Why NABJ President, Barbara Ciara, Lashed Out at WAOD:Renting Our Blackness

Further, this proposal is likely to present an opportunistic boon for many entirely different types of programming models, but not for those models pursued by minority broadcasters. Specifically, business models like home shopping and infomercials would appear to benefit most from this kind of
squatters’ approach. The result would be that more non-minority broadcast channels, under the ultimate control of the same broadcasters who control the airwaves today, would get must-carry status, with the effect of squeezing out the precious channel space that would otherwise be available to prospective minority, women’s and other emerging cable and satellite programmers. Jesse Jackson, Sr. On Behalf of Rainbow PUSH to the FCC, October 30, 2007

I know all this telecom law is boring the heck out of half of y’all, but this is important. We return once again to Bob Johnson’s scheme to launch Urban Television LLC.  For several months I have been covering Bob Johnson’s attempt to launch BET II, the broadcast edition.

• Bob Johnson and Civil Rights Industrial Complex Conspire to Destroy Minority Broadcasters-(Broadcasting Sharecropping)
• Bob Johnson’s “Urban Television” Sham-Black Leadership’s Shame- Totally Blogable!
• WAOD Exclusive:Common Cause’s Opposition to Bob Johnson’s Urban Television

Several of you have laughed at me referring to this latest scheme as a minority sharecropping infomercial channel, but I’m not joking, that is exactly what it is. BTW I didn’t come up with the term “sharecropping” to describe this scheme. That was Jesse Jackson, Sr. when he described the multi-cast “must carry” scheme that Johnson is pushing… that was before Rainbow PUSH apparently suffered the swift onset of amnesia likely brought on by Bob Johnson’s billions (technically millions-Shelia got half!)

Today I shall attempt to do a better job of explaining why you, an ordinary African American should be outraged at what Bob Johnson and Ion Media are doing. In addition, I will explain the incompetence and/or corruption of the  leaders of the NAACP, NABJ, Rainbow PUSH, and various other organization known to the FCC and the media collectively as “Civil Rights Organizations.”

So why was Rainbow PUSH so quick to condemn Ion’s plans last year, but now has taken a side opposite to that of the current minority broadcasters it was previously attempting to protect ?That’s the question we’ve been asking, but the “Civil Rights” organizations now lining up behind Ion Media’s Urban Television don’t want to answer that question.

Last week, in our most recent article about Urban Television, we openly scoffed at the president of the NABJ (National Association of Bob Johnson formerly known as the National Association of Black Journalists). We referred to her as a “rocket scientist” based on comments she made to Journalisms regarding why the NABJ supported Bob Johnson and Ion Media’s attempt to get the FCC to force cable providers to carry a subchannel of Ion Media (Urban Television).

How deep is their desire to avoid answering for their actions? Well, you be the judge, this was the rant of someone purporting to be the President of the National Association of Black Journalists:

I find it interesting that you have jumped to conclusions without ever having asked NABJ one question about why we took the position we did. It’s much easier to listen to the sound of your own voice rather than gather real information resembling the facts…You make my case….. of not investigating or verifying your source material.I never attended a dinner hosted by Bob Johnson. But never let the facts stand in the way of a good fictional blog.In this case, the messager deserves to be attacked.Journalism 101 my friend. Barbara Ciara, President of the National Association of Black Journalists

Now if I understand her criticism correctly, she’s saying I was wrong to find the report of a “journalist” credible.

Johnson won the support of the National Association of Black Journalists and other supporters after a Dec. 23 luncheon meeting with Johnson at a Washington restaurant. “We’re trying to expand the footprint of African American ownership,” NABJ President Barbara Ciara told Journal-isms then.Journalisms

I have no reason to believe that Richard Prince of Journalisms would LIE and say that the NABJ’s decision to support Bob Johnson’s Urban Television followed a dinner in Washington, DC. But even if Mr. Prince was wrong, which I don’t think he was, Ms. Ciara the great High Priestess of Facts can’t tell the difference between a fact and a MATERIAL FACT.

“I Did Not Eat Chicken With That MAN!”

No one really cares whether Bob Johnson purchased a plate of hot wangs for Mrs. Ciara.  What is MATERIAL is that the NABJ signed up to play the role of “sheep’s clothing” to Bob Johnson’s wolf. If you don’t believe me or Mr. Prince, go read the filings the NABJ submitted to the FCC on behalf of Urban Media. I’m a blogger, not a journalist.  I don’t ask my readers to believe me. I trust that they have brains and can go to the links which form the basis for my opinion and make up their own minds. I take it as a matter of honor, that my readers often disagree with me.

