Dorothy Rowley, AFRO
- Black radio faces a new wave of problems, one industry insider said this week, threatening stations that have long been a reliable source of news, information and culture among the nation’s African American communities.
The problems stem from a controversial piece of new legislation, House Resolution 848, which drew experts to Washington, D.C. for a congressional hearing this week, including Paul Porter, a media critic who has had a prominent voice in American radio the past 20 years.
Porter said that while its legislative supporters’ “initial concerns were simply to grant performers royalties for radio airplay, the response of broadcasters has opened the door to an array of larger problems than just dwindling revenues.”
Formally known as the Performance Rights Act, the bill, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), was introduced this past February.
