(Image: Getty)

Queen Latifah Gets Another Talk Show

You may remember Queen Latifah’s self-titled talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, which ran in syndication for two seasons (1999-2001). Well, the rapper-turned-actress is giving it another try.

Sony Television Pictures said Monday that it will produce the untitled show alongside Flavor Unit Entertainment, the production company of Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere, and Overbrook Entertainment, the company of James Lassiter and Will Smith, according to the New York Times. In 1991, Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment gave the Cover Girl spokesmodel one of her earliest screen appearances on his popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Her new series is set to debut in the fall of 2013.

Read more at the New York Times…

Yale Study Shows Beverage Industry Targets Black and Hispanic Youth

A new study from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity exposes beverage companies marketing sugary drinks to children, especially to black and Hispanic youth.

Black children and teens saw 80-to 90 % more ads compared with white youth, including more than twice as many for Sprite, 5-hour Energy, and Vitamin Water, according to the research. The targeting is very similar for the Hispanic demographic. Between 2008 and 2010, Hispanic children saw 49 % more ads for sugary drinks and energy drinks on Spanish-language TV. Hispanic teens saw 99 % more ads.

“The beverage industry needs to clean up their youth-directed products: reduce the added sugar, take out the artificial sweeteners, and stop marketing products high in caffeine and sugar to young people,” said Marlene Schwartz, co-author and deputy director of the Rudd Center. “We also need the nutrition facts, including caffeine content, for all beverages, especially energy drinks.”

The report’s authors studied marketing by 14 beverage companies and examined the nutritional quality of nearly 600 products including full-calorie soda, energy drinks, fruit drinks, flavored water, sports drinks, and iced teas, as well as diet energy drinks and diet children’s fruit drinks. The study is the most comprehensive and science-based assessment of sugary drink nutrition and marketing ever conducted.

To read the complete report, visit sugarydrinkfacts.org.

Brigitte Daniel of Wilco, Inc. Appointed to the FCC Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age

Executive Vice President of Wilco, Inc. Brigitte Daniel was appointed on Tuesday to the Federal Communications Commission’s re-charted Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age.

As one of a few African-Americans appointed, Daniel will be charged with providing recommendations to the FCC regarding policies and practices that will further enhance diversity in the industries the agency regulates.

“I am very honored and excited about my appointment to serve on the FCC’s Diversity Committee,” said Daniel, a Philadelphia tech leader.  “The topic of inclusion and diversity within this sector is paramount to providing opportunity, access, and a voice for all citizens of the United States. I look forward to representing the low-income marketplace that I proudly serve, broadening the scope of broadband access for the City of Philadelphia, and bettering the public interest of the American people and the missions of the FCC.”

Daniel currently serves as senior counselor to Wilco President Will F. Daniel. In addition, she handles corporate communications and oversees large-scale projects, including the launch and implementation of the new Wilco Philadelphia Housing Authority community and entertainment and web channel, WPHA-TV.

Princeton University professor Cornel West was arrested at an Occupy DC protest on Sunday, but he won't face charges (Image: Facebook)

• Cornel West Won’t Face Charges for Supreme Court Demonstration Arrest

Civil Rights activist Cornel West and 18 others were arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court during an Occupy DC protest on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. Prosecutors announced Monday that they did not press charges against the group.

The author was in Washington for the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.

Read more about the Princeton University professor’s arrest at CBS News…

• James Brown Inducted Into Georgia Radio Hall of Fame

The “Godfather of Soul” was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame on Saturday. The late legend’s daughter, Deanna Brown Thomas, accepted the honor on his behalf at an awards ceremony.

James Brown was among several honorees, including Ben Porter, a Macon radio station owner who got his radio start in south Georgia as “Jack the Bellboy,” and Ernie Harwell, the renowned voice of the Detroit Tigers, to receive their award posthumously.

Read more at The Grio…

• FCC Rules Set to Curb ‘Bill Shock’

Gone are the days of surprise cell phone charges.

New U.S. policies will require that wireless providers send customers usage notifications when they’ve reached their monthly limits or are roaming overseas, announced the CTIA, Federal Communications Commission and Consumers Union in a statement Monday.

Cell phone users will receive updates before and after hitting their text, voice and data limits. They will also get roaming notices while traveling outside of the country.

