I remember my dad giving me this speech to read. He told me that whenever I needed to be inspired or to keep on fighting remember your faith and these words.
"There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere. These are differing evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellows. But we can perhaps remember -- even if only for a time -- that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek -- as we do -- nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can. Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again. The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress. It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the boarders of the earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that “all men are created equal” These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.
Robert F. Kennedy University of Capetown Capetown, South Africa June 6, 1966
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
AIR Is Nearing The Finish Line
On January 5 2011 iClick2Media filed with Sirius XM and the FCC its programming line up for final approval. Its program focus was to include voices of the undeserved, minorities and women all that are becoming more and more absent on radio. the channels will include:
1. AIR Politico (Commercial)
2. BlackSpin (Commercial)
3. The Women’s Network (Commercial)
4. iTalk Network (Commercial)
5. Today’s Health (Non-Commercial)
6. Music 101 (Non-Commercial)
7. Popular Culture (Non-Commercial)
8. Faith (Non-Commercial)
9. Digital News 365 (Non-Commercial)
10. World News 24/7 (Non-Commercial)
iClick2Media stands by its belief that if change is to happen then the undeserved, minorities and women must be an active voice in that change.
During iClick2Media's 2 year quest for control of the 24 channels set aside by the Memorandum Opinion and Order Report and order July 2008 iClick2Media has provided to the FCC statistical data which included “The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms”, “Aribton Listening Report 2008”, “Online, Satellite, HD Radio” and Podcasting”. “Off The Dial”, released in 2007, found that women and minorities own just 6 and 7.7% of all broadcast radio stations in the country respectively. The year before in 2006 “Out of the Picture,” an unprecedented report on broadcast television ownership, which found that women of all races own just 5% of the 1,400 commercial broadcast television stations in America. People of color, who make up 33% of the national population (and will be more than 50% by 2050), own just 3.6%. To further the point of the dismal outlook of minority on the dial the Third Circuit chastised the FCC in Prometheus v. FCC for ignoring the issue of female and minority ownership. For each of the above statistical data prove a consistence decline in mass media when it comes to the undeserved, minority and women.
Here are so more statistical data that supports iClick2Media’s position
According to the U.S. Census Bureau report show our nation will be more racially and ethnically diverse, as well as much older, by midcentury:
• Minorities, now roughly one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become the majority in 2042.
• By 2050, the minority population — everyone except for non-Hispanic, single-race whites — is projected to be 235.7 million out of a total U.S. population of 439 million.
• The nation is projected to reach the 400 million-population milestones in 2039.
• The black population is projected to increase to 65.7 million, or 15 percent in 2050.
• The Asian population is projected to climb to 40.6 million
• Among the remaining race groups, American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise to 8.6 million.
• The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population is expected to more than double to 2.6 million.
• The number of people who identify themselves as being of two or more races is projected to triple to 16.2 million.
These number show the how as a nation we are changing and how we must not wait for it to happen we must be a part of that change and that what AIR is all about; providing content that give a voice to the voiceless, opens the door to an audience looking for such content and providing a space were the undeserved minorities and women can become a part of the conversation on satellite, mobile and in the digital space.
Though all mass media outlet in one way or the other has programming, there is not one that is sole focused on this population and how to fold them into the conversation. When Sirius and XM were separate company there might have been opportunity for that to occur but that opportunity was removed when the companies merged. But when you read the Memorandum Opinion and Order Report and order and the subsequent Orders, Comments, Reply Comments, Ex Parte Letters and face to face meeting with members of the FCC you can only reach one conclusion, these channels were set aside to ensure the undeserved, minorities and women would be included not excluded as it has happen and continues to happen in terrestrial radio.
The movement for change has always started on a local grassroots level throughout the fabric of American history. The goal of American Independent Radio is to give Main Street and beyond a voice, by using:
A high tech means so they too can be heard,
Have the ability to share the wealth of information, and
To experience our rich heritages and voices in a fair and open forum
iClick2Media see’s these channels as a Digital Grassroots Movement for the undeserved markets, giving them a voices, a place for their ideas and goals to be shared that can be heard in a race natural space. This helps moves iClick2Media’s goal forward removing racial and gender inequality in mass media. If we are to achieve a true race neutral society then we must first having an understanding of what opinions we have be it positive or negative and having an understanding that though we are different we all wants the same things. This concept helps to erased past ideas and assist in building an understanding of who people are what they share in common, their likes and dislikes. This idea is quintessential to making a difference for the undeserved, minorities and women currently not represented in mass media but needing to become a part of the conversation if change is to occur.
Malik Shakur
CEO
iClick2Media
An Independent Creative Artists Company
1. AIR Politico (Commercial)
2. BlackSpin (Commercial)
3. The Women’s Network (Commercial)
4. iTalk Network (Commercial)
5. Today’s Health (Non-Commercial)
6. Music 101 (Non-Commercial)
7. Popular Culture (Non-Commercial)
8. Faith (Non-Commercial)
9. Digital News 365 (Non-Commercial)
10. World News 24/7 (Non-Commercial)
iClick2Media stands by its belief that if change is to happen then the undeserved, minorities and women must be an active voice in that change.
During iClick2Media's 2 year quest for control of the 24 channels set aside by the Memorandum Opinion and Order Report and order July 2008 iClick2Media has provided to the FCC statistical data which included “The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms”, “Aribton Listening Report 2008”, “Online, Satellite, HD Radio” and Podcasting”. “Off The Dial”, released in 2007, found that women and minorities own just 6 and 7.7% of all broadcast radio stations in the country respectively. The year before in 2006 “Out of the Picture,” an unprecedented report on broadcast television ownership, which found that women of all races own just 5% of the 1,400 commercial broadcast television stations in America. People of color, who make up 33% of the national population (and will be more than 50% by 2050), own just 3.6%. To further the point of the dismal outlook of minority on the dial the Third Circuit chastised the FCC in Prometheus v. FCC for ignoring the issue of female and minority ownership. For each of the above statistical data prove a consistence decline in mass media when it comes to the undeserved, minority and women.
Here are so more statistical data that supports iClick2Media’s position
According to the U.S. Census Bureau report show our nation will be more racially and ethnically diverse, as well as much older, by midcentury:
• Minorities, now roughly one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become the majority in 2042.
• By 2050, the minority population — everyone except for non-Hispanic, single-race whites — is projected to be 235.7 million out of a total U.S. population of 439 million.
• The nation is projected to reach the 400 million-population milestones in 2039.
• The black population is projected to increase to 65.7 million, or 15 percent in 2050.
• The Asian population is projected to climb to 40.6 million
• Among the remaining race groups, American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise to 8.6 million.
• The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population is expected to more than double to 2.6 million.
• The number of people who identify themselves as being of two or more races is projected to triple to 16.2 million.
These number show the how as a nation we are changing and how we must not wait for it to happen we must be a part of that change and that what AIR is all about; providing content that give a voice to the voiceless, opens the door to an audience looking for such content and providing a space were the undeserved minorities and women can become a part of the conversation on satellite, mobile and in the digital space.
Though all mass media outlet in one way or the other has programming, there is not one that is sole focused on this population and how to fold them into the conversation. When Sirius and XM were separate company there might have been opportunity for that to occur but that opportunity was removed when the companies merged. But when you read the Memorandum Opinion and Order Report and order and the subsequent Orders, Comments, Reply Comments, Ex Parte Letters and face to face meeting with members of the FCC you can only reach one conclusion, these channels were set aside to ensure the undeserved, minorities and women would be included not excluded as it has happen and continues to happen in terrestrial radio.
The movement for change has always started on a local grassroots level throughout the fabric of American history. The goal of American Independent Radio is to give Main Street and beyond a voice, by using:
A high tech means so they too can be heard,
Have the ability to share the wealth of information, and
To experience our rich heritages and voices in a fair and open forum
iClick2Media see’s these channels as a Digital Grassroots Movement for the undeserved markets, giving them a voices, a place for their ideas and goals to be shared that can be heard in a race natural space. This helps moves iClick2Media’s goal forward removing racial and gender inequality in mass media. If we are to achieve a true race neutral society then we must first having an understanding of what opinions we have be it positive or negative and having an understanding that though we are different we all wants the same things. This concept helps to erased past ideas and assist in building an understanding of who people are what they share in common, their likes and dislikes. This idea is quintessential to making a difference for the undeserved, minorities and women currently not represented in mass media but needing to become a part of the conversation if change is to occur.
Malik Shakur
CEO
iClick2Media
An Independent Creative Artists Company
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-Up
At a start-up, you need employees that are in it for the long haul and fit your unique culture. Find out where to look, what to look for, and what to offer a new hire.
Employees are valuable. So are referrals. That was the thought behind Meebo's decision to offer a $5,000 reward to anyone who referred qualified potential employees to the company that launched in 2005. The only stipulation? People would only get paid if the candidates got hired.
As an instant-messaging and social media service, Meebo never really had trouble finding and attracting talent. They offered employees referral bonuses, posted on job boards and committed themselves to so-called "guerilla recruiting." But they realized, some time in May of this year, that they had 10 high-level jobs to fill and they hadn't been using all of the resources available to them to find the best talent. They hadn't yet reached out to their massive user network.
So, Vice President of Human Resources Tom Perrault and his team decided to offer the public the $5,000 prize.
