Retracing the Anemic Black-owned Broadcasting in the 21st Century

Coleman, K., Denetra Walker, Bland, D. & Ratnam, C. (April, 2023) “Retracing the Anemic Black-owned Broadcasting in the 21st Century,” 2nd place Top Paper, BEA, in the Multicultural Studies paper category. Las Vegas, NV

Abstract: With the downfall of the Black News Channel (BNC), new attention is on the success of Black broadcasting, leadership, and content. Despite the FCC calling Black-owned media “anemic,” the authors of this paper found there is a long history of this issue and lack of information which dates back decades. Through an analysis of FCC data, the authors found few Black men and women in leadership and/or ownership roles of television, radio stations. The authors critically examine what this means for the broadcasting industry, society and how academic circles, media institutions, and government agencies should uphold the space for the need of diverse voices to lead media organizations.