from Vibe.com
CRITICAL NOIR: Black & Public
by Mark Anthony Neal
In celebration of Black History Month, Thirteen/WNET in New York recently launched the on-line project, Broadcasting While Black. The flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) the efforts by Thirteen/WNET could easily be read as another seasonal gimmick aimed at generating more financial support for public broadcasting among Black Americans--and such a reading wouldn't be wrong. But I'd like to suggest that something more substantial is also at play, captured in part by the comments of Thirteen/WNET on-line editor Robin Edgerton who writes, that while mainstream Black History Month programming typically focuses on the history of racial conflict and oppression ("Black History Month then becomes, in part, White History Month"), "this online project emphasizes identity--African-Americans who took control of media moving their debates and art forward--and at the same time developing a broader place and stronger voice."
Broadcasting While Black offers a compelling snapshot of the heady days of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements when the desire for many factions within Black America to tell their story came to fruition via public affairs broadcasting on stations such as WNET in New York City, WGBH in Boston and WTTW in Chicago. Among the signature shows produced in the late 1960s were Black Journal (Tony Brown's Journal), Soul!, and Say Brother (Basic Black), which is the longest running program of its type in the country. Many of these programs were informed by a distinctly local perspective, as was the case with Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was produced by current WNET-producer Charles Hobson.
Read the Full Essay HERE
CRITICAL NOIR: Black & Public
by Mark Anthony Neal
In celebration of Black History Month, Thirteen/WNET in New York recently launched the on-line project, Broadcasting While Black. The flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) the efforts by Thirteen/WNET could easily be read as another seasonal gimmick aimed at generating more financial support for public broadcasting among Black Americans--and such a reading wouldn't be wrong. But I'd like to suggest that something more substantial is also at play, captured in part by the comments of Thirteen/WNET on-line editor Robin Edgerton who writes, that while mainstream Black History Month programming typically focuses on the history of racial conflict and oppression ("Black History Month then becomes, in part, White History Month"), "this online project emphasizes identity--African-Americans who took control of media moving their debates and art forward--and at the same time developing a broader place and stronger voice."
Broadcasting While Black offers a compelling snapshot of the heady days of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements when the desire for many factions within Black America to tell their story came to fruition via public affairs broadcasting on stations such as WNET in New York City, WGBH in Boston and WTTW in Chicago. Among the signature shows produced in the late 1960s were Black Journal (Tony Brown's Journal), Soul!, and Say Brother (Basic Black), which is the longest running program of its type in the country. Many of these programs were informed by a distinctly local perspective, as was the case with Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was produced by current WNET-producer Charles Hobson.
Read the Full Essay HERE
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