Carole Simpson

My 2011 Top Ten Black Hits and Misses

Dec 30, 2011 | Being Black | 3 comments

Add mine to the plethora of Top Ten lists that inundate us at every year’s end.  Mine is different.  It looks at men and women of African-descent, who unwittingly gave the image of black people a boost or a bust.

Topping my winners and losers is the inimitable, would-be President of the United States HERMAN CAIN.  I knew he wasn’t about anything for my people because he was running as a Tea Party Republican.  My God.  The sex allegations, his annoying “9-9-9” mantra, his international insult to the nation he called,  “Uz-beki-beki-stan-stan,” his song of praise to pizza, his brain freeze on Libya, and ending his farewell to the campaign with a quote from the “Pokémon” movie.  All of these gaffes had me laughing in stitches until I realized that what America was seeing was a black buffoon.  Thank you, Mr. Cain for nothing and I hope Gloria “whupped yo’ ass.”

Leave it to women to give us pride.  The Nobel Peace Prize was conferred on two Liberians:  ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, the first woman elected head of state of any country on the African continent; and LEYMAH GBOWEE, a peace activist credited with helping to end the civil war in Liberia and for promoting women’s rights.  After spending a good deal of time in Africa, I always felt the women in African countries would be their salvation.

Still on a good note, what about J.R. MARTINEZ winning ABC’s popular “Dancing With the Stars?”  I was so proud that the Iraqi war veteran beat out all the contestants, despite having suffered burns over 40 percent of his body, including his badly scarred face, which some could find disturbing.  What Martinez had going for him were dancing ability, a warm personality and a desire to win, no matter what.  An exploding IED didn’t stop him nor could Ricki Lake.

Far be it from me to deny a black man a show on a cable news channel but the REV. AL SHARPTON?  He has been hosting his “POLITICSNATION” on MSNBC for several months, but face it:  if he were a white man, a white woman, a black woman or some other black man, he would be fired.  Television host he is not.  The Rev. Al struggles with the teleprompter, stumbles on his words and he doesn’t talk to the audience but barks at it like an agitated beagle.  One night Sharpton showed some documents with black marker covering up large portions of the text.  He said the papers had been “didacted,” not redacted.  Again and again he used variations of “didaction.”  Sorry to say, he’s an embarrassment.  Surely, there’s someone else.

One of them could have been RUSS MITCHELL or T.J. HOLMES.  CBS lost the multi-talented Mitchell, who for years anchored the “Early Show” news, the Weekend editions of that show and the Evening News.  He apparently didn’t figure into plans for revamped CBS news programming, so he left to become anchor of a local station in Cleveland.  T.J. left CNN certainly disgusted by his twin woes…being stuck on weekends and the never-ending wait to be given a promotion by CNN.  Now he is off to BET where he is slated to play a major role in bringing serious news to the Black Entertainment network.  Here’s wishing them both success.  I expect they will continue to bring distinction to the television news industry.

The much-ballyhooed OPRAH WINFREY Network (OWN) seems to be headed for a bust.  The Queen of Daytime TV, who was just about Queen of America, started her network a year ago, this coming January 1st.  It was a tough year.  Everything Oprah touches does not turn to gold.  Her loyal fans did not tune in.  Ratings were so low that Discovery Communications invested a quarter of a billion dollars into the fledgling network.  Winfrey acknowledged that, “mistakes were made.”  She’s optimistic about 2012 when she plans to produce and broadcast programs, which take her “on the road.”  But OWN left a chink in Oprah’s formidable armor.

Emerson College in Boston, where I teach journalism, made history by naming its first black president, DR. LEE PELTON.  The Board of Trustees appointed the Harvard-educated former president of Portland, Oregon’s Willamette University, to perhaps settle some scores.  Before he arrived there had been two years of campus turmoil over the paucity of faculty members of color and the threat of  lawsuits by two black professors who were denied tenure.  Pelton started the job last July and is beginning to win over those who had doubts about the scholarship of black faculty and students.

Last, but not least, PRESIDENT OBAMA.  It’s been a year of pounding from the right, recalcitrance by the Republican-dominated House, grindingly slow economic recovery, and prospects of a tough re-election campaign.  But he has managed to keep a “cool hand.”  He killed Osama bin Laden and several other Al Qaeda leaders.  He brought our troops home from Iraq.  The Republicans blinked and passed his bill continuing middle class tax breaks and extended unemployment benefits.  So, he didn’t accomplish all he promised but admit it: he’s done a helluva lot under the circumstances.  Thank you, Mr. President for giving not just black Americans, but all Americans a much-needed boost.

Have a healthy and Happy New Year.

Sexploitation of the News

Sep 16, 2011 | Sexism | 8 comments

I can’t swear to the veracity of this incident but the faculty believes it happened.  As the story goes, one of the journalism graduates from my college applied for a job at a small television station.  The executive interviewing her asked if she had ever considered getting breast implants.  He reportedly asked that question?  Outrageous.  Here’s why he dared be so stupid.

Sex sells.  Advertisers have known that for decades and have been using sexually provocative images to sell everything from cars to vacuum cleaners.  Today, television bosses are trying to use sex to sell the news.

At my first broadcast job, a Top 40 radio station in Chicago, “Trooper 36-24-36” delivered the traffic reports during morning drive time.   Were those her measurements?  Not by a long shot.  But she was attractive and had a sexy voice.  I’m sure the men listening enjoyed hearing about traffic tie-ups from what they imagined to be a bombshell.

But that was just the traffic.  In later years, shapely weather girls turned up on local TV stations.  They were young, mostly blonde, and wore revealing clothes.  But that was just the weather.  The sexy weathergirls went out of style when real meteorologists or funny forecasters were must-haves for local stations.  Of course, they were men.

When women, like me, began to get hired for reporting and anchoring jobs, we were delivering hard news.  We believed we had to present ourselves more like male anchors if we were to be taken seriously.  We had an unofficial fashion code:  professional, yet feminine.  Suits were the uniform and we would never draw attention to our femaleness.  We didn’t wear anything that would distract viewers from listening to what we were reporting.  Hairdos were helmet-like with nary a hair out of place.  Make-up was simple and used primarily to conceal skin flaws.

But, my, my, my, how things have changed.

Have you noticed lately how women newscasters dress, especially on the cable news channels?  Do they look like news anchors or Miss Americas?  What’s with the sleeveless clothes, the low cut necklines, the tight sweaters and pants?  Local female anchors now move around their news sets, teetering on 6-inch heels with nearly thigh high skirts.

Their hair is long, voluminous, and those who are blonde often get that color out of a bottle.

The make-up looks like it’s been applied with a palette brush.  Brows are plucked to new heights. Eyes are coated with shadows and liners making them dark and smoky. The cheeks are rosy, and the lips glossy.  All dolled up to deliver the hard news: the hurricanes, the crime, the budget crisis, and the presidential campaign.

You may think I am just talking about women, but men are also striking sexy poses.  You can tell they work out.  Many appear in the field in short sleeve shirts with biceps bulging.  They also stand wide-legged or have one foot propped up on a boulder or piece of equipment.

At least news executives are giving us equal opportunity sexploitation.  Both men and women are losing substance to style.

Since everything seems to be ratings driven, news executives apparently decided they, too, would sell news with sex.  Ouch.  But are the viewers listening to what’s going on in the world or admiring the beauties displayed on the screens before them?  I don’t think the stations care.

Too many young journalists today are more focused on their bodies than their reporting and they will do almost anything to be ON TV.