OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - J.C. Watts thinks the uproar over statements by Barack
Obama's one-time pastor illustrates the need for a national black TV news
channel.
Watts, who hopes to get one running by the summer 2009, tells The Associated
Press that the voice of blacks is often missing from political debates,
including the one over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
"We hope to be the single destination for reliable, credible, informational
resources for the African-American community," Watts says. "The critical thing
is to allow the community to create a platform to be involved in the economic,
social and political debates taking place across the country."
He said the Black Television News Channel will be added to Comcast cable
systems in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington,
and would be available nationwide on Dishnet.
He's trying to raise $20 million to build studios in Washington as well as a
"coast-to-coast high definition news gathering infrastructure."
Watts objects to some of the criticism Obama has received for his long
association with Wright, who accused the government of creating AIDS and shouted
"God damn America" in a speech posted on YouTube.
"I've not seen anything in his writings, in his speeches, in his books, in
his public appearances, that would encourage me to believe that he views the
world through the Rev. Wright's prism," said Watts, the last black Republican to
serve in the U.S. House.
"I'm a Republican. Barack Obama is a Democrat. I am not taking a position in
the presidential race, but I can tell you this: If people vote against Barack
Obama because of what the Rev. Wright said, it would be unfortunate.
"I don't agree with what the Rev. Wright said, but I've said to some of my
Republican friends: `Guys, it's a whole big world out there and I guarantee you,
before all is said and done, there will be associations that a Republican has.
You are going to be on a slippery slope.'"
Watts, a former star quarterback at the University of Oklahoma and a
journalism graduate, would be chairman of the channel's editorial board. He says
his goal would be to show the diversity of opinion among blacks.
"Most black people don't think alike; most black people just vote alike" for
Democrats, says Watts.
He has expressed disappointment that his party hasn't undertaken greater
efforts to make inroads with black voters.
Watts, who grew up in tiny Eufaula, Okla., left the House in 2003 and formed
the J.C. Watts Cos., a marketing and lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., and has
been working on forming a news channel for several years.
Tom Gilbert, executive director of Television Week in Los Angeles, says
Watts is trying to crack "a really tough market."
"I think it would be difficult to do with traditional cable carriage,"
Gilbert said. "As the regular local stations go digital, they will need
programming to fill their airways. That might be an easier way to get carriage
for a startup network with a limited audience."
Jacquie Jones, executive director of the National Black Programming
Consortium in New York, agrees there is a need, however.
"I think there is definitely a different conversation happening within the
black community than is happening at CNN or on MSNBC," Jones said.
Jones said the cable news networks brought in black commentators
representing "both sides of the coin in the Democratic race" as well as the
Republican view.
"They have made an effort to diversify the commentary pool, and that has
added a lot of energy to the dialogue. But the topics and how they are being
framed are not really being generated from the African-American perspective,"
she said.
Jones said the perspective on gender from black women has largely been
missing in the debate over the role that sexism may have played in Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton failing to get the nomination.
She recalled watching a TV panel of three white women "talking about gender,
like it was an exclusive domain of white women, whereas people of color have
different experiences with sexism."
"For an African-American woman, it is not a question of sexism or racism, as
it was sort of posed in the most recent part of the contest. These two things
are happening at the same time in my life. There is no forum to discuss that."
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