"Good talent is going to make the difference in the growth of our organization and in the future," says Perrault. "So we're willing to pay for good talent."
The referrals the company got, especially from vendors and external partners were, in Perrault's words, "spot on," and the experiment was a success. The moral of the story, though, is not that you have to throw money around to attract top talent.
Instead, the takeaway message for recruiting is: play to your strengths (in Meebo's case, it's networking), be active, not passive, and get your name out there. This guide will provide a few recruiting tips, as well as what to look for in a new hire, and how to entice the best talent.
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Face-to-Face Interaction
No matter how small the internet has made the world, experts still recommend in-person networking as the No. 1 way to recruit talent.
"I've done a lot of placing people into positions, and I have never used a job board as a way to do that," says Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation. 'Personal [interaction] is so much more powerful and important to me."
Start at your local Chamber of Commerce, which should list information on industry events happening in your area. Don't stop there, though. Research local industry groups and associations. "Every type of business has their own meetings," says Martin Zwilling, founder and CEO of consulting group Startup Professionals. "You'll find people who know your business and are looking for opportunities."
Even if you don't find employees at these industry events, you will at least make contacts who understand your needs and will put you in touch with other people they know.
Or, you could create your own networking events, as Meebo did. Perrault says the company started scheduling Meebo meetups around the world and asking fans and users to come out to rub elbows with the Meebo staff.
"We'd say, "Hey, we're going to be in Chicago. We're going to be in Japan. We're going to be in New York. If you're interested in Meebo, come to XYZ coffee shop,'" he says.
At these events, they hand out cupcakes and t-shirts. Once, one of Meebo's founders even played JavaScript bingo with people who showed up. They wanted to give guests a memorable experience because, says Perrault, "It wasn't just about recruiting. It was about building a community, and people who show up to those things have a heightened interest in Meebo."
Even if you don't have a huge network of people to advertise your meetups with, you can always try becoming an official Meetup group to get the word out.
And don't forget about schools and universities. Job fairs abound, so it's wise to get in touch with career counselors at both local schools and schools that have high-performing graduates in your field to see how you can get involved.
"Every university makes efforts to get interconnected with the entrepreneur community," Zwilling says. "They have outreach programs, and the people who are involved are the people who will find you interns and people who will be graduating soon."
Meebo judges and sponsors programming competitions at schools like MIT, Stanford and Berkeley, so they can see firsthand where the real talent is.
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Use the Internet Wisely
No one wants to sift through endless responses from a job board listing. You may find the right candidates in the end, but you'll waste precious time separating what Perrault calls "the weak from the champs."
This is not to say, however, that you can't find good talent for your start-up online. In the era of social networking, there are tons of sites dedicated to matching qualified applicants with the right employers, including Startupers, VentureLoop and Startuply. You can even try InternshipIN to find people while they're still in school.
Make sure, when you register for these sites, that your profile reflects the spirit of your company. That goes for your Facebook presence, too. If your business is casual and fun, you'll need people who are attracted to that type of environment, and your time will be best spent if you find these people from the very beginning.
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: What to Look For
"There are certain kinds of people who thrive in an environment with the risk profile and anarchy of a start-up," says Sloan. "Start-ups demand great working relationships. There can be no issues."
This means the cultural fit is equally as important as what's on a person's resume. Zwilling recommends looking for people who are results-oriented, people who can tell you what exactly they've done in their careers. As you probably know already, responsibility gets pretty evenly distributed in a start-up with a small staff. You need to know that people can produce when given that responsibility.
"I hear a lot of people talk about what their job description is, but I'm looking for results," Zwilling says.
He also recommends looking for someone who is "attracted to the promise of a big win." The road may be rough at first, but someone who's ready to see your business through and can tell you why it's worth it to them is someone you want on your team.
If your business requires long or odd hours, look for someone whose other commitments aren't going to prevent them from contributing. And, most importantly, you should steer clear of people who list being tired of the corporate world as one of their main reasons for applying. That doesn't automatically mean they're ready for the start-up world, either.
Preempting these issues is key, so Sloan suggests putting all potential employees through a training session. He says, "The test period will reveal what the dynamics really are."
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: What to Offer
As a start-up, you might not be able to offer top talent all the benefits and employee perks that a big corporation can, but what you can offer is the promise of purpose and independence.
According to Sloan: "People get involved in a start-up for three reasons. One, they like creating, being part of something new. Two, they want to participate in the upside. Three, they want to live a meaningful life, and the closer you are to the success or failure of a business, the more meaning and purpose you feel."
Without a corporate ladder to scale, employees at start-ups can also start out with higher job titles, which can be a big incentive for driven individuals.
No matter how driven a person is, though, he or she will still want to be reassured that the company will be around a few years from now. Sloan suggests being open about your financial situation, discussing your business plan and demonstrating knowledge about your place in the industry. You don't want your new hire to face any surprises during the first few weeks.
In addition to promising purpose and more important roles, many start-ups have another secret weapon to help them secure top talent: a casual and fun working environment. If you've got one, don't be afraid to show it off. Meebo puts all its new hires through a three-hour work simulation, in which new hires not only get to demonstrate their skills, but they get to see how the office operates day-to-day.
"If we get them in the door, we have a fighting chance," says Perrault. "When we do the debrief, every single person says, 'It's so easy to see the enthusiasm of your employees, and it's infectious.'"
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Always Be on the Lookout
Don't lose recruiting momentum just because you've filled all current positions. "Even if you don't have an opening right now, eventually you'll have an opening, and you need to get people interested, so by the time you're ready, they'll want to join you," Perrault explains. "If you're not recruiting all the time, you're not doing it right."
Sloan suggests keeping a running list of all the people you meet or hear of who impress you. He calls it a "Superstar list." "It's good to always keep track of outstanding people," he says, "because you never know how or where you can plug them in."
Even when you're not actively recruiting, you can still engage talented people in non-traditional forums. Meebo posts JavaScript puzzles on its site, and every once in a while, when someone does particularly well, Perrault's team may contact that person to discuss job opportunities at Meebo.
"It's so clear to everyone here that recruiting is not just an HR job. Everybody here understands recruiting is the lifeblood of our organization," Perrault says, "and that makes for a richer and stronger recruiting process."
Employees are valuable. So are referrals. That was the thought behind Meebo's decision to offer a $5,000 reward to anyone who referred qualified potential employees to the company that launched in 2005. The only stipulation? People would only get paid if the candidates got hired.
As an instant-messaging and social media service, Meebo never really had trouble finding and attracting talent. They offered employees referral bonuses, posted on job boards and committed themselves to so-called "guerilla recruiting." But they realized, some time in May of this year, that they had 10 high-level jobs to fill and they hadn't been using all of the resources available to them to find the best talent. They hadn't yet reached out to their massive user network.
So, Vice President of Human Resources Tom Perrault and his team decided to offer the public the $5,000 prize.
"Good talent is going to make the difference in the growth of our organization and in the future," says Perrault. "So we're willing to pay for good talent."
The referrals the company got, especially from vendors and external partners were, in Perrault's words, "spot on," and the experiment was a success. The moral of the story, though, is not that you have to throw money around to attract top talent.
Instead, the takeaway message for recruiting is: play to your strengths (in Meebo's case, it's networking), be active, not passive, and get your name out there. This guide will provide a few recruiting tips, as well as what to look for in a new hire, and how to entice the best talent.
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Face-to-Face Interaction
No matter how small the internet has made the world, experts still recommend in-person networking as the No. 1 way to recruit talent.
"I've done a lot of placing people into positions, and I have never used a job board as a way to do that," says Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation. 'Personal [interaction] is so much more powerful and important to me."
Start at your local Chamber of Commerce, which should list information on industry events happening in your area. Don't stop there, though. Research local industry groups and associations. "Every type of business has their own meetings," says Martin Zwilling, founder and CEO of consulting group Startup Professionals. "You'll find people who know your business and are looking for opportunities."
Even if you don't find employees at these industry events, you will at least make contacts who understand your needs and will put you in touch with other people they know.
Or, you could create your own networking events, as Meebo did. Perrault says the company started scheduling Meebo meetups around the world and asking fans and users to come out to rub elbows with the Meebo staff.
"We'd say, "Hey, we're going to be in Chicago. We're going to be in Japan. We're going to be in New York. If you're interested in Meebo, come to XYZ coffee shop,'" he says.
At these events, they hand out cupcakes and t-shirts. Once, one of Meebo's founders even played JavaScript bingo with people who showed up. They wanted to give guests a memorable experience because, says Perrault, "It wasn't just about recruiting. It was about building a community, and people who show up to those things have a heightened interest in Meebo."
Even if you don't have a huge network of people to advertise your meetups with, you can always try becoming an official Meetup group to get the word out.
And don't forget about schools and universities. Job fairs abound, so it's wise to get in touch with career counselors at both local schools and schools that have high-performing graduates in your field to see how you can get involved.
"Every university makes efforts to get interconnected with the entrepreneur community," Zwilling says. "They have outreach programs, and the people who are involved are the people who will find you interns and people who will be graduating soon."
Meebo judges and sponsors programming competitions at schools like MIT, Stanford and Berkeley, so they can see firsthand where the real talent is.
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Use the Internet Wisely
No one wants to sift through endless responses from a job board listing. You may find the right candidates in the end, but you'll waste precious time separating what Perrault calls "the weak from the champs."
