Sharpton To NNPA: Corporations 'Owe' Ad Dollars To Black Newspapers

Hmmm, how do corporations owe Black newspapers I would really like to know:

Activist Al Sharpton, keynote speaker at a kickoff prayer breakfast at the National Newspaper Publishers Associations 70th Anniversary Convention last week, warned the more than 215 black publishers to stay in control of the definition of the black struggle and to not back down from demanding their fair share of advertising dollars.

“We are meeting because the future of black America is in this room,” he described the pivotal leadership of the Black Press. He frequently referred to NNPA Chairman Danny Bakewell of the Los Angeles Sentinel, a firebrand leader who has been demanding corporate and federal government fair share of ads for NNPA member papers.

Noting that “Danny preaches night and day” on behalf of this cause, Sharpton said corporate America must get the message that their businesses are indebted to black newspapers.

“They’re not giving us a hand-out. They are in our communities. They owe us in our communities. We have to stop going to these companies like they are doing you a favor to advertise in a market where the margin of their profit comes from in the first place.

So, when they place an ad in your papers, they are respecting the market where they sell their goods. And they should not have access to that market through NBC or ABC or the L.A. Times or the New York Times. They should only have access to that market from you all.”

Sharpton didn't even let President Obama off the hook:

Sharpton said Obama must not be let off the hook.

“The federal government, the black president needs to be advertising with the Black Press. Otherwise what does it mean to us if we have Negroes in high places if those on the ground don’t have anything,” he said.

He added that in keeping the heat on advertisers, black newspapers must adhere to their historic mission of defending black people and defining the struggle for justice.

“You have the power of definition and you can not give that up because they have made up their mind that if they can change our minds about who we are; then we don’t have to worry about it,” Sharpton preached. “If they take the chains off of our ankles and wrists and put them on our minds, we would change ourselves.”

Obama could speak directly to the black press. In fact that are people in Chicago who are calling for Obama to address in some way the violence in his adopted hometown.

I could ask one question about Sharpton's message. Who exactly are reading these Black publications and how many are? I can't imagine that there are many Black who read such papers in Chicago as The Citizen and I would include the top black paper here, The Chicago Defender. Corporations and the federal government advertising could be a boost, but surely they want to justify putting money somewhere. Perhaps the Mainstream Media is where they know people will see their message.

I found this article via Newsalert!

BTW, in other news I see at Instapundit the following line:

THEY TOLD ME IF OBAMA WERE ELECTED WE’D SEE A POST-RACIAL AMERICA. And they were right!

LOL!!! That's referring to the hiring of a white fashion editor at Essence magazine. I've been seeing this a lot lately. It seems that there are many who isn't happy about this, especially a previous fashion editor. That's in addition to dedicated readers.