Black Enterprise (BE) is my favorite magazine. I depend on BE’s information to stay ahead of my competition. As I was reading this month’s issue something struck me. White companies bought nearly 54 percent of the ads. Black companies bought a meager 7 percent. That means white companies buy over 7 times more ads than black companies in a publication focused on empowering and promoting black people and black businesses. This is a shame!
What’s my beef? BE promotes our people and our issues from our perspective. Yet, our businesses leave BE and other black media hanging. When Forbes, Business Week or The Wall Street Journal overlooks our contributions, we can depend on BE to showcase them. This magazine also teaches us how economic trends affect our community. Yet, we refuse to take ownership of such a vital medium. Black businesses should be equitable ad buyers in media targeted toward black businesses and professionals, period.
White companies are the presenting sponsors for the overwhelming majority of black conferences (the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, conventions of the NAACP, National Urban, Nation Black MBA Association, etc.) We should be ashamed that we do not partner in events that address and promote our issues. It seems as though our issues are more important to white companies because they sponsor them. What does that say about us? I have attended the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) summer program and its policy conference, twice. Guess who sponsors their events. AIPAC’s Jewish and Israeli constituency sponsors them. They feel they have a stake in AIPAC’s existence. They take pride in funding their issues. Where is our pride?
Of course our products are not race exclusive. That’s not what I’m saying. I don’t have a problem with white companies spending money or black businesses receiving it. You do what you have to do to remain competitive and profitable. We support white businesses. They should support us in return. My point is that we should have a more vested interest in sustaining our voice. And, we should have pride in advertising to our people. How can we convince other communities to believe in us when we don’t believe in ourselves?
I don’t want to hear, “we don’t have the money.†According to the U.S Census, black America will approach $1.2 trillion in deposable income by 2012. BE’s listings of the nation’s largest black-owned companies
collectively earned hundreds of billions of dollars last year. Yet, few of them if any advertise in BE or any other black media. So why should white companies pay competitive prices for ads in black media if you won’t?Our apathy forces black media to lower their ad prices. Meaning they can’t charge what comparable white media outlets charge for advertising. No advertising means no revenue. No revenue equals no media. No media, no voice. No voice means less exposure for you and your company. Less exposure means less interest. Less interest equals no customers. No customers, no business. Get it?
To be honest you could insert any other black media outlet here. All of us can’t afford to advertise in national black media. But, we can buy an ad in the local black paper, pay to place our business card in a church program or sponsor food at a local black event.
If you don’t support voices that promote you to your community who will?
We need more black businesses advertising in black media. We can do that by taking a more proactive approach toward sustaining our voices. We can achieve this by subscribing to black media that resonates with us. We can contact advertisers and let them know that we support their cause because they support ours. We can also purchase ads or classifieds in black media that reaches out to our customers.
Zachary Raynell Rinkins is the host and producer of “It’$ Paydayâ€, an AP award winning 90-second personal-finance lifestyle radio show produced for Rinkins Media Ventures, Ltd.