This is not to say, however, that you can't find good talent for your start-up online. In the era of social networking, there are tons of sites dedicated to matching qualified applicants with the right employers, including Startupers, VentureLoop and Startuply. You can even try InternshipIN to find people while they're still in school.
Make sure, when you register for these sites, that your profile reflects the spirit of your company. That goes for your Facebook presence, too. If your business is casual and fun, you'll need people who are attracted to that type of environment, and your time will be best spent if you find these people from the very beginning.
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: What to Look For
"There are certain kinds of people who thrive in an environment with the risk profile and anarchy of a start-up," says Sloan. "Start-ups demand great working relationships. There can be no issues."
This means the cultural fit is equally as important as what's on a person's resume. Zwilling recommends looking for people who are results-oriented, people who can tell you what exactly they've done in their careers. As you probably know already, responsibility gets pretty evenly distributed in a start-up with a small staff. You need to know that people can produce when given that responsibility.
"I hear a lot of people talk about what their job description is, but I'm looking for results," Zwilling says.
He also recommends looking for someone who is "attracted to the promise of a big win." The road may be rough at first, but someone who's ready to see your business through and can tell you why it's worth it to them is someone you want on your team.
If your business requires long or odd hours, look for someone whose other commitments aren't going to prevent them from contributing. And, most importantly, you should steer clear of people who list being tired of the corporate world as one of their main reasons for applying. That doesn't automatically mean they're ready for the start-up world, either.
Preempting these issues is key, so Sloan suggests putting all potential employees through a training session. He says, "The test period will reveal what the dynamics really are."
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: What to Offer
As a start-up, you might not be able to offer top talent all the benefits and employee perks that a big corporation can, but what you can offer is the promise of purpose and independence.
According to Sloan: "People get involved in a start-up for three reasons. One, they like creating, being part of something new. Two, they want to participate in the upside. Three, they want to live a meaningful life, and the closer you are to the success or failure of a business, the more meaning and purpose you feel."
Without a corporate ladder to scale, employees at start-ups can also start out with higher job titles, which can be a big incentive for driven individuals.
No matter how driven a person is, though, he or she will still want to be reassured that the company will be around a few years from now. Sloan suggests being open about your financial situation, discussing your business plan and demonstrating knowledge about your place in the industry. You don't want your new hire to face any surprises during the first few weeks.
In addition to promising purpose and more important roles, many start-ups have another secret weapon to help them secure top talent: a casual and fun working environment. If you've got one, don't be afraid to show it off. Meebo puts all its new hires through a three-hour work simulation, in which new hires not only get to demonstrate their skills, but they get to see how the office operates day-to-day.
"If we get them in the door, we have a fighting chance," says Perrault. "When we do the debrief, every single person says, 'It's so easy to see the enthusiasm of your employees, and it's infectious.'"
How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Always Be on the Lookout
Don't lose recruiting momentum just because you've filled all current positions. "Even if you don't have an opening right now, eventually you'll have an opening, and you need to get people interested, so by the time you're ready, they'll want to join you," Perrault explains. "If you're not recruiting all the time, you're not doing it right."
Sloan suggests keeping a running list of all the people you meet or hear of who impress you. He calls it a "Superstar list." "It's good to always keep track of outstanding people," he says, "because you never know how or where you can plug them in."
Even when you're not actively recruiting, you can still engage talented people in non-traditional forums. Meebo posts JavaScript puzzles on its site, and every once in a while, when someone does particularly well, Perrault's team may contact that person to discuss job opportunities at Meebo.
"It's so clear to everyone here that recruiting is not just an HR job. Everybody here understands recruiting is the lifeblood of our organization," Perrault says, "and that makes for a richer and stronger recruiting process."
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
10 Things to Do Before You Start Your Start-Up
Is your great idea good enough? Can it grow in this slow economy? Can it become profitable, and return on any investments it requires?
Well, there's no way to know until you try, right? Hardly. There are some ways to prepare yourself, test your idea, and improve it before you actually found a company around it. We've compiled the best examples from recent Inc. articles and Inc.com guides of tips for the very early steps of building a start-up.
1. Scope out your industry.
Or, if you're just starting to think about entrepreneurship in general, find the best industry to fit your style and talents. For example, this year's burgeoning industries include interactive technology (from mobile app design to tech-savvy translation), wellness (healthy beverages), and little luxuries, such as baked goods. When you start honing in on a specialty area, seek out counselors and talk to industry veterans. You can go to SCORE, the SBA, the Women's Economic Development Agency, or scores more. The Internet, your local library, the U.S. Census Bureau, business schools, industry associations, can be invaluable sources of information and contacts. For instance, you might approach business schools in your area to see if one of their marketing classes will take on your business as a test project. You could potentially get some valuable market research results at no cost. Read more.
2. Size-up the competition.
Study your competition by visiting stores or locations where their products are offered. Say you want to open a new restaurant. For starters, create a list of restaurants in the area. Look at the menus, pricing, and additional features (e.g., valet parking or late night bar). Then check out the diners those restaurants appeal to. Are they young college students, neighborhood employees, or families? Then, become a customer of the competition. Go into stealth mode by visiting its website and putting yourself on its e-mail list. Read articles written on them. Sign up for e-mail alerts about search terms of your choice on Google News, which tracks hundreds of news sources. After you study it, deconstruct it using Fagan Finder, a bare-bones but very useful research site. Plug the address into the search box. You will be able to quickly learn, for example, the other sites that link to it, which can reveal alliances, networks, suppliers, and customers. Business data aggregators such as Dun & Bradstreet and InfoUSA provide detailed company information, including financials, although the services are not cheap. Your aim is to understand what your competition is doing so you can do it better. Read more.
3. Second-guess yourself.
"The biggest mistake I see these days is thinking that a business idea will automatically turn into a viable business model," says Terri Lonier, president and founder of Working Solo, a New Paltz, New York-based business strategy consultancy, and author of Working Solo: The Real Guide to Freedom and Financial Success with Your Own Business. Then again, what if the idea really is viable? "A lot of people start with a kitchen table idea," says Marla Tabaka, a business coach who writes The Successful Soloist blog for Inc.com. "It's a great idea you come up with your cousin at dinner. But then the business booms, and your growth gets out of control. You need a plan." Another important consideration is your personal financial resources. Make sure you have a considerable amount of capital set aside, especially because in a sole proprietorship you assume personal liability for all activities of that business. If you borrow money and can’t repay it, your personal assets are at stake. Read more.
4. Think about funding. A lot.
Can you bootstrap your company? Or are you going to need a small business loan? Might an entrepreneur in the family be able to invest, or should you look for venture capital or an angel investor? Money is a big topic for entrepreneurs, and you'll want to know your options early on. In order to get investors to open up their checkbooks, you’ll need to convince them that your idea is worthy and also be willing to subject yourself to increased scrutiny and give up a percentage of your company. That’s why it’s a good idea to first ask yourself whether you really need a professional investor at all, says David Henkel-Wallace, a serial entrepreneur who has raised $60 million from VCs. "If you’re starting a web software or mobile software company, you might be able to bootstrap it, which has the advantage that you get to keep all the money you earn," says Henkel-Wallace. "You could also look into borrowing from friends and family – or even take out a second mortgage – for the same reason." If you decide your business can only get to the next level with the aid of a professional investor, then you need to figure out what a potential backer looks for in a budding company, says Martin Babinec, who raised six rounds of funding through the business process outsourcing firm he founded, TriNet, which now boasts annual revenues in excess of $200 million. Start doing your research now, and don't talk to investors until you have a strategy that involves foreseeable future liquidity
5. Refine your concept.
Adrienne Simpson initially intended to run a traditional moving company out of her home in October 2002. The idea came to her after relocating her mother from Georgia to Michigan. "I thought I'd put everything in a box, put it on a truck and send her on her way. Oh, no! Mom started walking me through her home, pointing at things saying, 'I'll take that, let's sell that, and I want to give that away,'" she recalls. By the second year of operation, Simpson shifted gears to make her Stone Mountain, Georgia-based company, Smooth Mooove, specialize in transporting seniors—and their beloved pets—and providing such value-add services as packaging, house cleaning, room reassembly, antique appraisals, estate sales, and charity donations. Her crew does everything: put clothes in the closets, hang drapes, make the bed, fill the refrigerator. But even still business was stalling. "I knew how to run an existing company, but I didn't know how to run a start-up," says Simpson, who worked 20 years for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and 10 years with Cigna Healthcare. Seeking money and marketing advice, Simpson went to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) office in Atlanta and was connected to SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) counselor Jeff Mesquita. "When you position your company you have to think outside of the box in terms of what makes you different from the competition," says Mesquita. "Adrienne described that what she does is move seniors from A to Z, so, when they arrive to their new home it is like walking into a hotel room." The only thing her clients have to bring is the clothes on their back (and maybe their pet under their arm). That's when Mesquita suggested the business name change to Smooth Mooove Senior Relocation Services. That same night, Simpson went to a networking event. When people asked 'what do you do?' and her response was 'I have a senior relocation service.' Right away people said 'Oh, you move seniors." The business took off from there. Read more.