My real crime is that I didn’t defer to Mrs. Ciara and the fellow members of the Blackristocracy. <sarcasm>As a lowly blogger sometimes its a struggle to make out all these fancy words and whatnot, but I think that if ize keepsa tryin’ I’ze jes might manage to congregrate a few thinkin’s ’bout dis a heya Urban Media machinatshenz. I’ze mi’ nebba bee az smot az Mizza Barba See-ah-uh, but i’ze keep on tri-en cause life for me ain’t been no crystal stair </sarcasm>

Don’t believe the hype. For the past week, MSM has  been pushing the fiction that TV One is somehow being “selfish” for opposing Bob Johnson’s scheme with Ion Media.  I say scheme because they are using the FCC’s “diversity” goals to push through a change in policy that will allow broadcasters to split their broadcast signals into pieces, establish sub channels and then force cable companies to carry all of those channels.

After Mrs Ciara’s unhinged tirade aimed at obfuscation and redirection, I knew I might be on to something so I kept digging all week. Yes, “journalists” know how to ask questions, but lawyers know how to comb through  voluminous piles of written gibberish until they find what they are looking for. Apparently all these “journalists” covering this Ion Media Urban Television scam didn’t find out how hypocritical the “Civil Rights” organizations supporting Urban Television’s scheme are.

Almost one year prior to that dinner at a DC restaurant, Rainbow PUSH voiced its opinion about the type of arrangement Bob Johnson is currently pushing. In that filing with the FCC, Jesse Jackson, Sr. makes all of the arguments for how schemes like this one will harm current minority owners. In addition, he warned about majority-owned entities using schemes like this to set up “second-class” spin off channels and force them on to cable

In light of those concerns, I approach with great skepticism this new “multicast must-carri’ proposal that by authorizing “qualified entities” to ·lease digital channels from broadcasters, and by giving those leased channels “must-carry” status on cable systems, the Commission could somehow achieve a kind of “compensatory” diversity in programming and ownership that would make up for the losses imposed by multicast must-carry and a fa carte. I believe the idea
would fail. For starters, minority broadcasters seek an opportunity for programming ownership, not the subordinate position of merely renting some space on must carry channels. Further, this proposal is likely to present an opportunistic boon for many entirely different types of programming models, but not for those
models pursued by minority broadcasters. Rainbow PUSH October 27,2007

Now what’s Ion’s motivation? Well, if some of these “journalists’ had hung around in the Electronic Comment Filing System over on the hideous fcc.gov, Ion’s motivation would have been clear.

ION cannot afford to spend millions of dollars in legal fees over months and years on the cumbersome process in place today. Ion Media to FCC, December 2008

Mr. Lawson noted that at some point ION must question whether or not qubo or Life merit continued investment by ION if carriage on cable and satellite systems remains so limited. Lawson inquired about future proceedings or other avenues to encourage cable and DBS operators to carry qubo and Life.Ion Media to FCC May 2008

In the end, however, our ability to be successful will turn on whether the large video  distributors, such as DirecTV and DISH Network, provide our free programming to their subscribers. Ion Media to FCC January 2008

For several years, Ion Media has been complaining to the FCC because cable carriers will not “carry” their signals. I’m not a “journalist” like the esteemed Mrs. Ciara, but I do know how to hyperlink.
On December 11, 2008, Ion complaining about being dropped by cable carriers:

As you know, ION has encountered great resistance in securing carriage of our pro-social
digital channels, qubo and ION Life, from cable multi-system operators. One cable MSO,
Charter Communications, has dropped even our main channel, ION Television, from nearly 500,000 homes on its systems that are outside of our must-carry markets. From our standpoint as a broadcaster that is trying to secure distribution of prograrruning that serves the public interest, it is clear that the television marketplace is broken. ION FCC Filing

July 9, 2008 Ion Vice President William Watson to FCC:

During the meeting, the ION representatives reported on the progress of ION’s two 24/7 digital
multicast channels, qubo and ION Life. Mr. Burgess and Mr. Lawson pointed out that despite the
strong public interest nature of qubo and ION Life, very few cable and direct broadcast satellite
customers were able to see them on their systems, even though qubo is the only free, over the air children’s television service distributed nationally by a public or commercial television broadcaster and ION Life focuses on health and wellness programming. Although ION is committed to pro social programming, they noted that at some point ION must question whether or not qubo or ION Life merit continued investment by if carriage remains so limited.