The free and instant notices will come by voice or text. Providers are required to offer two of the four notifications — overseas, text, voice and data — by Oct. 17, 2012, and must provide all four by April 17, 2013.

Read more at Mashable…

• Danroy Henry Athletic Center Honors Pace University Football Player

Family and friends of Danroy “D.J.” Henry Jr., a 20-year-old Pace University student who was fatally shot by New York police, gathered on the first anniversary of his death outside an athletic field named in his honor.  The D.J. Henry Athletic Field is located in his hometown of Easton, Mass.

Read more at ESPN…

Actor/director Robert Townsend (right) with others at AT&T's Broadband, Economic Development & Jobs panel

Technology is today’s opportunity machine.

That was the conclusion of participants of a recent technology forum held during our 18^th Annual Black Enterprise/Pepsi Golf & Tennis Challenge at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.  Although the event offered attendees competition on links and courts, rejuvenation of body and soul in the spa and networking on the grounds, it also served as a venue for some serious tech talk.

As the US Labor Department unveiled its dismal report revealing an unemployment rate stubbornly stuck at 9.1% and zero job growth, a cadre of business leaders, entrepreneurs, public policy experts and celebrities sought new ways to develop employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for African Americans.  I participated in a roundtable discussion sponsored by AT&T, “Broadband, Economic Development and Jobs,” that included former Congressman Kendrick Meek, director Robert Townsend, actor Jeffrey Wright, Minority Media and Telecommunication Counsel President David Honig and political commentator Jamal Simmons, among others. The session moderator was broadcast journalist Jeff Johnson who peppered the group with a series of questions that included how tech can impact job creation, entrepreneurship, content development, healthcare and STEM (science, technology, education and math). As we grappled with these wide-ranging issues, Meek, editorial board chairman for the Website Politic365, asserted:  “To find solutions, we must have a first base, second base and home plate conversation.”

In order to narrow the current employment gap—16.7% for African Americans compared to 8% for Whites—we must address the issue on multiple fronts: The tech industry realizing value of cultivating and maintaining a diverse workforce; educational institutions implementing expansive education and retraining programs; and the federal government pushing for the FCC’s year-old National Broadband Plan designed to “ensure every American has access to broadband capability.”

Our roundtable participants spent much of the three-hour session focused on an area repeatedly discussed by President Obama, former President Bill Clinton and leading economists:  the “skills gap” of workers ill-equipped for today’s job market. In fact, Clinton said at his recent jobs conference in Chicago that “there are more than three million posted job openings today. Those jobs are being filled at only half the pace they were filled in previous recession. So just think about it: If we have three million more people working, unemployment would be more than two points lower than it is, and America would be in a very different place psychologically.”

Jeff Johnson steers the tech conversation

At the session, Honig stressed this chasm proved to be an even greater challenge for minorities. According to MMTC, African Americans represent just 7.1% of computer and math workers versus 70.3% for their White counterparts. And minority tech firms continue to lag in gaining access to capital.

He also maintained the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit to stop AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA could further hinder employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. DOJ officials claim that “unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced and consumers will suffer.” Honig says he was “shocked” by the action. Ironically, announcement of the suit was made as AT&T unveiled its plan to bring back to the U.S. 5,000 wireless call center jobs currently outsourced overseas. Last Friday, the telecom filed a “formal response” stating that the acquisition would not diminish competition but provide consumers with better cell phone service at lower prices. (Due to legal reasons, AT&T representatives could not comment of the lawsuit.)

Click here to continue reading…

Actor Jeffrey Wright shares his thoughts during the AT&T panel

Months back, MMTC, along with the NAACP, AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America, League of United Latin American Citizens and the Sierra Club, put its full weight behind supporting the proposed merger. In comments presented to the FCC, Honig stressed his organization took this unprecedented action because it can benefit minority consumers by “alleviating the spectrum crunch and narrowing the digital divide”; minority telecom workers by bolstering AT&T’s diversity hiring practices; and minority broadband entrepreneurs since AT&T is an industry leader in procurement. The company was also seeking to include more minority entrepreneurs in spectrum auctions in which licenses are sold to enable operators to transmit signals. AT&T is one of BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 40 Best Companies for Diversity.