6. Seek advise from friends, mentors … or anyone, really.
A mentor can be a boon to an entrepreneur in a broad range of scenarios, whether he or she provides pointers on business strategy, helps you bolster your networking efforts, or act as confidantes when your work-life balance gets out of whack. But the first thing you need to know when seeking out a mentor is what you’re looking for from the arrangement. What can your mentor do for you? Determining what type of resource you need is a crucial first step in the mentor hunt. Lois Zachary, the president of Leadership Development Services, a Phoenix, Arizona-based business coaching firm, and author of The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You, recommends starting with a list. You may want someone who’s a good listener, someone well connected, someone with expertise in, say, marketing, someone accessible. Ideally you could find a mentor with all of these qualities, but the reality is you may have to make some compromises. After you enumerate the qualities you’re looking for in a mentor, divide that list into wants and needs. Who's best as a mentor? Look within your family, friends, business community, academic community, and even at your competitors – well, not your direct competition, but you get the idea. Read more.
7. Pick a name.
Naming your business can be a stressful process. You want to choose a name that will last and, if possible, will embody both your values and your company’s distinguishing characteristics. But screening long lists of names with a focus group composed of friends and family can return mixed results. Alternatively, a naming firm will ask questions to learn more about your culture and what's unique about you - things you'll want to communicate to consumers. One thing that Phillip Davis, the founder of Tungsten Branding, a Brevard, North Carolina-based naming firm, asks entrepreneurs is "do you want to fit in or stand out?" It seems straightforward. Who wouldn't want to stand out? But Davis explains that some businesses are so concerned about gaining credibility in their field, often those in financial services or consulting, that they will sacrifice an edgy or attention-getting name. "However, in the majority of cases, clients want to stand out and that's a better approach when looking at your long-term goals. Even the companies that say 'I just want to get my foot in the door' will usually begin wishing that they stood out more once they pass that first hurdle."
8. Get a grasp on marketing strategies.
You don't need to be a marketing whiz, but if you’re trying to build an idea from the ground-up, you'll likely need to build an accompanying marketing strategy from the ground up. In doing so, you need to be clear on who your customers are, because you don’t have any time to waste on marketing to those who aren’t. "That’s really the biggest challenge, determining who exactly your customers are," Lonier says. "Many times [business owners] think they understand who they are, but you need to be willing to interview and test potential customers, particularly in the early days of a company, in order to be able to build those relationships." One way to make marketing easier is through joint-venture marketing, Tabaka says. When she owned a coffeehouse in Naperville, Illinois, she realized that her company and a major drugstore in the same shopping center could work together and support each other’s marketing goals. Another important and relatively easy way to get your name out into the market is building your web presence through social media like Twitter and Facebook. Be sure you familiarize yourself with and utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make it easier for people to find your website. Read more.
9. Do a little test-run.
"The best way to test your idea is if you're employed full-time and can sell your product or service in the marketplace on weekends," says Sapp. If the business is already your day job, then you have to move quickly to test, verify, and tweak your model," he adds. Try surveys, polls, and focus groups to gain insight into attitudes about your business idea. Solicit feedback on the cheap by using online survey tools available through such services as Zoomerang.com, Surveymonkey.com, and Constantcontact.com. The goal is to get to know your customers intimately. What turns them on? What causes them to tune out? Are they impulse buyers or do they like to deliberate over their buying decisions? There are a lot of products that people like but don't buy, says Sapp. The price might not be right, for example. "Use social media to hone in on certain groups that can become your focus group," says Susan Friedmann, a nichepreneur coach, in Lake Placid, New York and author of Riches in Niches: How to Make it Big in a Small Market. "Check out chat rooms, communities on social networks like Ning or Facebook, industry groups within LinkedIn," she says. "What are people discussing? Letters to the editor or articles in trade publications are resources for finding out about challenges in that particular industry. What are people writing about? What do people want to know about?" Knowing the answers to these types of questions may help you refine your idea. Read more.
10. Start searching for future talent.
This might sound premature, but don't forget that your business is supposed to grow someday. Keep your eyes peeled all the time for people who might fit into your organization – even if you can't afford to pay them yet. No matter how small the internet has made the world, experts still recommend in-person networking as the No. 1 way to recruit talent. "I've done a lot of placing people into positions, and I have never used a job board as a way to do that," says Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation. 'Personal [interaction] is so much more powerful and important to me." So, if you meet someone interesting or knowledgable at a networking event, or even if you get particularly impressive service somewhere, be it a museum gift shop or helpline, ask that person a bit about themselves, what kind of business they see themselves in in five years – and the best people around will stick in your mind for when you need them.
Well, there's no way to know until you try, right? Hardly. There are some ways to prepare yourself, test your idea, and improve it before you actually found a company around it. We've compiled the best examples from recent Inc. articles and Inc.com guides of tips for the very early steps of building a start-up.
1. Scope out your industry.
Or, if you're just starting to think about entrepreneurship in general, find the best industry to fit your style and talents. For example, this year's burgeoning industries include interactive technology (from mobile app design to tech-savvy translation), wellness (healthy beverages), and little luxuries, such as baked goods. When you start honing in on a specialty area, seek out counselors and talk to industry veterans. You can go to SCORE, the SBA, the Women's Economic Development Agency, or scores more. The Internet, your local library, the U.S. Census Bureau, business schools, industry associations, can be invaluable sources of information and contacts. For instance, you might approach business schools in your area to see if one of their marketing classes will take on your business as a test project. You could potentially get some valuable market research results at no cost. Read more.
2. Size-up the competition.
Study your competition by visiting stores or locations where their products are offered. Say you want to open a new restaurant. For starters, create a list of restaurants in the area. Look at the menus, pricing, and additional features (e.g., valet parking or late night bar). Then check out the diners those restaurants appeal to. Are they young college students, neighborhood employees, or families? Then, become a customer of the competition. Go into stealth mode by visiting its website and putting yourself on its e-mail list. Read articles written on them. Sign up for e-mail alerts about search terms of your choice on Google News, which tracks hundreds of news sources. After you study it, deconstruct it using Fagan Finder, a bare-bones but very useful research site. Plug the address into the search box. You will be able to quickly learn, for example, the other sites that link to it, which can reveal alliances, networks, suppliers, and customers. Business data aggregators such as Dun & Bradstreet and InfoUSA provide detailed company information, including financials, although the services are not cheap. Your aim is to understand what your competition is doing so you can do it better. Read more.
3. Second-guess yourself.
"The biggest mistake I see these days is thinking that a business idea will automatically turn into a viable business model," says Terri Lonier, president and founder of Working Solo, a New Paltz, New York-based business strategy consultancy, and author of Working Solo: The Real Guide to Freedom and Financial Success with Your Own Business. Then again, what if the idea really is viable? "A lot of people start with a kitchen table idea," says Marla Tabaka, a business coach who writes The Successful Soloist blog for Inc.com. "It's a great idea you come up with your cousin at dinner. But then the business booms, and your growth gets out of control. You need a plan." Another important consideration is your personal financial resources. Make sure you have a considerable amount of capital set aside, especially because in a sole proprietorship you assume personal liability for all activities of that business. If you borrow money and can’t repay it, your personal assets are at stake. Read more.
4. Think about funding. A lot.
Can you bootstrap your company? Or are you going to need a small business loan? Might an entrepreneur in the family be able to invest, or should you look for venture capital or an angel investor? Money is a big topic for entrepreneurs, and you'll want to know your options early on. In order to get investors to open up their checkbooks, you’ll need to convince them that your idea is worthy and also be willing to subject yourself to increased scrutiny and give up a percentage of your company. That’s why it’s a good idea to first ask yourself whether you really need a professional investor at all, says David Henkel-Wallace, a serial entrepreneur who has raised $60 million from VCs. "If you’re starting a web software or mobile software company, you might be able to bootstrap it, which has the advantage that you get to keep all the money you earn," says Henkel-Wallace. "You could also look into borrowing from friends and family – or even take out a second mortgage – for the same reason." If you decide your business can only get to the next level with the aid of a professional investor, then you need to figure out what a potential backer looks for in a budding company, says Martin Babinec, who raised six rounds of funding through the business process outsourcing firm he founded, TriNet, which now boasts annual revenues in excess of $200 million. Start doing your research now, and don't talk to investors until you have a strategy that involves foreseeable future liquidity
5. Refine your concept.
Adrienne Simpson initially intended to run a traditional moving company out of her home in October 2002. The idea came to her after relocating her mother from Georgia to Michigan. "I thought I'd put everything in a box, put it on a truck and send her on her way. Oh, no! Mom started walking me through her home, pointing at things saying, 'I'll take that, let's sell that, and I want to give that away,'" she recalls. By the second year of operation, Simpson shifted gears to make her Stone Mountain, Georgia-based company, Smooth Mooove, specialize in transporting seniors—and their beloved pets—and providing such value-add services as packaging, house cleaning, room reassembly, antique appraisals, estate sales, and charity donations. Her crew does everything: put clothes in the closets, hang drapes, make the bed, fill the refrigerator. But even still business was stalling. "I knew how to run an existing company, but I didn't know how to run a start-up," says Simpson, who worked 20 years for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and 10 years with Cigna Healthcare. Seeking money and marketing advice, Simpson went to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) office in Atlanta and was connected to SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) counselor Jeff Mesquita. "When you position your company you have to think outside of the box in terms of what makes you different from the competition," says Mesquita. "Adrienne described that what she does is move seniors from A to Z, so, when they arrive to their new home it is like walking into a hotel room." The only thing her clients have to bring is the clothes on their back (and maybe their pet under their arm). That's when Mesquita suggested the business name change to Smooth Mooove Senior Relocation Services. That same night, Simpson went to a networking event. When people asked 'what do you do?' and her response was 'I have a senior relocation service.' Right away people said 'Oh, you move seniors." The business took off from there. Read more.