They said the same thing on June 5, 2008 ( noticing a pattern), and again, in May of last year:

Mr. Lawson pointed out that despite the strong public interest nature of qubo and Life, very few cable and direct broadcast satellite customers were able to see them on ION Media Networks 601 Clearwater Park Road West Palm Beach, Florida 33401-6233 Tel 561 6594122 Fax 561 659 4754 www.ionmedia.tv their systems, even on “family tiers.” Mr. Lawson noted that qubo is the only free, overthe- air children’s television service distributed nationally by public or commercial television broadcasters, but most of the public could not see it. ION Life is helping to address the nation’s heath care crisis. Even though ION is committed to pro-social programming, Mr. Lawson noted that at some point ION must question whether or not qubo or Life merit continued investment by ION if carriage on cable and satellite systems remains so limited. Lawson inquired about future proceedings or other avenues to encourage cable and DBS operators to carry qubo and Life. Ion Media to FCC

IN other words, if Ion went through the normal process to negotiate with cable companies the way that TV One, Black Television News Network, the Africa Channel, and the Gospel Music Channel did, it would cost them too much money. So what did Ion do? They looked for a cheaper option. They decided to rent our Blackness.

They coupled their desire to force cable companies to carry quobo and Ion Life with the FCC’s ham-fisted failure at increasing minority ownership. Black folks will get 51% of a piece of a channel, and Ion will get the opportunities to force exponentially more of its stations on cable carriers. We get a slice of a slice of a peice of a crumb, and Ion saves its business from financial ruin.

So you see, Urban Television has nothing to do with diversity. It has nothing to do with promoting Black media ownership. In fact it hurts Black media owners like TV One, the Africa Channel, the Gospel Music Channel and BTTN because they have to negotiate and compete. Urban will not have to compete, the cable carrier will have to carry them. Since the other Black channels don’t have a nation-wide broadcast stations, they won’t be able to take advantage of this new exception, but guess who will?

Once Ion gets a ruling that cable carrier have to carry Urban Television, they are going to use that ruling to try to force cable companies to carry all these other channels they’ve been attempting to get the FCC to force on to cable providers for years.

No Public Participation

As it is currently set, the decision to force cable companies to carry Urban Television will not be decided by the full Federal Communications Commission. As it currently stands, according to FCC employee to I spoke with, the Media Bureau will be issuing  the decision. There will likely be no hearings. There will be no public deliberation regarding this drastic departure from prior FCC policy. There will be no public consideration regarding how this scheme by Bob Johnson will affect minority broadcasters currently in existence.This is a departure because in October 2007 Rainbow PUSH emphasized that this kind of change should be deliberative:

For instance, the public interests responsibIlitIes of the ‘broadcasters should be clearly defined before new media ownership rules are promulgated, and the FCC should convene experts on minority programming to ensure that any new ownership rules and other Commission policies actually promote diversity. Rainbow PUSH 2007

Yet these  same “Civil Rights” organizations asked for no such definition before they changed course and supported Johnson’s scheme.

But At Least Black Folks Will Own Something? WRONG
Now the blind supporters of this sham will say, “Well that’s cool if Ion gets to take advantage of what was obtained in the name of increasing diversity as long as another Black person will own another station.” That depends on what you consider “ownership”. Yes, under the agreement between Johnson and Ion Media, Bob Johnson’s holding company will own 2% more than Ion Media for a 51-49% split, but will a Black person “own” Urban Television? It depends on what you mean by “own.” Bob Johnson doesn’t have any broadcast towers. Who do you think will be providing those?

A Lesson From My Great Grandfather
Growing up as a child, I was regaled with tales about my great grandfather. Apparently he was “entrepreneurial.” My Daddy used to say that he was the richest Black man in his home town. Of course I would look around and wonder “well if  he was so rich, why aren’t we?” Daddy used to tell me about all the land his grandfather owned. Well apparently Great Granddaddy paid for the land, but he didn’t own it. According to Daddy back in the olden days, a Black man couldn’t own land, so the land was placed in White people’s names. So when Great Granddaddy died (was murdered)….. the land went to the people who OWNED it! The folks with their names on the title.

You see ownership isn’t a title. It isn’t a warm fuzzy feeling. Ownership is a bundle of ENFORCEABLE rights recognized by the government. If any one of those rights is missing, then its not ownership. You may live in the house, but you don’t own it, you might rent it, or have a life estate, but that’s not ownership.

