Million Man Anniversary: When Blaming Media Coverage Goes Wrong

The demands laid out by Minister Louis Farrakhan and the #JusticOrElse team for the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March I believe were well thought out, clear, and impactful...well at least to them...and maybe to some others.  We won't really know until the 30 year anniversary.  That would be the only fair mark to when their can be assessment.  And it's also the only time when it will be in my mind significant news.

I think by now we've all heard a lot about the lack of professional media coverage from outlets like NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and FOX.  And I'm also sure many of us has liked at least one meme or favorited at least one tweet about that lack of coverage.  Therefore, my statement:  Just like bringing huge attention to who did or did not win an Academy Award, this was yet another time where people are making a mountain out of air...and unfortunately, begging for attention has become a personality trait of the American; particularly the young African one.

So ask yourself this question...why should there have been off the wall media coverage?  And before you answer that, let me ask the question again by what you have determined what deserves significant coverage.  What was being sold?  Who was playing?  What were people wearing?  Who was fighting and over what were they fighting for?  Who was performing?  Who was being killed?

If it wasn't for the entertainers who showed face, would you even watch?  If you weren't there, did you watch (as it was streaming)?  The channels that you have relentlessness supported...MTV and VH1...didn't feel the event was important enough to even have reporters and cameras on the ground.  Why then, do you?

Now after answering those questions with your many defensive and dishonest answers, please recognize something you've known all along...the media is after a story.  And while there are factors that seek to sway what is being viewed and/or heard, the large reason for airplay is based off of demand.  You have told these giants what is important to you and covering peaceful gatherings isn't really important.  Yet little of you turned your television to another channel while all of the aforementioned companies where in Ferguson and Baltimore covering violence and destruction.  Even when the protests were peaceful in B-More, you didn't demand the coverage until after they started showing the mayhem.  In fact, there are several peaceful demonstrations around the nation daily...but you don't request the footage....ever.  

You really want justice for blacks?  Then stop supporting the media outlets that diminish our relevance.  You really want justice for the incarcerated?  Then refuse the media-glamorized activities that increase the numbers of incarceration.  You truly want justice for women?  Then stop pouring in record ratings to television shows that continue to degrade them.  That's the real work; and that's the reason why most of those outlets didn't come.  They know the real story is whether or not this event sparked a wave of economic and social improvement among African Americans...and that story is yet to be told.

Peace