Amid the debate surrounding the portrayal of blacks in Hurricane Katrina coverage, TV-One Chief Executive Officer Johnathan Rodgers said he hopes his cable channel will fight negative racial stereotypes.
Rodgers, this year's Pete and Bonnie Axthelm Memorial Program keynote speaker, said Wednesday night that TV-One, an entertainment cable channel targeting black adults, is "a way to know us" better.
"A lot of the media has tried to pit us against BET, but we are not competitors; we go after two different targets," Rodgers said.
While Black Entertainment Television's target median age is 22.5, TV-One targets black adults ages 35 and over.
With the buying out of BET by Viacom, TV-One is the only black-owned and -focused entertainment channel.
"This is the only place we can control our image," Rodgers said.
TV-One places a strong emphasis on promoting positive images of blacks.
"There were not that many positive images of African Americans outside dance and stand-up comedians," Rodgers said. "I wanted to show the full breadth of African American culture."
Rodgers said coverage of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans might cause members of the public to form predetermined ideas of blacks without getting to know them.
"This (TV-One) is a way to know us," Rodgers said.
According to Rodgers, blacks watch 40 percent more television than the general population and contribute more than $3 billion to the cable industry.
"We watch programs that feature us and respect us," Rodgers said.
Rodgers showed a promotional video to the audience that featured the various programs TV-One broadcasts, including "Good Times," "Martin" and a new program called "Living it Up with Patti LaBelle."
Rodgers started his career in print journalism and worked for Sports Illustrated as well as Newsweek. He then made the jump to broadcasting and worked for CBS and Discovery before heading up TV-One.
He knew Pete Axthelm and was chosen by the Axthelm family to speak this year based on his reputation in the news media.
"The Axthelm family is very involved in choosing the speaker," said College of Communication Assistant Dean Rose Richard. "Rodgers is experienced and has had a very successful career."
The channel is available across the nation via DIRECTV but is not carried by Milwaukee's cable provider Time Warner.
Sharon Patterson, a producer for Milwaukee Public Television, said TV-One would be a good addition to Milwaukee.
"TV-One is most definitely needed. The reason being society as a whole, and Milwaukee specifically, need more positive images of African Americans…more than the images we see in the mainstream media," Patterson said.
Patterson said Milwaukee has a market for TV-One.
"People are always looking for something else to view and always looking for another choice," she said. "This will offer memories and add a new fresh approach to cultural interest in the African American community."
The Pete and Bonnie Axthelm Memorial Program, established in 1994, awards one Marquette journalism student with an interest in sports journalism a scholarship each year. This year's scholarship winner was College of Communication senior Tom Blair, a Tribune sports columnist.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 8, 2005.