Now Bob Johnson and the “Civil Rights” organizations are attempting to market Urban Television as a “Black”-Owned, but is it? The “agreement” between Ion and Bob Johnson on file with the FCC is a scant two pages. It fails to explain which rights each partner will have.  According to the cable companies, the following salient details are missing from the Urban Television agreement:

• The details of the parties’ financial arrangements;The identity and nature of the interests of the additional investors that the parties will attempt to include in the new company (see paragraph 1 of the Agreement);
• The “customary investor protections” that ION will hold as the minority
shareholder in the new entity (paragraph 2 of the Agreement);
• The further details of each party’s investment in the transaction (as set out in
paragraph 6 of the Agreement);
• Any details about the use of the physical facilities of ION’s stations, such as
who maintains the technical plant, whether there are any cost-sharing
agreements as to that technical plant, and whether ION will have any liability
should the broadcast stream that will constitute Urban’s “station” not be
broadcast;40 and
• The details of the right of first refusal. NCTA Filing  with FCC.

Theoretically speaking, Bob Johnson might not have to put up a dime of his own money. Think about this. Ion is giving him spectrum they already have. Johnson won’t be producing anything, he says he is going  to let content producers purchase time on the network, so what exactly is Bob Johnson providing other than his Black face? All Ion will have to do is pop in the tapes from the content producers and viola, that’s Urban Television. Not only do we not know the financial details, but we also don’t know what rights Ion will reserve under the agreement. NCTA Filing

You don’t have to agree with me, but if you can’t transfer the property, that doesn’t sound like ownership to me. If you can’t make decision without prior approval of someone else-not ownership. If you own the land, but are legally required to rent the houses placed on the land to people not of your choosing, yeah, you “own” the land, but in name only. If your name is on the title to the land and you didn’t pay a dime for it, did the other party really intend for you to own it?

So in effect, Urban television will be an inferior form of Black -ownership- which is no ownership at all. These organizations have lined up to support his watered down version to the detriment of Black folks who actually have the right to self determination.

Urban Television has NOTHING TO DO WITH BLACK PEOPLE. This is about Ion. This is about quobo, this is about ION Life. Everyone involved in this scheme knows it. It costs Ion NOTHING to make a tiny piece of their broadcast spectrum available to Bob Johnson. They could do it today without any help from the FCC. If Johnson truly wanted a “content mall.” He could have it. This isn’t about the content mall or Black ownership, this is about Ion getting a ruling from the FCC that it can split a single channel into parts and force cable to carry all of the sub channels. What’s one tiny channel when in return Ion will be able to save itself from financial ruin.

If you read Jackson’s letter ( he didn’t write it of course) he lays out why this is inferior version of “ownership” and how it threatens minority broadcasters. yes Black folks will get one.more. “Black-owned”station, but majority-owned stations will increase exponentially. Jackson’s concerns didn’t disappear just because Bob Johnson rented his Black face to Ion Media in their time of need.

Pick Up A Stone

There isn’t an ability to “comment” on this nightmare “officially,” but if all of these other people are communicating with the FCC outside any official comment period, why can’t we?

• You might consider stating emphatically that these “Civil Rights” organizations do not represent you.
• This is a matter that should go before the full commission with a lengthy comment period and public hearings located throughout the country in population centers with large African American populations.
• The promises related to programming that Bob Johnson has promised should be legally enforceable.

If you need ideas, read Jackson’s letter. It lays out a pretty good argument against this. In addition, you might want to read this reply from the cable companies. Yes, they are self interested, but these are still legitimate arguments.

According to the guy from the FCC, you should mail your comments to :
Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Secretary, 445 12th Street, S.W., Room TW-A325, Washington, D.C. 20554
Include the file numbers:File Nos. BALCT-20081118AGX, et al.; DA 08-2621, DA 08-2772

The Title/Caption/Subject:In the Matter of Paxson Communications Licensee and Urban Television LLC, Assignee, For Creation and Assignment of Full- Power Television Licenses

You can CC Urban Television: H. Van Sinclair, Urban Television LLC c/o The RLJ Companies LLC
3 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite 1000, Bethesda, MD 20814

You can also try to email the current commissioners, but the snail mail is better:

Commissioner Copps

Commissioner Aldelstein

Commissioner McDowell

I don’t know if any of this will work, but I know being silent and just watching isn’t the only option. We want real minority ownership. Not this watered down version. The process in reaching such a laudable goal should not be this closeted backroom dealing manipulation of current rules.

PPS. To those wondering why it took a week to respond this criticism, a departure from my SOP,let’s just say the “Spirit” was wrestling with me. My original post about this involved a preemptive apology a la the Washington Post to rocket scientists for comparing their fine work to Ms. Ciara. I decided to go with something more substantive due to the gravity of the issues involved. The original was a really funny post though. I’ll hold it in abeyance.