Simmons, co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance, a broad-based coalition that promotes expansion of broadband availability and mobile connectivity, maintained that expanding minorities’ connection to the Internet would be consistent with the goals held by President Obama and the FCC to ensure full deployment of the next-generation (4G) mobile broadband networks across the nation to increase “continued economic prosperity and individual empowerment.”

Beside reviewing issues related to the merger, panelists also dealt with the paradox of the growing cell phone and Internet usage by African Americans but failure of that participation to be used for commercial benefit.

So what were proposed solutions to reverse the trend? Here are some of the  recommendations:

• Use the Internet as a tool for entrepreneurship. Jamal Simmons says Black business owners must tap into the power of the Internet as a means of product distribution.  In fact, he says entrepreneurs can transform brick-and-mortar operations into “digital storefronts.” He points to the example of Shane & Shawn, whose founders of the shoe manufacturer appeared on the cover of the January 2007 issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE. The company has generated more Web-based revenue than sales from their store in downtown New York. “Now they have found great success by moving their entire operation to the Internet,” he says. Other retailers should  follow suit.
• Develop innovative content to educate consumers. Paul McRae, vice president of public sector and healthcare for AT&T, says expansion of broadband access can prove invaluable in providing “E-healthcare information and services.” The same approach can be applied to employment retraining and business development.
• Robert Townsend believes content can serve as an empowerment vehicle in the digital medium: “We can use entertainment as a driver. Celebrity is sexy.”  In partnership with One Economy Corp., a non-profit advocating broadband expansion and tech training in  low-income communities, the veteran director produced the online drama, Diary of a Single Mom. The program, which reaches 700,000 users and features stars like Monica Calhoun, Richard Roundtree and Billy Dee Williams, deals with topics such as diabetes treatment, credit management and housing. As characters tackle these issues, viewers can access real-time, Web-based information and resources.
• Create partnerships to expand pipeline. Roundtable members agreed partnerships among business, government, academia and entertainment will be needed to move the needle. For instance, Ava Parker, chairman of Board of Governors for the State University of Florida, says educational institutions can facilitate creation of the pipeline of workers and business owners through STEM education and tech retraining programs. In fact, Parker, AT&T representatives and I seek to have HBCUs and their alumni networks play a large role in this initiative.

The aforementioned represent a few strategies from this productive session. Now, we must hold follow up conversations with our roundtable as well as groups like Black Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative, which I have written about in previous Power Moves blogs.

We must use technology as our great equalizer.

Democrats Gear Up for 2010

President Barack Obama and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine outlined this week the party’s strategy for the 2010 midterm elections. Ever since Theodore Roosevelt was in office, first-term presidents have lost an average of 28 House seats and 4 Senate seats during the midterms. Democrats are hoping to minimize their losses by running a campaign based on what they’ve accomplished so far with the support of the voters who helped Obama win in 2008.

In a video released on Monday, Obama issued a call-to-action to those voters, urging them to “stay involved.” The special interest groups that “rule Washington,” he warned, are gearing up to put their allies back in power so they can undo what Democrats successes, such as healthcare reform.

“It will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, African Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again,” he said. “If you help us do that—if you help us make sure that first-time voters in 2008 make their voices heard again in November—then together we will deliver on the promise of change and hope and prosperity for generations to come.”

David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said that if African Americans turn out en masse as they did two years ago, young voters would be a bonus for Democrats. According to Bositis, a significant number of black voters live in states where there will be some very competitive races for Congress and statewide, where they can make a difference, so Obama’s appeal is a good idea.

“They will still lose some seats, but they’ll do okay,” he said.

Kaine announced on Wednesday that Democrats plan to spend approximately $50 million to woo first-time voters and past supporters. In addition, Democrats will run as the “Party of Results “and bill Republicans as obstructionists who put the needs of Wall Street above Main Street’s.

His prepared remarks reportedly included comments that Republicans also would try to suppress low-income and minority voters from casting ballots this fall, that weren’t delivered. That didn’t stop the GOP from calling foul, however.

“Out of options, the president and his top campaign aide are going back to the Democrats’ worn-out playbook and making false and reprehensible comments accusations of voter suppression,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in a statement. “At what point will Chairman Kaine and the Democrats realize that polarizing this country on the lines of race is not only passé, it’s wrong and ineffective.”

Others charged both Obama and Kaine with playing the race card, which Bositis said is ludicrous and suggests that they do not take the problems of race in this nation seriously.

