Forum/Discussions

Support Socially Responsible Black Owned Media

 Junious Ricardo Stanton

            For over twenty years I have been associated with Black Internet radio; first with Don Rojas’ Website and Internet radio station The Black World Today back in 2000. When that went defunct, I went with Neil Blake’s Rainbow Soul and Music Massage channels, then to Onion Horton’s New Black City, then to Dalani Ammon’s Harambee Radio and to Keidi Obi Awadu’s  www.LIBRadio.com’s Falcon Forum. I briefly produced and hosted a program on the Before It’s News Website Internet Radio station. I say all this to let you know Internet radio has been a big part of my life for decades, I was a pioneering in Internet radio. I’ve been a producer and host for several talk shows, I’ve been a DJ playing socially conscious music on my Message in The Music shows on two Internet radio stations before they went out of existence. I also produced podcasts and video-casts for years on several platforms.

            Prior to Internet radio I produced and hosted a program on WHAT radio 1340 AM in Philadelphia called Positively Black for ten years. I’ve been a community journalist and columnist since the 1990’s and at one time I was syndicated weekly by the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) an organization of over 200 Black owned newspapers around the country. In Philadelphia, I wrote for : SCOOP USA, Renaissance Magazine, The Philadelphia New Observer, Real News, The Black Business Review On The Scene Magazine and occasionally The West Side Weekly. I also wrote for About Time Magazine out of Rochester New York for several years.

            I’m not saying this to toot my own horn but to reflect on over thirty years of media involvement and engagement. Looking back, I was motivated to use my skills to promote, celebrate and uplift my people because I knew the general market media (White media) was never going to treat us fairly, honestly tell our stories or share our rich history and contributions not only to this country but the world. So, I took it upon myself to do just that and quite frankly most times I didn’t get paid and if I did it was not what I could have commanded in the general market papers as a freelancer.

        This happened not because Black publishers were cheap but because they were barely scraping by, they were struggling to pay to get the paperers printed or the radio station (terrestrial and Internet) profitable because they couldn’t get the crucial advertising support from Black or White businesses and advertisers.

          This has been an ongoing historical pattern since Freedom’s Journal the first Black newspaper was founded in New York City by Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm two “free” Blacks in 1827.  Their mission was to offer a rebuttal to and provide a powerful and articulate alternative to the slander, denigration and lies the White press printed about people of African descent!  We are still subjected to that in 2026!

           Since 1827, Black media has always had to struggle to survive especially during the enslavement, Post Reconstruction legalized apartheid periods and today’s divisive anti-Black social milieu.  I am a witness to this first hand as I have served as a writer, an editor and I’ve produced terrestrial and Internet radio program content for decades. I brokered or purchased the time on WHAT so I had to come up with a way to cover the cost. I was able to secure a few loyal advertisers before Cody Anderson the owner graciously allowed me to do the show free of cost.

            I admired the work Acel Moore and Reggie Bryant did once they founded the National Association of Black Journalists; their pioneering work was responsible for getting many Blacks into general market media in news, radio and television. Their groundbreaking television program Black Perspective on the News was a seminal work and garnered praise and recognition throughout the industry.  It was syndicated on PBS. However, I was never interested in that, I wanted and still want to help build Black media and carve out a solid sustainable niche for us.

            I have contributed to White stations and social media platforms so I have no issue or problems collaborating with anyone. I feel it is my calling to be a voice and contributor to conscious and progressive Black media, especially in times such as these where our voices are being muffled, censored and suppressed by algorithms, editors and special interest groups who want to negate us altogether.

             I say all of this to urge you to support socially and politically conscious Black owned media whether it is print, radio, Internet or streaming. We must have our own voice and offer our own perspectives beyond the clap-trap and gaslighting we are subjected to on a daily basis. We deserve better programming than the stereotypical depictions even Black producers foist on us as: thugs, hyper-sexualized, vulgar and profane caricatures we see in the films, TV shows, videos and songs in the marketplace today. 

            As a people we are better than that and we should display our better side to ourselves and the world. Notice in most commercial we are always dancing and playing sports; we do more than that and we should tell stories and depict ourselves in ways which show our diversity, resilience and successes. We need media to do this! Support conscious Black media!

                                                -30-