The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

“Yet with the recent announcement that the New York Times plans to launch a “black” newspaper in Gainesville, Fla., black publishers nationwide are reacting with hostility to the “Old Gray Lady” trying to hone in on their turf.

The usual grenades are begin tossed out, namely that a “white” owner won’t have the same respect for the kind of stories that are typically covered in the black press, and that this is nothing more than a ploy to “take” dollars from already struggling black newspapers.

My message to them: We live in a nation where capitalism is king, and Wall Street has never cared about the color or “mission” of a company – if the concept can make money they are all for it. Just look at the Hispanic publications being snapped up by major media companies.

But you can count me as one of the folks who is happy to see the New York Times make such a move. The other black newspaper owners are responding defensively to the move. For me, I’m ready to go on the offense.”

“…Yet we have to be honest with ourselves. Many of our readers have deserted us because some papers are inferior. The writing is terrible, the layout leaves something to be desired, and the papers are filled with press releases, photos from PR hacks and stories from uninformed people.” (please click here to read the rest of this article.)

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This was yet another refreshing read from Martin on the state of black newspapers. Martin abandons the “circle the wagons” reaction by Black Press USA to the possibility that the NY Times is considering getting into the black newspaper world. His assessment in his piece is right on point. I would also add (like I have been doing for years) that our newspapers tend to focus too much on the “white kid sprays the letters ‘KKK’ on back of restaurant” stories. These stories do need to be reported, but front page?

A while ago, Martin left a comment on this blog encouraging readers to check out the podcasts from the Chicago Defender (where he is the executive director). Please continue to support this initiative and others like it to bring our papers into the 21st century.