Can't get Here from There

by Vince Sanders


Formats

Softcover
£10.75
Softcover
£10.75

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 01/03/2001

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 200
ISBN : 9781587219283

About the Book

The early 1970’s might have been the most appropriate time in America’s history to set up a radio news network for and about Blacks in the United States, more appropriate than any other time in the 20th century. The riots of the 1960’s, which had been installed as a legitimate dynamic of the Civil Rights Movement, were for the most part a thing of the past. The urban pockets of disfranchised citizens were no longer ablaze but the ashes were still smoldering. And everybody from the President to the Pope, and those in between, knew this condition could not be trusted to remain status quo without progressive maintenance.

Answering this call to duty was two young and ambitious black men in New York City, the headquarters location of all the major broadcast-networks at that time. Eugene Jackson, an engineer with an MBA and Sydney Small, a business major along with, Del Raycee, a consummate veteran from the grandfather of all radio networks, Mutual Broadcasting, formed the National Black Network under a parent company called Unity Broadcasting, Inc.

Can’t get HERE from THERE picks up the story from the initial broadcast, July 1973. This is where the author joined the group and served as chief operator of the broadcast division through its demise nearly twenty years later. Among the pertinent discussions undertaken in the book are:

  1. The "benign neglect" posture maintained by major national advertisers and their ad agencies with regards to entering contracts with black owned media companies.
  2. The struggles to have white owners of radio stations programmed for black audiences understand the need for news of a different approach. (Blacks owned scarcely more than ten radio stations when the network was formed)
  3. Profiles of the network’s starting line up of personnel and its creative approach to programming for the target audience.
  4. The pros and cons of in-house politics and their long range affect on the company and the ownership team. And the scarcity of trained personnel as was needed for this project.
  5. Special projects which included the participation of celebrities such as Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Bill Cosby and political luminaries like President Jimmy Carter, Congressman Andy Young, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Presidential Cabinet Member Arthur Fletcher, et al.
  6. The final chapter is devoted entirely to NBN’s dealings with fight promoter Don King in the network’s effort to bring back big time boxing to radio. After three fights featuring Mike Tyson and his opponents were heard in many parts of the world, the agreement began crumbling.
  7. Many of the topics broached herein are treated, to some degree, as human-interest episodes. This should, by no means, raise any questions as to the veracity of the conditions and circumstances as noted.


About the Author

Vince Sanders is a retired broadcaster with 30+ years as an on-air talent and manager of network operations and local radio station. Migrated in the 1960’s from the stage as an actor to work as talk show host and news anchor. Before joining NBC news and subsequently the National Black Network, there were stints with Seaway Broadcasting and Rollins Broadcasting companies in the Chicago area. He is co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists and past board member of the Central Florida Theatre Alliance.