Former BET Tonight host and Emmy Award-winning journalist Ed Gordon heads to National Public Radio to host a new public affairs show, a move that comes on the heels of Tavis Smiley’s departure from NPR. The one-hour program broadcasts on 86 NPR member stations and focuses on topics relevant to African Americans. News & Notes with Ed Gordon is a collaboration between NPR, the African American Public Radio Consortium, and Gordon.
Grammy Award-winning rap star Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter plans to do with Def Jam Recordings what he did with Roc-A-Fella Records now that he is the label’s new president and CEO. Carter is working directly under Antonio “L.A.” Reid, chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group (a division of Universal). “After 10 years of successfully running Roc-A-Fella,” Reid announced, “Shawn has proven himself to be an astute businessman, in addition to the brilliant artistic talent that the world sees and hears. I can think of no one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon Def Jam’s fantastic legacy and move the company into its next groundbreaking era.” Carter also will continue to run Roc-A-Fella, which was purchased by IDJ.
A group of prominent African Americans have been chosen to help establish a museum that will chronicle everything from slavery to the Harlem Renaissance. Entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey, Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O’Neal, American Express CEO Ken Chenault, BET founder Bob Johnson, and music legend Quincy Jones are among those appointed to the founding council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum is expected to cost between $300 million and $400 million.