6. Seek advise from friends, mentors … or anyone, really.
A mentor can be a boon to an entrepreneur in a broad range of scenarios, whether he or she provides pointers on business strategy, helps you bolster your networking efforts, or act as confidantes when your work-life balance gets out of whack. But the first thing you need to know when seeking out a mentor is what you’re looking for from the arrangement. What can your mentor do for you? Determining what type of resource you need is a crucial first step in the mentor hunt. Lois Zachary, the president of Leadership Development Services, a Phoenix, Arizona-based business coaching firm, and author of The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You, recommends starting with a list. You may want someone who’s a good listener, someone well connected, someone with expertise in, say, marketing, someone accessible. Ideally you could find a mentor with all of these qualities, but the reality is you may have to make some compromises. After you enumerate the qualities you’re looking for in a mentor, divide that list into wants and needs. Who's best as a mentor? Look within your family, friends, business community, academic community, and even at your competitors – well, not your direct competition, but you get the idea. Read more.
7. Pick a name.
Naming your business can be a stressful process. You want to choose a name that will last and, if possible, will embody both your values and your company’s distinguishing characteristics. But screening long lists of names with a focus group composed of friends and family can return mixed results. Alternatively, a naming firm will ask questions to learn more about your culture and what's unique about you - things you'll want to communicate to consumers. One thing that Phillip Davis, the founder of Tungsten Branding, a Brevard, North Carolina-based naming firm, asks entrepreneurs is "do you want to fit in or stand out?" It seems straightforward. Who wouldn't want to stand out? But Davis explains that some businesses are so concerned about gaining credibility in their field, often those in financial services or consulting, that they will sacrifice an edgy or attention-getting name. "However, in the majority of cases, clients want to stand out and that's a better approach when looking at your long-term goals. Even the companies that say 'I just want to get my foot in the door' will usually begin wishing that they stood out more once they pass that first hurdle."
8. Get a grasp on marketing strategies.
You don't need to be a marketing whiz, but if you’re trying to build an idea from the ground-up, you'll likely need to build an accompanying marketing strategy from the ground up. In doing so, you need to be clear on who your customers are, because you don’t have any time to waste on marketing to those who aren’t. "That’s really the biggest challenge, determining who exactly your customers are," Lonier says. "Many times [business owners] think they understand who they are, but you need to be willing to interview and test potential customers, particularly in the early days of a company, in order to be able to build those relationships." One way to make marketing easier is through joint-venture marketing, Tabaka says. When she owned a coffeehouse in Naperville, Illinois, she realized that her company and a major drugstore in the same shopping center could work together and support each other’s marketing goals. Another important and relatively easy way to get your name out into the market is building your web presence through social media like Twitter and Facebook. Be sure you familiarize yourself with and utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make it easier for people to find your website. Read more.
9. Do a little test-run.
"The best way to test your idea is if you're employed full-time and can sell your product or service in the marketplace on weekends," says Sapp. If the business is already your day job, then you have to move quickly to test, verify, and tweak your model," he adds. Try surveys, polls, and focus groups to gain insight into attitudes about your business idea. Solicit feedback on the cheap by using online survey tools available through such services as Zoomerang.com, Surveymonkey.com, and Constantcontact.com. The goal is to get to know your customers intimately. What turns them on? What causes them to tune out? Are they impulse buyers or do they like to deliberate over their buying decisions? There are a lot of products that people like but don't buy, says Sapp. The price might not be right, for example. "Use social media to hone in on certain groups that can become your focus group," says Susan Friedmann, a nichepreneur coach, in Lake Placid, New York and author of Riches in Niches: How to Make it Big in a Small Market. "Check out chat rooms, communities on social networks like Ning or Facebook, industry groups within LinkedIn," she says. "What are people discussing? Letters to the editor or articles in trade publications are resources for finding out about challenges in that particular industry. What are people writing about? What do people want to know about?" Knowing the answers to these types of questions may help you refine your idea. Read more.
10. Start searching for future talent.
This might sound premature, but don't forget that your business is supposed to grow someday. Keep your eyes peeled all the time for people who might fit into your organization – even if you can't afford to pay them yet. No matter how small the internet has made the world, experts still recommend in-person networking as the No. 1 way to recruit talent. "I've done a lot of placing people into positions, and I have never used a job board as a way to do that," says Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation. 'Personal [interaction] is so much more powerful and important to me." So, if you meet someone interesting or knowledgable at a networking event, or even if you get particularly impressive service somewhere, be it a museum gift shop or helpline, ask that person a bit about themselves, what kind of business they see themselves in in five years – and the best people around will stick in your mind for when you need them.
Monday, January 3, 2011
35 Percent of Blacks Watch TV Online, 13 Percent Consider Cancelling Cable
As African Americans continue to bridge the disparity in broadband usage and access, we’ve witnessed a number of trends that show that not only are we adopting technology, we’re beginning to dominate in usage. Blacks currently outpace other ethnic groups in mobile phone usage according to the Pew Report and now it seems online television may become the next frontier.
According to a new study titled “Multiplatform Content and Services: Multicultural Edition,” from Horowitz Associates, African Americans are now the biggest consumer of Internet TV. For those unfamilar with Horowitz, they are a leading provider of consumer research for cable operators, television networks, Internet and broadband companies to name a few. The study comprised of 1,000 survey participants nationwide that have broadband access in their homes. The report states that Asians currently lead the pack with 48% watching television online with Latinos at a close second at 46% and African Americans and Caucasians coming in with 35% each. When it comes to watching television via a handheld device the numbers shift with 22% of Hispanics, 19% of blacks and 16% of Asians tuning in.
While alternative forms of television are being employed, it should be noted that the traditional set continues to reign supreme with 74% of blacks responding that they still watch most of their programs on a regular set. Whites and Latinos weighed in with 75% and Asians with 70% keeping it old school with the TV. It should be noted that the term “traditional set” wasn’t defined in the study, so it’s unclear where current TVs that stream online content and allow users to surf the net fall into the equation.
With the increasing popularity of online TV are minorities ready to cut their cable subscriptions? Not exactly. According to the report, only 13% of African Americans are ready to take the leap. Asians and whites were more sold on the possibility with 24% and 25% respectively. Latinos were somewhere in the middle with 18%. The tide is turning in digital’s favor according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project whose recent study shows that 65% of Internet users have paid for content with 16% paying for TV shows, movies, and videos.
According to a new study titled “Multiplatform Content and Services: Multicultural Edition,” from Horowitz Associates, African Americans are now the biggest consumer of Internet TV. For those unfamilar with Horowitz, they are a leading provider of consumer research for cable operators, television networks, Internet and broadband companies to name a few. The study comprised of 1,000 survey participants nationwide that have broadband access in their homes. The report states that Asians currently lead the pack with 48% watching television online with Latinos at a close second at 46% and African Americans and Caucasians coming in with 35% each. When it comes to watching television via a handheld device the numbers shift with 22% of Hispanics, 19% of blacks and 16% of Asians tuning in.
While alternative forms of television are being employed, it should be noted that the traditional set continues to reign supreme with 74% of blacks responding that they still watch most of their programs on a regular set. Whites and Latinos weighed in with 75% and Asians with 70% keeping it old school with the TV. It should be noted that the term “traditional set” wasn’t defined in the study, so it’s unclear where current TVs that stream online content and allow users to surf the net fall into the equation.
With the increasing popularity of online TV are minorities ready to cut their cable subscriptions? Not exactly. According to the report, only 13% of African Americans are ready to take the leap. Asians and whites were more sold on the possibility with 24% and 25% respectively. Latinos were somewhere in the middle with 18%. The tide is turning in digital’s favor according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project whose recent study shows that 65% of Internet users have paid for content with 16% paying for TV shows, movies, and videos.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Top 10 little known facts about Teena Marie
While the world awaits word as to the cause of death for R & B singer Teena Marie, we look back at some things about the “Ivory Queen of Soul’s” life you might not have known:
1) She has a connection to “Saturday Night Live” – The singer was godmother to former “SNL” cast member Maya Rudolph who is the daughter of the late legendary singer Minnie Ripperton and music producer Richard Rudolph. Richard Rudolph produced Marie’s second album, “Lady T.”
2) She was a free spirit early on – Marie admitted during a TV One episode of the show “Unsung” that she got into a little bit of trouble while a student at Venice High School in Los Angeles, California. During a production of the musical “Carousel,” she was booted out for smoking marijuana, the singer said.
3) Fans weren’t the only ones surprised by her ethnicity – Early in her career, Motown opted not to send out press photographs so as not to prejudice fans and radio stations with the fact that Marie was white. But one of her childhood friends, singer Mickey Boyce-Ellis, reportedly said she didn’t realize her best friend was white until one day Marie’s mother came to school to pick her up.
4) She and Rick James weren’t just musical partners – The pair shared a tumultuous love affair which Marie said resulted in a two week long engagement. The "Super Freak" singer produced her early work and they famously dueted on the passionate single “Fire and Desire.” They broke up in 1981 but reconciled musically in 2004 for a tour and a performance on the BET Awards which earned a standing ovation. James died two months later.
