How do you feel about the state of Black radio?
In particular, the morning drive format. Are the morning drive shows too redundant? It would seem that no matter who you tune in to, be it the local hip hop station, the "best of r and b and old school" formats, or the nationally syndicated programs, the topics and the hosts are virtually identical. Where is the freshness, the originality? And where is the intelligent discussion and proper use of language?
Here's the general format: a lead guy (i.e. Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey, or your local disc jockey), a woman, a comedian (sidekick) and on some days, usually Friday, the gay guy. The latter member of the team is always over the top and truly stereotypical, with effeminate speech patterns and general ramblings about the men he finds attractive.
These shows are successful and listened to by a wide audience. And many times, the information they broadcast can be useful. For example, keeping the audience aware of health issues, educational opportunities, and companies that practice racist policies as part of normal business procedure. I offer kudos to the programs for these offerings. And many times, a tremendous good is done through fund raising efforts that benefit Black causes, such as Tom Joyner's work with the United Negro College Fund and the generous donations that many HBCU's receive as a result of his and his audience's participation and financial commitments.
On the other hand, is the significant good work that Black radio does compromised by the daily behavior of some of the hosts of Black radio? My primary concern in raising this question revolves around a very simple issue: language. Why do so many Black broadcasters use poor grammar in their daily conversations with their audience? I think the answer to the question is to humor the audience. But it does something else, in my opinion. Poor language influences others to use poor language. And since most of the audience won't have their own radio programs but instead will need to be able to present themselves to the world in a manner that is easily understood, why don't these radio hosts try to influence their audiences to speak properly? And I don't mean "proper" in a stuffy, psuedo superior sounding manner. I mean simply having your nouns match your verbs, and speak to your audience with a little less slang. Because first and foremost, the radio hosts are broadcasters. They should not assume that their entire listening audience wants to hear words that are mispronounced purposely. You can't fight against being stereotyped and then act out that stereotype. You can't say, "I'm not ignorant" and then act ignorant.
For better or worse, radio is a daily part of most of our lives. We like to listen to music, hear the latest gossip, and find out where the parties are for the upcoming weekend. But here's the rub: when that information is constantly delivered via announcers with poor language skills, we begin to mimic that poor language, consciously and/or subconciously. Our young people seem to especially susceptible to this. And poor language skills can be a barrier to success in life. And with our people already at a disadvantage, do we need to cultivate and promote poor language?
Imagine the ridicule that would have been generated had one of the greatest speeches ever delivered to our nation and the world been full of grammatical errors. Imagine how progress would have been slowed or even stopped had one of the greatest leaders of all time been using improper grammar.
In America, a lot of Black people still equate speaking correctly with "acting White." That is a ridiculous, obsence and degrading thought process. This is America and English is our native language. There is nothing wrong at all with learning to read, write and speak your native language correctly. I consider myself to be as Black as anyone else. I like my people's flair with language, fashion, athletics and every other aspect of society we touch. But what happened to our desire to improve ourselves, which can clearly begin with the ability to express one's self with clarity? If I don't know what you are talking about, how can I relate to you? How can I empathize with your plight? If you are applying for a job and the interviewer isn't comfortable with your language skills, even if you can do the job, you probably won't get the job.
I think we have a problem in that many of us who have a forum to communicate with our people don't communicate as effectively as we could or should. I find myself listening to NPR or other radio stations as I drive to work because of the insipid topics and language often used on Black radio. And it bothers me that I can't listen to these programs without cringing or becoming irritated at the hosts. I want to listen, I want to support their programs. But I'm tired of being spoken to by people mangling the language. How something is said is sometimes as important as what is said.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-2.3/kolb.html
Most sincerly,
Cabong
Here's the general format: a lead guy (i.e. Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey, or your local disc jockey), a woman, a comedian (sidekick) and on some days, usually Friday, the gay guy. The latter member of the team is always over the top and truly stereotypical, with effeminate speech patterns and general ramblings about the men he finds attractive.
These shows are successful and listened to by a wide audience. And many times, the information they broadcast can be useful. For example, keeping the audience aware of health issues, educational opportunities, and companies that practice racist policies as part of normal business procedure. I offer kudos to the programs for these offerings. And many times, a tremendous good is done through fund raising efforts that benefit Black causes, such as Tom Joyner's work with the United Negro College Fund and the generous donations that many HBCU's receive as a result of his and his audience's participation and financial commitments.
On the other hand, is the significant good work that Black radio does compromised by the daily behavior of some of the hosts of Black radio? My primary concern in raising this question revolves around a very simple issue: language. Why do so many Black broadcasters use poor grammar in their daily conversations with their audience? I think the answer to the question is to humor the audience. But it does something else, in my opinion. Poor language influences others to use poor language. And since most of the audience won't have their own radio programs but instead will need to be able to present themselves to the world in a manner that is easily understood, why don't these radio hosts try to influence their audiences to speak properly? And I don't mean "proper" in a stuffy, psuedo superior sounding manner. I mean simply having your nouns match your verbs, and speak to your audience with a little less slang. Because first and foremost, the radio hosts are broadcasters. They should not assume that their entire listening audience wants to hear words that are mispronounced purposely. You can't fight against being stereotyped and then act out that stereotype. You can't say, "I'm not ignorant" and then act ignorant.
For better or worse, radio is a daily part of most of our lives. We like to listen to music, hear the latest gossip, and find out where the parties are for the upcoming weekend. But here's the rub: when that information is constantly delivered via announcers with poor language skills, we begin to mimic that poor language, consciously and/or subconciously. Our young people seem to especially susceptible to this. And poor language skills can be a barrier to success in life. And with our people already at a disadvantage, do we need to cultivate and promote poor language?
Imagine the ridicule that would have been generated had one of the greatest speeches ever delivered to our nation and the world been full of grammatical errors. Imagine how progress would have been slowed or even stopped had one of the greatest leaders of all time been using improper grammar.
In America, a lot of Black people still equate speaking correctly with "acting White." That is a ridiculous, obsence and degrading thought process. This is America and English is our native language. There is nothing wrong at all with learning to read, write and speak your native language correctly. I consider myself to be as Black as anyone else. I like my people's flair with language, fashion, athletics and every other aspect of society we touch. But what happened to our desire to improve ourselves, which can clearly begin with the ability to express one's self with clarity? If I don't know what you are talking about, how can I relate to you? How can I empathize with your plight? If you are applying for a job and the interviewer isn't comfortable with your language skills, even if you can do the job, you probably won't get the job.
I think we have a problem in that many of us who have a forum to communicate with our people don't communicate as effectively as we could or should. I find myself listening to NPR or other radio stations as I drive to work because of the insipid topics and language often used on Black radio. And it bothers me that I can't listen to these programs without cringing or becoming irritated at the hosts. I want to listen, I want to support their programs. But I'm tired of being spoken to by people mangling the language. How something is said is sometimes as important as what is said.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-2.3/kolb.html
Most sincerly,
Cabong
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