Friday, March 29, 2024

Soledad O’Brien & Roland Martin – CNN anchors soon to be gone.

March 1, 2013 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) According to various sources, including Michael Cottman at Black America Web, CNN is making some major moves this  month.  The network is allegedly planning to part ways with Roland Martin, Soledad O’Brien and perhaps even the great Donna Brazile.  Most ironic is that the network has given us the honor of cutting it’s black faces from the airwaves during Black History Month.

The decision has confused observers who’d been somehow misled into believing that CNN was a network seeking to become friendly toward people of color.  After all, the company has earned millions from black people with it’s “Black in America Series,” most of which I never watched largely because I instantly got the sense that their goal was to study black people like lab rats rather than respect us as human beings.  There is a difference between being interested in a group of people and actually caring about them.

Making matters even more peculiar is that the network also hired three new high profile journalists, all of whom are white: Jake Tapper, Chris roland-martin-soledad-obrienCuomo and Rachel Nichols.  So, it’s out with the black and in with the white, according to what we’re seeing.  At least Jeff Zucker, head of CNN Worldwide, isn’t being subtle with his racial exclusion.  Usually people stab us in the back behind closed doors.

Roland Martin’s contract with CNN ends on April 8.  Believing that one high profile black face can be easily traded in for another, there is speculation that CNN may bring in other black commentators, such as Van Jones and Cornell Belcher.

CNN and Jeff Zucker’s latest moves seem bold, odd and somewhat revealing.   For years, I’ve always felt that both Roland and Soledad were qualified to hold their own in prime time slots, but the network never gave them an opportunity.   Given that their decisions are designed to reflect the preferences of their target audience, they are effectively telling us that their audience just doesn’t want to see black people on the air during prime time.  Additionally, the network seems to believe that there is no black journalist on the planet as qualified as less-than-capable anchors like Nancy Grace.

Over at MSNBC, a preacher and civil rights leader by the name of Al Sharpton has a show that appears to be very successful.  They’ve taken a black professor (Melissa Harris-Perry) and given her a chance to hold her own during the weekends.  Even people like Steve Harvey, Michael Strahan and Wendy Williams are doing an amazing job competing in the landscape of daytime television. So, I’m admittedly stunned that CNN seems so determined to make hiring and firing decisions that look like they were decided upon in 1959.

Perhaps Zucker has something else up his sleeve.  The truth is that I don’t know and I really don’t care.  As I expressed during an interview today with the Final Call (run by the Nation of Islam), the day must come when we become more focused on the creation and support of black-owned media outlets.  These are places where black voices are appreciated as something other than a novelty, and people can’t toss us to the side when we’re no longer the hot new negro on TV.

We can get angry at Zucker for making his decisions, but the truth is that CNN was never our network to begin with.  You can’t move into someone else’s house and shift around the furniture, which is what makes me skeptical that true racial equality can EVER be achieved at CNN.  Black people need to own their own stuff.

Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition.  For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.

 

 


Comments

7 Responses to “Soledad O’Brien & Roland Martin – CNN anchors soon to be gone.”
  1. Cynthia says:

    Soledad O’Brien and Roland Martin were two of the few reasons that I tuned into the US version of CNN, and I am sorry that they will be let go. Usually I watch the CNN International channel, because the regular CNN channel here in the US shows a sanitized version of the news. There are also things happening in the int’l division of CNN. They relocated some int’l reporters to the US, including Isha Sesay, a woman reporter of African descent who anchors a weekly afternoon news show. So while we rightly bring up these questions about lack of diversity, we as Americans need to ask why the US networks — ALL of them — are not giving us the real news. For example, why would an esteemed journalist like Christiane Amanpour have her show relegated to the International channel?

  2. Darryl De says:

    Someone mentioned BET, don’t think so they are run by Viacom which is not by any means minority owned. @ ULO media….Say it again.

  3. Bill Chamberlain says:

    Jeff Zucker obviously doens’t want FAIR AND BALANCED reporting!!! CNN can have Wolf Blitzen, I’ll not be watching their programming any more, nor listening to their commnetators for information….. Tuning out and Turned OFF, by getting rid of O’Brien and Martin!!!!

  4. Papacool says:

    Time to take it to Oprah or BET. Our need for in-depth truthful reporting is at an all-time high and is critical to our future success in getting ahead of the game. All three individuals mentioned bring credibility to the table and have been instrumental in keeping us in check and informed. Rather than looking at the situation negatively, I see an excellent opportunity to create a think-tank show that could not only point out problems that exist, but can also allow leeway for solutions to be implemented as well. Our society is gearing up to be one of the most informative generations that the world has seen in quite awhile. We still have so much further to go in achieving global equality, but I can truly see light at the end of this tunnel. Peace out, Papacool.

  5. Dcarter910 says:

    Oh NOOOO!!! Are you telling me that liberals dont like black people either? This is a devastating surprise!!!

  6. lgm says:

    Regressed to that “much missed” separate but “equal” thing have you?

  7. ulo media says:

    As long as black people still rely on white employers to take care of us, this is what to expect. Like Marcus Garvey said, the Only Justice is Power.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=KsM1lfssWBQ

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