“Social norms in this country have changed to the degree that it’s seriously frowned upon by most decent people to use overtly racist language so they use coded language,” said Bositis. “And clearly their attitude toward Obama and the things they say about him are a reflection of their general attitudes toward black people and those attitudes are negative.”

Greater Broadband Access for Small Businesses Sought

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs that depend on broadband and information and communication technologies will grow by 25% between 2008 and 2018. In addition, broadband connectivity can be powerful tools to help small businesses reach new markets, increase productivity and efficiency, and generate economic growth, said Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski in testimony before a Senate small business panel on efforts to expand small business Internet access.

According to FCC reports, businesses with 25 or fewer employees pay two times more per employee for broadband than those with more than 25 employees. The agency’s National Broadband Plan encourages broadcasters to give up unused spectrum so it can be used to expand broadband services to small businesses around the nation.

Genachowski said that the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities is working with various business chambers to improve digital literacy among minority and women-owned businesses as part of its efforts to support and encourage diversity in the telecommunications industry.

Those efforts also include workshops and roundtable discussions on broadband’s impact on small and diverse businesses, capitalization challenges, and a networking program to connect those firms with larger telecommunications firms.

“Expanding broadband access and adoption is not just the FCC’s job; we all have a role to play,” said Senator Mary Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship. “We have some challenges ahead, and it’s important that we understand how to best work together to implement our National Broadband Plan to benefit small businesses, particularly in rural, underserved and unserved areas of the nation.”

SBA Announces Energy Efficiency Aid to Small Businesses

Does your business need an energy upgrade? The Small Business Administration announced on Friday that it has awarded small business energy efficiency grants to Small Business Development Center (SBDC) networks in seven states.

Each grant is in the amount of $125,000 and will be used to provide energy assistance. Small businesses will receive education, training, energy efficiency audits, and information on how to adopt energy efficient practices. They may also receive help with the purchase and installation of energy-efficient building fixtures and equipment.

“It’s a win-win because a small business saves on energy bills while contributing to the growth of green jobs in other local businesses,” said SBA Chief Karen Mills. “The grants contribute to SBA’s efforts to help small businesses facing increasing costs of fossil fuels and diminishing energy resources.”

The SBDCs that received grants are in Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Idaho, New York, Nevada, and Nebraska. The latter four will use the grants to expand existing programs.

When the FCC approved a controversial bid by Sirius Satellite Radio to acquire XM Satellite Radio for a reported $3.5 million in July, many in the broadcasting industry saw the approval as giving big media an advantage to form monopolies and shut out small minority-owned operations.

At a hearing at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem after the merger was approved, the five FCC commissioners were taken to task for that decision and others when minority broadcast owners, media brokers and investors gathered to discuss the barriers to communications financing for women and minority-owned broadcasting companies. The commissioners had scheduled the hearing to learn why those barriers exist and what options might be available to tear them down.

“The tsunami of media consolidation this country has been through over the past decade and more has been bad — very bad — for minority and female ownership,” said FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps who along with Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein dissented on the decision to approve the Sirius-XM merger. “But as we all know, the commission has taken a very different approach, actually pushing for more media consolidation rather than attempting to stem the tide.” He explained that the nation is approaching a minority population of one-third, but people of color own 3% of full-power commercial television stations.

“These numbers are disturbing to me as a woman, as mother of a daughter, as a policymaker, and as a consumer,” said Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, one of the three Republicans who voted for the Sirius XM merger.

Panelists identified certain solutions that could help increase access to financing to improve minority ownership. They ranged from repealing FCC rules and regulations that discourage investors, holding Arbitron, an audience radio research company, accountable for discrepancies when measuring young black and Hispanic audiences, and reinstating the Minority Tax Credit Policy, which initially ushered minorities into media ownership.

An FCC order promoting diversification of ownership in the broadcasting services adopted in December 2007 is expected to help minorities and women obtain access to capital but only minimally since the FCC didn’t adopt definitions other than “small business” to explain who can take advantage of these measures.

The December diversity order also planned to modify the equity-debt plus attribution rule and allow an interest holder to exceed the 33% ownership limit without triggering attribution.
The Equity-Debt Plus attribution rule too often “caused potential investors to cautiously avoid investments that might be combined to approach the ownership limit,” says Tate, a supporter of that modification.