5)She was a rap pioneer – Marie was one of the first musical artists to incorporate rhyme into an R & B song. In 1981, she rapped on her single “Square Biz” off the album “It Must Be Magic.”
6) She crossed racial boundaries – The singer was embraced by the Black community, as has been evidenced by the outpouring of grief and tributes since her death. In 2004, she was signed to a sub-label of the successful Cash Money Records, home of rap superstar Lil Wayne. She later moved on to the Stax Records. In his Atlantic essay “The Indomitable Blackness of Teena Marie,” writer Ta-Nehisi Coates says "I'm sure some of the old-heads here, can come up with a corollary, but I'm having trouble thinking of a white artist whose relationship to black music mirrored Teena Marie's. More specifically, I can't think of a white artist who was more beloved by such a large swath of black people than Teena Marie."
7)She influenced law – After leaving Motown Records in the 1980s, the label sued her and she responded in a countersuit which resulted in the “Brockert Initiative” which was named for the singer whose real name was Mary Christine Brockert. The initiative clarified a California law which made it impossible for record labels to keep a performer under contract without paying them royalties.
8)She remained a part of the Motown family – Despite the legal troubles, Marie and Berry Gordy remained close and she often referred to him as her father. The Motown founder has said he is devastated by her death.
9) She’s not the only singer in the family – Marie was often joined these past few years on stage by her daughter Alia Rose who performs under the name Rose Le Beau. The pair were extremely close (Marie had refered to her daughter's Christmas birth as her greatest gift) and it was her daughter who reportedly discovered Marie’s body. "The thing that I am most proud of is my child,” Marie told TV One. “That I was able to do these things that I did, but I was able to still be a good mother."
10) She loved Sarah Vaughn to the end – Not only did Marie pay homage to the great jazz singer in interviews and song (in “Square Biz” Marie raps about her) but one of her last tweets the day before her death quotes Vaughn: “May you never grow old, and may I never die.”
1) She has a connection to “Saturday Night Live” – The singer was godmother to former “SNL” cast member Maya Rudolph who is the daughter of the late legendary singer Minnie Ripperton and music producer Richard Rudolph. Richard Rudolph produced Marie’s second album, “Lady T.”
2) She was a free spirit early on – Marie admitted during a TV One episode of the show “Unsung” that she got into a little bit of trouble while a student at Venice High School in Los Angeles, California. During a production of the musical “Carousel,” she was booted out for smoking marijuana, the singer said.
3) Fans weren’t the only ones surprised by her ethnicity – Early in her career, Motown opted not to send out press photographs so as not to prejudice fans and radio stations with the fact that Marie was white. But one of her childhood friends, singer Mickey Boyce-Ellis, reportedly said she didn’t realize her best friend was white until one day Marie’s mother came to school to pick her up.
4) She and Rick James weren’t just musical partners – The pair shared a tumultuous love affair which Marie said resulted in a two week long engagement. The "Super Freak" singer produced her early work and they famously dueted on the passionate single “Fire and Desire.” They broke up in 1981 but reconciled musically in 2004 for a tour and a performance on the BET Awards which earned a standing ovation. James died two months later.
5)She was a rap pioneer – Marie was one of the first musical artists to incorporate rhyme into an R & B song. In 1981, she rapped on her single “Square Biz” off the album “It Must Be Magic.”
6) She crossed racial boundaries – The singer was embraced by the Black community, as has been evidenced by the outpouring of grief and tributes since her death. In 2004, she was signed to a sub-label of the successful Cash Money Records, home of rap superstar Lil Wayne. She later moved on to the Stax Records. In his Atlantic essay “The Indomitable Blackness of Teena Marie,” writer Ta-Nehisi Coates says "I'm sure some of the old-heads here, can come up with a corollary, but I'm having trouble thinking of a white artist whose relationship to black music mirrored Teena Marie's. More specifically, I can't think of a white artist who was more beloved by such a large swath of black people than Teena Marie."
7)She influenced law – After leaving Motown Records in the 1980s, the label sued her and she responded in a countersuit which resulted in the “Brockert Initiative” which was named for the singer whose real name was Mary Christine Brockert. The initiative clarified a California law which made it impossible for record labels to keep a performer under contract without paying them royalties.
8)She remained a part of the Motown family – Despite the legal troubles, Marie and Berry Gordy remained close and she often referred to him as her father. The Motown founder has said he is devastated by her death.
9) She’s not the only singer in the family – Marie was often joined these past few years on stage by her daughter Alia Rose who performs under the name Rose Le Beau. The pair were extremely close (Marie had refered to her daughter's Christmas birth as her greatest gift) and it was her daughter who reportedly discovered Marie’s body. "The thing that I am most proud of is my child,” Marie told TV One. “That I was able to do these things that I did, but I was able to still be a good mother."
10) She loved Sarah Vaughn to the end – Not only did Marie pay homage to the great jazz singer in interviews and song (in “Square Biz” Marie raps about her) but one of her last tweets the day before her death quotes Vaughn: “May you never grow old, and may I never die.”
Monday, December 20, 2010
Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20554
In the Matter of
Applications for Consent to the Transfer of MB Docket No. 07-57
Control of Licenses,
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., Transferor,
to
Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc., Transferee
To: The Commission, Office of the Secretary
Attn: Chief, Media Bureau
REPLY COMMENTS OF iCLICK2MEDIA
iClick2Media an Independent Creative Artists Company submits these comments with limited support for the Petition for Reconsideration of Clarification by the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (“MMTC”) filed in response to the Commission’s October 19, 2010 Supplemental Merger Order. In that Supplemental Merger Order, the Commission had adopted the implementation details for the voluntary commitment made by Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (“Sirius”) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) to lease a portion of their combined channel capacity to certain “Qualified Entities” as a condition to the merger of the two satellite broadcasters (hereinafter, “Sirius XM”) on July 28, 2008 (“Leasing Condition”). In particular iClick2Media agrees that the new definition of Qualify Entity should be clarified and also believes the commission should remove any and or clearly define any language that has any ambiguity as discussed in iClick2Media’s Letter of Opinion to the Commission on November 12 2010 . iClick2Media however does not agree with MMTC concept to now include three race-neutral (but not racially dilute) classifications: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American Serving Institutions (AASIs), and Native American Serving Institutions (NASIs). iClick2Media like the others on the docket have filed comments and met with the members of the FCC stand firm in its belief that the order should be set aside and the original plan as defined in the order when the FCC approved the merger between XM and Sirius should stand.
Further as I stated I applaud your efforts in finding a solution that included all the active parties ideas, and concepts on the docket however history has show that without clear distinctness of terms in place the underserved is seldom served. By back peddling the FCC continues to maintain the status quo when it comes to the underserved, minorities and women in telecommunications. The line between racial preference and race-neutral is finding the less restrictive mean of achieving equality. It does not mean walking away from your responsibility a responsibility the FCC obligated itself to oversee and has a duty to ensure fairness over such communication.
The latest Radio Television, Digital News Associations (RTDNA) Hofstra University Annual Survey finds that the percentage of minority news directors rose in both television and radio. But those were nearly the only positive numbers in the survey. Overall, the percentage of minorities in both radio and television fell for the third straight year, although the drop in TV was small. Women in radio news rose slightly, but the percentage of women radio news directors went down, as did both the overall percentage of women in TV news and women TV news directors. The drop in women TV news directors was small, and the percentage of women TV news directors stands at the second-highest level ever. As far as minorities are concerned, the bigger picture remains unchanged. In the last 20 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 9.4 percent; but the minority workforce in TV news is up 2.4 percent, and the minority workforce in radio is actually half what it was two decades ago. Still, TV news diversity remains far ahead of newspaper (see sidebar).
For the second year in a row, the percentage of minorities in television decreased from the year before. In fact, we end the decade with no gains whatsoever for minorities in TV news, and the percentage of minorities in radio news is down substantially. In TV, much of the drop in minority employment -- and Hispanics specifically – came from a drop at Hispanic stations. Among non-Hispanic stations, minority employment slipped by just 0.3 percent to 19.3, down from last year's 19.6 percent.
At non-Hispanic stations, the minority break down is:
• 10.3 percent African American (up from 9.8 percent)
• 5.7 percent Hispanic (down from 6.2 percent)
• 2.8 percent Asian American (down from 3.1 percent)
• 0.5 percent Native American (unchanged from a year ago)
Overall, 73.9 percent of the TV news workforce at Hispanic stations are Hispanic. That's up slightly from last year's 72 percent. Twenty percent are white; 3.5 percent are Asian American; 2.6 percent are African American. That's down for white and black and up for Asian American.
As usual, men outnumber women for almost all groups except Asian Americans, where women out number men 1.5:1 and Native Americans, which were even. Otherwise, differences are greatest among Hispanics 3.6 percent male to 2.2 percent female; whites: 48.6 percent to 31.2; blacks 6.7 percent to 4.8 percent.
In radio, the percentage of minorities fell substantially. All groups dropped except Native American.
