The ironic thing I noticed about what I was reading was that several posts were coming from respected bloggers and journalists, who lend their voice, presence, and opinions to all major outlets that reach millions of people everyday. Yet, these events are not being covered. As they tweet their feeling towards the situation, I begin to check out their websites that some of them reported for. What I noticed that immediately bothered me was, all I seen was just music and celebrities all over the internet, not even national networks like CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC covered the church fires.
Do we as African-American bloggers and writers, need to take responsibility and cover these events that are affecting our culture and race? I say yes. Remember when Chuck D said that rap was CNN for the hood, and claimed that music and everything surrounding the culture was speaking to our world. He also was speaking to the journalists as well.
Long gone are the days when The Source covered topics like apartheid and gang violence. Today, most or our media outlets seem bent on regurgitating whatever pop culture spits out at us. But never forget that we have a voice, matter of fact, our voice is louder and has more of an impact than any mainstream network like CNN, FOX News and MSNBC. If you have a website that draws enough traffic to where you can charge an artist’s placement in the industry, then your influence can drive enough readers to your website to hear you perspective.
As I watch another church burn, I checked my email and I’m flooded with new music from artists looking to see if I can help them find a home for it. While checking out other media outlets, all I see is even more music, videos, celebrities doing outrageous things for attention.
I hope it doesn’t take someone tweeting, “Another church has burned, but I don’t hear anything from ______” to help change that.
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