“There is a lot of capital in the market place,” says Anita Graham, general partner with Opportunity Capital Partners. “Without the rules and regulations the capital will flow.”

Restoration of the tax credit is an issue panelists said would increase access to ownership. The passage of the Minority Tax Certificate in 1978 led to an increase of African American ownership. However, when a Republican-run Congress repealed it in 1995 and replaced it with the 1996 Telecommunications Act the number of minority-owned broadcast facilities decreased by 40%. African American ownership decreased by 70% and there has been no female ownership since 1998.

“I am overcome by an ironic sense of Déjà vu,” says Frank Washington, owner of KBTV in Sacramento who played a critical role in the creation of the Minority Tax Certificate. “The minority tax certificate was only possible because of overwhelmingly positive public, industry, government and press support, if not outright pressure [on congress]. The impact of the certificate on minority ownership was unprecedented and undeniable.”

Finally, several panelists accused the “Portable People Meter”, the newest audience measurement technology by Arbitron as critically flawed and having a clear bias against the reporting of minority audiences. Arbitron is the company most used by advertisers to determine which stations they will advertise with.

“Radio stations live and die according to the audience ratings and market ranks reported by Arbitron,” said Winston as he prodded the FCC commissioners to investigate Arbitron. “Initial results from the PPM measurements have shown such huge rating declines for stations serving Black and Hispanic audiences that the financial survival of these stations will be at stake if Arbitron continues to implement PPM across the nation in the form it has been initially introduced.”

In a statement, Arbitron CEO Steve Morris initially said “PPM panels exceeds their sample targets for Blacks and Hispanics.” Later Morris acknowledged that at the suggestion of a the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters Inc. member, Arbitron plans to review their recruitment and compliance methodology aimed at Black and Hispanic households.

Citing concerns about media consolidation, consumer groups and several lawmakers have openly criticized the idea of a merger between XM and Sirius. “I just have the long-held belief that competition is good for the marketplace,” says Butterfield, leader of the CBC’s working group on satellite radio. “When there is absence of competition bad things happen.” Butterfield, a member of the CBC says that he has been following the details for XM/Sirius merger plan for about a year.

In his response to a number of concerns, Martin issued an order earlier this month containing a number of conditions that both companies would have to meet in order gain approval from the FCC. The conditions would help to determine, among other things, the range of subscription plans and pricing that the new entity would be allowed to offer to the public. Although the order by the FCC chairman has not been officially circulated among the other FCC board members, reports indicate that a varying number of satellite radio channels have been set aside for minorities. The total number of channels would make up just 4% of the spectrum. African Americans would have to compete with other minority groups for a portion of that percentage.

“Four percent [of the spectrum] is completely inadequate,” Butterfield argues. “There is nothing but an opportunity to fail.” Members of the CBC have varied opinions regarding the proposed XM/Sirius merger and as a result the CBC has not taken an official stance on the matter. Ultimately, the decision appears to be in the hands of the five-member FCC board made up of three Republicans and two Democrats. “You’ve got two companies [that] will occupy more space than the AM-FM spectrum combined. It’s a substantial business transaction…I’m in a wait-and-see mode,” Butterfield says.

Last summer, Butterfield and several members of Congress—including Reps. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.), William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), Elijah Cumming (D-Md), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), and David Scott (D-Ga.)—wrote a letter to the FCC outlining their concerns over the merger. In addition to his feelings about protecting the consumer from a potential media monopoly, Butterfield has questions regarding diversity at the management levels and within the workforces of both companies.

“[I] wanted to see a condition placed on the merger that would require diversity programming and a transfer of 20% of the [satellite] space to minority-owned companies,” Butterfield adds. The transfer of that amount of satellite spectrum space “would allow African Americans to contribute to the satellite radio industry,” Butterfield says, adding that it should take on the form of a lease that would allow minority-owned companies to pay for the right to conduct business in the space.

In a merger update on its Website, XM radio heralds that the “combination of the two companies will lead to more programming and better pricing for our subscribers…We will continue to offer a full complement of programming to our millions of subscribers once the merger is complete.” The show of support by the FCC chairman, coupled with the Dept. of Justice’s March clearance of the merger, appears to give the plan by the two companies a significant amount of momentum to move forward and join forces.