The overall percentage of minority news directors in TV increased by almost two percent last year. It's still below the all-time high, but it's certainly among the highest percentages I've seen. Much of that was fueled by a jump in Asian American news directors. Historically, minority news directors have been concentrated in the largest markets. It's still highest in markets 1 - 25, but the percentages are in double digits for all market sizes except 51 - 100. That's a first. The percentage is still lowest at the largest stations -- just 2.8 percent minority in newsrooms of 51+ staffers. Fox affiliates had the highest percentage at 15.8 percent, followed by CBS at 10.8 percent. Both ABC and NBC affiliates were between 6 and 7 percent. Still, the big four network affiliates, overall, had 9.7 percent minority news directors. That's up from 6.9 percent the year before. As usual, minority news directors were most common in the South and West and least likely in the Midwest.
At non-Hispanic TV stations, the percentage of minority news directors rose from last year's 7 percent to 8.9 percent. That's just off the all time high of 9.1 percent two years ago. 3.2 percent were African American; 2.5 percent each for Hispanic and Asian American; and 0.7 percent Native American. That's about the same for African American and Native American and up for Hispanic and Asian American. The percentage of minority news directors in radio tripled from last year's paltry 2.2 percent to this year's 7 percent. All minority groups went up except Asian American, which slid slightly. Group-owned stations were less likely to have minority news directors than independent stations.
At 28.4 percent, the percentage of women TV news directors fell 0.7 percent from last year's all-time high of 29.1 percent. It's still the second-highest percentage ever. It’s also worth emphasizing that the percentage of women TV news directors in the RTDNA /Hofstra University Annual Survey is based on a complete station census – not projected from a smaller sample. So 28.4 percent isn’t a rough figure, it’s an exact one. Women news directors were highest in the Midwest and then West and lowest in the South. There was no meaningful difference based on network affiliation.
Women have been right around the 40-percentage mark of the TV workforce for more than a decade. Last year, the number edged up to 41.4 percent, but this year it's back down to 40.0 percent. That could indicate that women in TV news lost their jobs at a higher rate than men, but it could also just be an anomaly in the numbers. Perhaps I'll have the answer after next year's survey.
Readers with sharp eyes might wonder how women can be in all stations based on staff size but in smaller percentages based on market size. That's because I have all market sizes for all stations, but quite a few stations don't tell me exact staff size. All the stations that supply staff size reported having women in the news department, but that wasn't the case for all stations that returned the survey. That kind of disparity doesn't happen often, but it's one of the hazards in survey research.
A mixed picture for women in radio news in 2010, the percentage of women in the radio workforce stayed essentially the same (up by 1.0 percent). The percentage of stations with women rose by 10 percent, but the percentage of women radio news directors fell by 9 percent. The opposite of last year, women were actually more likely to be news director at stations with larger staffs but less likely to be in the Northeast than elsewhere in the country.
Major markets are those with 1 million or more listeners. Large markets are from 250,000 to 1 million. Medium markets are 50,000 to 250,000. Small markets are fewer than 50,000.
Minority numbers in TV news present a mixed picture. The percentage of minority TV news directors rose by almost 2 percent in the last year to one of the highest levels ever. At the same time, the overall minority workforce dropped by about a percent and a half, and there was a large, puzzling drop in the percentage of stations with minorities. I suspect the latter number is an aberration that will disappear next year.
There are few consistent trends within the minority data. Generally, the larger the market has the higher percentage of minorities. Fox affiliates were a little more likely than other network affiliates to have minority news directors, and ABC and NBC affiliates were least likely to have minority news directors. As usual, stations in the South and West were more likely to have minority news directors and stations there also tended to have a higher percentage of minorities in the newsroom.
Even as the percentage of the minority workforce in radio news fell to one of its lowest levels ever, the percentage of minority radio news directors rose substantially from last year. At 7.1 percent, the percentage of minority radio news directors isn't the highest it's been, but it's certainly on the high end of the scale.
Both minority and women numbers are up slightly from a year ago, but they look a lot like last year. Women GMs (at stations that run local news) are more likely to be found in smaller newsrooms and at ABC affiliates and less likely in the Northeast.
At 2.7 percent last year, it was hard to imagine that minority general managers (at network affiliates that run local news) could become even more white, but they did. Now, under 2 percent of those GMs are minorities. The overall percentage of minority went up slightly because minorities at independent stations went up. Among the network affiliates, ABC and NBC stations were much higher than CBS or Fox -- but all were low.
At non-Hispanic stations (which run local news), minority GM numbers were cut by one-third from a year ago ... which was down two-thirds from the year before that. Minority GMs at non-Hispanic stations have gone from 9.8 percent to 3.1 percent to 2.6 percent in the latest survey. Most of those are black. Seventy percent of the GMs at Hispanic stations are Hispanic; the rest are white.
Radio General Managers – 2010
Percent Caucasian Percent Minority Percent Men Percent Women
All Radio 92% 8.0% 81.7% 18.3%
Both minority and women numbers went up in the last year. Both are more likely to be found at non-commercial stations and independent stations. Minority GMs were also most likely to be in the Northeast, then the West.
The RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009 among all 1,770 operating, non-satellite television stations and a random sample of 4,000 radio stations. Valid responses came from 1,355 television stations (76.6 percent) and 203 radio news directors and general managers representing 301 radio stations.
Some data sets (e.g. the number of TV stations originating local news, getting it from others and women TV news directors) is based on a complete census and is not projected from a smaller sample.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:
Age - 2010
The typical TV news director remained in the mid 40s. The median was 44 and the average was 45. Overall, the age ranged from 28 to 69. Generally, news directors were a little older in the largest markets and the largest stations, but the differences were quite small. Network affiliation and region made no difference.
News directors appear to be getting a lot less nomadic. The typical TV news director had been at his or her station for just over 6 years (although not necessarily as news director). The average tenure at that station for the news director was eight and a half years. One news director had been at the station for 48 years. The numbers didn't vary a lot by market size, although news directors in the very smallest markets tended to have been there a little less than for other markets. Overall, news directors were a little more stable in the Midwest and Northeast than in the South and West. In radio, the median age for news director was 48 and the average was 45. Interestingly, the average and median ages for news directors at commercial stations was about 10 years older than for those at non-commercial stations. Radio news directors are even less nomadic than TV news directors. The typical (median) radio news director had been at his or her station for 6 years (although not necessarily as news director). The average tenure at that station for the news director was 10.3 years.
Newspapers and TV
The 2010 survey by the American Society of News Editors found that minority journalists make up 13.3 percent of newsroom employees at daily newspapers. That’s down 0.1 percent from the 2009 number.
Daily Newspapers TV News
Minority population 13.3% 20.2%
African American 4.9 11.5
Hispanic/Latino 4.6 5.8
Asian American 3.3 2.3
Native American 0.5 0.5
Women 36.6 40.0
Daily Newspapers TV News (non-Hispanic only)
Daily Newspapers TV News
Minority population 13.3% 19.3%
African American 4.9 10.3
Hispanic/Latino 4.6 5.7
Asian American 3.3 2.8
Native American 0.5 0.5
Women 36.6 40.0
The above statistical data is necessary in these reply comments to show the underserved, minority and women are on a continue decline in several medium of communication. If the FCC does not reconsider its Order to allow Sirius XM to choose whom will be given the Licenses the voices of the underserved, minorities and women will continue to get smaller and smaller.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Malik Shakur
iClick2Media
An Independent Creative Artists Company
By
Malik Shakur CEO
December 19, 2010
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20554
In the Matter of
Applications for Consent to the Transfer of MB Docket No. 07-57
Control of Licenses,
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., Transferor,
to
Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc., Transferee
To: The Commission, Office of the Secretary
Attn: Chief, Media Bureau
REPLY COMMENTS OF iCLICK2MEDIA
iClick2Media an Independent Creative Artists Company submits these comments with limited support for the Petition for Reconsideration of Clarification by the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (“MMTC”) filed in response to the Commission’s October 19, 2010 Supplemental Merger Order. In that Supplemental Merger Order, the Commission had adopted the implementation details for the voluntary commitment made by Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (“Sirius”) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) to lease a portion of their combined channel capacity to certain “Qualified Entities” as a condition to the merger of the two satellite broadcasters (hereinafter, “Sirius XM”) on July 28, 2008 (“Leasing Condition”). In particular iClick2Media agrees that the new definition of Qualify Entity should be clarified and also believes the commission should remove any and or clearly define any language that has any ambiguity as discussed in iClick2Media’s Letter of Opinion to the Commission on November 12 2010 . iClick2Media however does not agree with MMTC concept to now include three race-neutral (but not racially dilute) classifications: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American Serving Institutions (AASIs), and Native American Serving Institutions (NASIs). iClick2Media like the others on the docket have filed comments and met with the members of the FCC stand firm in its belief that the order should be set aside and the original plan as defined in the order when the FCC approved the merger between XM and Sirius should stand.
Further as I stated I applaud your efforts in finding a solution that included all the active parties ideas, and concepts on the docket however history has show that without clear distinctness of terms in place the underserved is seldom served. By back peddling the FCC continues to maintain the status quo when it comes to the underserved, minorities and women in telecommunications. The line between racial preference and race-neutral is finding the less restrictive mean of achieving equality. It does not mean walking away from your responsibility a responsibility the FCC obligated itself to oversee and has a duty to ensure fairness over such communication.
