Impact Newsmaker Awards: Thank you!

Here is the official NOBMA thank you to everyone who made Thursday's Impact Newsmaker Awards a huge success. When Sena Mourad suggested last year that we should host this at the Toledo Club, I really didn't have a strong feeling one way or the other but now since we've been there it was certainly a great venue. I would like to thank you again and for all the help she, Cheryl Lightfoot and WT05-TV did to promote the program. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the event. It was humbling to see the array of local black communicators come together, some who I know are from warring factions, to take part. Charlie Mack did a fantastic job as emcee (even without my script.) He was Sena's idea as well. We had a very impressive audience there and I think that is a testament to what the awards event has become over the 14 years and respect the organization and local black communicators have earned over the years, so hats off to everyone. We had a nice set of winners and only after listening to their stories did you leave even more impressed than when the program started. And again, a special thanks to the students with the Student African American Brotherhood for stepping in and doing helping out ushering people during the program. They were a huge help and for me were right on time. I would like to hear your comments about the program and how you think we can make it better. Thank you again!

Leroy Bates: You will be missed!

What a shock. Leroy Bates, boys basketball coach at Libbey High School and a great friend of NOBMA, announced this week he was resigning as coach after his team reached the state finals and lost by one-point this year. Leroy, of course, helped us establish the MLK Classic, which is our main scholarship fundraiser and now one one of the premiere events in Northwest Ohio on MLK Day. There were years were if it wasn't for Leroy, we may not have had a Classic. I remember those years and will always be grateful for his dedication to the cause. The Classic is as much Leroy's history as it is ours. In a phone conversation with him today, he said he was simply tired and wanted to make sure the basketball players at Libbey had someone that could give them his full attention. He also said he gave him a chance to go out on top. He will still coach cross country and track and teach and will still be involved with the community. We know you will still be around, but we will sure miss you on the sidelines. Thank you again for the years of service to Libbey and NOBMA.

Wow! More media. But who's reading, viewing?

I've been a journalist for 25 years, most of those in Toledo. I can't remember a time where I have seen more African-American media outlets and start-ups per the population than here. Where much larger cities try to get along with one black newspaper, Toledo now has three -- the Toledo Journal, the Sojourner's Truth and now the Midwest Urban newspaper. Several weeks ago, I received an e-mail for a black-oriented news internet site, ToledoView.com. That's not to mention that we have three black-oriented radio stations as well.
As a journalist, I always think the more media the better. Would we have ever know the truth about what's was happening in the Civil Rights era in the South AND North if it wasn't for the black press. In the old days, there were at least two daily major newspapers in town for nothing else to keep the other one honest in its reporting. In these days of deregulation, which has all but destroyed radio newsrooms mind you, we see the giants consolidating the gobble up profits -- and the diversity of voices.
The internet has been a double-edged sword in helping keep the big media honest. The Toledo Journal's stories on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission investigation against the Finkbeiner administration is particularly noteworthy of just very good old fashioned muckraking journalism that we should all expect from outlets that profess themselves to "present" the news.
The Sojourner's Truth has proven to be a nice counter-balance with the Toledo Journal, reminiscent of those old two-newspaper days I spoke of before. Now that we have all of this media and ability to stand at the corner and shout out our message like the town crier, who's listening? From a business sense, who's footing the bill (advertisers) so we can stand on that corner and shout? Technology has made it much more inexpensive to do this. Anyone can start a blog, create a web site and proclaim we are the news. But the question also begs, "so, what makes it so?"
In my communication classes long, long ago, one of the things that was drilled into my head is that this profession is the country's great quasi-public service industry, specifically written into the nation's constitution because of its vital importance. Yes, we are a business, but we are public servants providing information, news, issues (yes, comfortable and uncomfortable) to the masses. We are not cheerleaders. Praise is given on merit and criticism is given to those who truly messed up. A free and vibrant press is one of those key elements that allows a democracy to thrive. So when I see a Dennis Hicks, the editor of inToledo magazine, or a Barbara Roose, managing editor of the Toledo Business Review, make their mark, a smile comes to my face.
When I see young people like Chauncey Alcorn and Jasti Simmons get their shot at The Blade, it makes me feel a little better about the profession.
But with that comes responsibility, another foundation of the business. We are responsible to everyone who picks up our publication, listen to our broadcast, and read our words on line that we are there for them with the truth -- even at times when it doesn't necessarily serve our own self interest. Yes, it's impossible to completely absence of bias but our readers and viewers need to know we've given them all sides as we know it and be honest enough to tell them when we aren't. That's what makes what you are doing news and newsworthy.
Now that we have the power of technology at our disposable, will we do the right thing with it?