Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 11/7/2009 6:36 PM UTC

  OUR COMMON GROUND "Finding Black Voice in the Public Square" Guest: Paul Porter, Industry Ears
  

  November 7, 2009 ~~~~~9 pm ET

  "Finding Black Voice: American Media "

  

  Paul Porter of Industry Ears
  
  

  The Black Voice. Where does it find its place in the public square. Where is the place that is devoted to providing a forum for African Americans, providing information and opportunity to form and bring the opinions of African Americans to the political discourse and policy decision makers? Relevant Empowering and Activist Voice ? Print, TV and Radio?

  
  

  ABOUT PAUL PORTER

  
  After working at BET and the top three radio companies for over 20 years in New York and Wash., DC. Nobody is more qualified to tell the story of payola than Paul Porter. For more than 2 decades, Paul Porter has been a prominent voice in American radio and television. From AT&T to Showtime, his baritone voice and on-camera talent has been recognized in over a half-dozen top venues, while his personality has resonated on the airwaves of numerous radio stations, and as the announcer for seven consecutive NBA All-Star Shows. In 2003, after almost a decade at BET and other radio stations in D.C. and New York, including 3 years at WBLS-FM. He began work as an on-air personality at WRKS/KISS FM, an urban AC station, and the sister station of New York’s #1 Hip-Hop station, Hot97/WQHT-FM. Two years later, having been involved with the hip-hop music industry for much of his career, his focus took a dramatic shift after an incident involving a controversial song by rapper Rah Digga, as the nation watched it play out on Fox’s “Hannity and Colmes. Having protested the immorality of the music being played on Hot97/WQHT, Porter was promptly removed from the air, spurring his movement from endorser to activist.
  
  On January 15, 2005, he co-founded IndustryEars, a think-tank created to identify and correct injustices in the media. Since then, he has been using his voice and his experience to personally advocate for increased awareness and consciousness in the media industry. His history in the industry can’t be documented in the space allocated and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
  
  . Porter shows that what listeners actually "prefer" to hear is a trick and gives us a glimpse into what is really happening within the radio and music industries.
  

  

  ABOUT INDUSTRY EARS

  A consortium of entertainment and broadcast industry professionals with more than 60 years of experience dedicated to revealing truth and promoting justice in media.
  

  

  MISSION
  
  Industry Ears is a new generation nonpartisan think tank aimed at addressing and finding solutions to disparities in media that negatively impact individuals and communities.
  
  * Industry Ears functions to bridge the gap between consumer expectations and industry standards as defined by the Federal Communications Commission.
  
  * Industry Ears seeks to empower individuals and communities by providing media literacy, education, research, and continuous dialogue with industry stakeholders, media experts, researchers, public officials and consumers.
  
  * Industry Ears aims to be policy relevant by establishing itself as a leading source of information on processes and procedures that will allow individuals to actively participate in creating change in media disparities.
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