The latest Radio Television, Digital News Associations (RTDNA) Hofstra University Annual Survey finds that the percentage of minority news directors rose in both television and radio. But those were nearly the only positive numbers in the survey. Overall, the percentage of minorities in both radio and television fell for the third straight year, although the drop in TV was small. Women in radio news rose slightly, but the percentage of women radio news directors went down, as did both the overall percentage of women in TV news and women TV news directors. The drop in women TV news directors was small, and the percentage of women TV news directors stands at the second-highest level ever. As far as minorities are concerned, the bigger picture remains unchanged. In the last 20 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 9.4 percent; but the minority workforce in TV news is up 2.4 percent, and the minority workforce in radio is actually half what it was two decades ago. Still, TV news diversity remains far ahead of newspaper (see sidebar).
For the second year in a row, the percentage of minorities in television decreased from the year before. In fact, we end the decade with no gains whatsoever for minorities in TV news, and the percentage of minorities in radio news is down substantially. In TV, much of the drop in minority employment -- and Hispanics specifically – came from a drop at Hispanic stations. Among non-Hispanic stations, minority employment slipped by just 0.3 percent to 19.3, down from last year's 19.6 percent.
At non-Hispanic stations, the minority break down is:
• 10.3 percent African American (up from 9.8 percent)
• 5.7 percent Hispanic (down from 6.2 percent)
• 2.8 percent Asian American (down from 3.1 percent)
• 0.5 percent Native American (unchanged from a year ago)
Overall, 73.9 percent of the TV news workforce at Hispanic stations are Hispanic. That's up slightly from last year's 72 percent. Twenty percent are white; 3.5 percent are Asian American; 2.6 percent are African American. That's down for white and black and up for Asian American.
As usual, men outnumber women for almost all groups except Asian Americans, where women out number men 1.5:1 and Native Americans, which were even. Otherwise, differences are greatest among Hispanics 3.6 percent male to 2.2 percent female; whites: 48.6 percent to 31.2; blacks 6.7 percent to 4.8 percent.
In radio, the percentage of minorities fell substantially. All groups dropped except Native American.
The overall percentage of minority news directors in TV increased by almost two percent last year. It's still below the all-time high, but it's certainly among the highest percentages I've seen. Much of that was fueled by a jump in Asian American news directors. Historically, minority news directors have been concentrated in the largest markets. It's still highest in markets 1 - 25, but the percentages are in double digits for all market sizes except 51 - 100. That's a first. The percentage is still lowest at the largest stations -- just 2.8 percent minority in newsrooms of 51+ staffers. Fox affiliates had the highest percentage at 15.8 percent, followed by CBS at 10.8 percent. Both ABC and NBC affiliates were between 6 and 7 percent. Still, the big four network affiliates, overall, had 9.7 percent minority news directors. That's up from 6.9 percent the year before. As usual, minority news directors were most common in the South and West and least likely in the Midwest.
At non-Hispanic TV stations, the percentage of minority news directors rose from last year's 7 percent to 8.9 percent. That's just off the all time high of 9.1 percent two years ago. 3.2 percent were African American; 2.5 percent each for Hispanic and Asian American; and 0.7 percent Native American. That's about the same for African American and Native American and up for Hispanic and Asian American. The percentage of minority news directors in radio tripled from last year's paltry 2.2 percent to this year's 7 percent. All minority groups went up except Asian American, which slid slightly. Group-owned stations were less likely to have minority news directors than independent stations.
At 28.4 percent, the percentage of women TV news directors fell 0.7 percent from last year's all-time high of 29.1 percent. It's still the second-highest percentage ever. It’s also worth emphasizing that the percentage of women TV news directors in the RTDNA /Hofstra University Annual Survey is based on a complete station census – not projected from a smaller sample. So 28.4 percent isn’t a rough figure, it’s an exact one. Women news directors were highest in the Midwest and then West and lowest in the South. There was no meaningful difference based on network affiliation.
Women have been right around the 40-percentage mark of the TV workforce for more than a decade. Last year, the number edged up to 41.4 percent, but this year it's back down to 40.0 percent. That could indicate that women in TV news lost their jobs at a higher rate than men, but it could also just be an anomaly in the numbers. Perhaps I'll have the answer after next year's survey.
Readers with sharp eyes might wonder how women can be in all stations based on staff size but in smaller percentages based on market size. That's because I have all market sizes for all stations, but quite a few stations don't tell me exact staff size. All the stations that supply staff size reported having women in the news department, but that wasn't the case for all stations that returned the survey. That kind of disparity doesn't happen often, but it's one of the hazards in survey research.
A mixed picture for women in radio news in 2010, the percentage of women in the radio workforce stayed essentially the same (up by 1.0 percent). The percentage of stations with women rose by 10 percent, but the percentage of women radio news directors fell by 9 percent. The opposite of last year, women were actually more likely to be news director at stations with larger staffs but less likely to be in the Northeast than elsewhere in the country.
Major markets are those with 1 million or more listeners. Large markets are from 250,000 to 1 million. Medium markets are 50,000 to 250,000. Small markets are fewer than 50,000.
Minority numbers in TV news present a mixed picture. The percentage of minority TV news directors rose by almost 2 percent in the last year to one of the highest levels ever. At the same time, the overall minority workforce dropped by about a percent and a half, and there was a large, puzzling drop in the percentage of stations with minorities. I suspect the latter number is an aberration that will disappear next year.
There are few consistent trends within the minority data. Generally, the larger the market has the higher percentage of minorities. Fox affiliates were a little more likely than other network affiliates to have minority news directors, and ABC and NBC affiliates were least likely to have minority news directors. As usual, stations in the South and West were more likely to have minority news directors and stations there also tended to have a higher percentage of minorities in the newsroom.
Even as the percentage of the minority workforce in radio news fell to one of its lowest levels ever, the percentage of minority radio news directors rose substantially from last year. At 7.1 percent, the percentage of minority radio news directors isn't the highest it's been, but it's certainly on the high end of the scale.
Both minority and women numbers are up slightly from a year ago, but they look a lot like last year. Women GMs (at stations that run local news) are more likely to be found in smaller newsrooms and at ABC affiliates and less likely in the Northeast.
At 2.7 percent last year, it was hard to imagine that minority general managers (at network affiliates that run local news) could become even more white, but they did. Now, under 2 percent of those GMs are minorities. The overall percentage of minority went up slightly because minorities at independent stations went up. Among the network affiliates, ABC and NBC stations were much higher than CBS or Fox -- but all were low.
At non-Hispanic stations (which run local news), minority GM numbers were cut by one-third from a year ago ... which was down two-thirds from the year before that. Minority GMs at non-Hispanic stations have gone from 9.8 percent to 3.1 percent to 2.6 percent in the latest survey. Most of those are black. Seventy percent of the GMs at Hispanic stations are Hispanic; the rest are white.
Radio General Managers – 2010
Percent Caucasian Percent Minority Percent Men Percent Women
All Radio 92% 8.0% 81.7% 18.3%
Both minority and women numbers went up in the last year. Both are more likely to be found at non-commercial stations and independent stations. Minority GMs were also most likely to be in the Northeast, then the West.
The RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009 among all 1,770 operating, non-satellite television stations and a random sample of 4,000 radio stations. Valid responses came from 1,355 television stations (76.6 percent) and 203 radio news directors and general managers representing 301 radio stations.
Some data sets (e.g. the number of TV stations originating local news, getting it from others and women TV news directors) is based on a complete census and is not projected from a smaller sample.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:
Age - 2010
The typical TV news director remained in the mid 40s. The median was 44 and the average was 45. Overall, the age ranged from 28 to 69. Generally, news directors were a little older in the largest markets and the largest stations, but the differences were quite small. Network affiliation and region made no difference.
News directors appear to be getting a lot less nomadic. The typical TV news director had been at his or her station for just over 6 years (although not necessarily as news director). The average tenure at that station for the news director was eight and a half years. One news director had been at the station for 48 years. The numbers didn't vary a lot by market size, although news directors in the very smallest markets tended to have been there a little less than for other markets. Overall, news directors were a little more stable in the Midwest and Northeast than in the South and West. In radio, the median age for news director was 48 and the average was 45. Interestingly, the average and median ages for news directors at commercial stations was about 10 years older than for those at non-commercial stations. Radio news directors are even less nomadic than TV news directors. The typical (median) radio news director had been at his or her station for 6 years (although not necessarily as news director). The average tenure at that station for the news director was 10.3 years.
Newspapers and TV
The 2010 survey by the American Society of News Editors found that minority journalists make up 13.3 percent of newsroom employees at daily newspapers. That’s down 0.1 percent from the 2009 number.
Daily Newspapers TV News
Minority population 13.3% 20.2%
African American 4.9 11.5
Hispanic/Latino 4.6 5.8
Asian American 3.3 2.3
Native American 0.5 0.5
Women 36.6 40.0
Daily Newspapers TV News (non-Hispanic only)
Daily Newspapers TV News
Minority population 13.3% 19.3%
African American 4.9 10.3
Hispanic/Latino 4.6 5.7
Asian American 3.3 2.8
Native American 0.5 0.5
Women 36.6 40.0
The above statistical data is necessary in these reply comments to show the underserved, minority and women are on a continue decline in several medium of communication. If the FCC does not reconsider its Order to allow Sirius XM to choose whom will be given the Licenses the voices of the underserved, minorities and women will continue to get smaller and smaller.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Malik Shakur
iClick2Media
An Independent Creative Artists Company
By
Malik Shakur CEO
December 19, 2010
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