Greene’s vision of saying what needs to be said, regardless if the comments are popular or not, and welcoming a healthy dialogue to take place. We need to stop supporting these awful shows and more importantly, we need to stop making their shows by calling into them and providing them with content for other callers to use. This is the job of the HOST—not the callers. It’s a crying shame that many blacks that should know better would rather participate in those horrible shows, than shows that are better suited for them—shows that would actually appreciate their intelligent comments instead of rejecting them and using them as a proverbial “punching bag” to their closed minded supporters. Talk radio for blacks will NEVER improve until we stop accepting this “civil rights” garbage as our LONE voice. This is what Petey Greene stood for, and it is our job to continue his legacy.
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