TV One to begin Sunday public affairs show aimed at Blacks

hat tip:GreenLadyHere



From BlackPoliticsOnTheWeb

TV One to begin Sunday public affairs show aimed at Blacks
July 3, 2009

Roland Martin will anchor a new Sunday public affairs show aimed at a Black audience that will debut in September on the TV One network.

The “Washington Watch” program aims to tap into a new interest in politics and government due to the election of President Barack Obama, said Johnathan Rodgers, TV One’s president and CEO. It debuts Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. ET, and the show will be repeated each week at 5 p.m.

Martin, who is also a CNN commentator, will interview newsmakers and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. April Ryan, White House correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks, and Robert Traynham, Philadelphia Tribune columnist and Comcast host, will be regular panel members. TV One is in about 48 million homes, a little less than half of the nation’s TV homes.

Rodgers said it dawned on him when TV One covered last year’s Democratic convention and saw many Black Caucus members trudge up to the network’s temporary rooftop studio for interviews: these politicians have few outlets to talk about their issues and people have few places to hear them.

“I hope to get smart, intelligent, entertaining conversation,” Rodgers said, “but I put this under the public affairs arena. It doesn’t have to be a ratings success.”

Despite the election of the nation’s first black president, many of TV One’s older viewers — the network tends to get an older audience than competitor BET — wonder what whether his administration will actively push a civil rights agenda and other issues that interest them, he said.

“Barack Obama is truly the American president,” Rodgers said. “He is not the white American president or the black American president. He is our president. A number of our viewers might have had a different expectation.”

Martin said he hoped the show would reflect the state of black America every week.

While the show is Washington-based, he said the concerns of people across the country would be reflected. He said he hopes to have viewers participate in the shows by suggesting questions and topics.

“We want to be bottom up,” he said. “The problems I see right now from so many of these shows is that they are top down — these are the things that we think are important.”

Rodgers said he initially wanted the show to first air in the late afternoon or evening, to distinguish it from the crowded field of Sunday morning public affairs shows. But he was advised that premiering “Washington Watch” at that hour during football season would be suicidal.

DAVID BAUDER, AP

Is this 'Lead Story' for the 21st Century? (yes, I am dating myself.)

Media Alert: Roland Martin to fill in for Campbell Brown

CNN/U.S. made the following announcement today:

"In early April, Campbell Brown will take maternity leave for about 8 weeks and Roland S. Martin will fill in for her during that time.

"Roland is a solid journalist and a terrific communicator. He's been a regular part of the No Bias, No Bull family and our audience knows him well. He has also served as a contributor/analyst for CNN, and in fact, he's been transparent about whom he has supported for president, whether it was George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush or Barack Obama.

"We look forward to Roland's smart, energetic and spirited reporting in this role, and in the future on CNN. Following his stint filling in for Campbell, CNN plans to develop a weekend program with Roland."

Roland Martin on Valerie Jarrett and the Senate Seat

From From Roland Martin @ Essence.com

December 12, 2008
The back story of Valerie Jarrett, Illinois U.S. Senate Seat and the White House

No one with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has identified his close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett as Senate candidate #1, as mentioned in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but it's clear that she is the person often mentioned.

There is a wide assumption by many that Jarrett "mysteriously" dropped out of the race for the U.S. Senate, and I've even heard some suggest that the Obama team got wind of Blagojevich's alleged scheme to broker a deal for the seat appointment.

But there is nothing mysterious about what happened.


One week before the Nov. 4 election, Jarrett had multiple conversations with Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, with regards to the Senate position. This was in response to a number of Chicago allies asking her to consider taking an appointment for the remaining two years of the seat.

That doesn't come as a surprise to those familiar with the city's politics. A former top official with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley who is now CEO of a real estate company, she has served in many civic positions, and has had her name mentioned for various posts, including even running for mayor one day.

At the same time, multiple sources have told me that supporters of Jarrett were sending out feelers to black ministers and community activists to gauge the level of interest in her going after the job as a way to solidify support before it coalesced around another candidate or candidates.

Then after Obama's victory, the speculation immediately turned to whether she would go after the job. It was well known that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. wanted the post, and many were placing bets as to which way Obama would go, especially since the congressman was one of his national co-chairs. It was assumed that Obama would side with Jarrett, but he had not made a decision one way or another on who should take his place in the U.S. Senate.

One of the reasons Obama didn't declare her as his choice for the seat is because he was considering who would serve as his key advisers. Now that he was headed to the White House, his world is even smaller than it was when he was running for president, and he is further walled off from the rest of the world. He often said that Jarrett was one of his most trusted advisers, and having her at his side was important for a variety of reasons.

That's why on November 9, while she was in New York on business, he offered her the job as senior advisor to the president and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison. This position has her reporting directly to him and places her in the inner sanctum of the president of the United States, and ensures that her voice will be heard on nearly every issue.

I know the date well because on November 10, she confided in me that she had been offered the job, but I couldn't report anything until the announcement was about to be made. I had been working the phones to ascertain what jobs were being offered to a litany of Obama campaign officials, and she was certainly high on the list because of her relationship with Obama.

On November 12, with speculation increasing that she was going after the job, she announced that she was not interested. And on November 14, I reported that she had been officially named to the post. And on November 16, Obama officially resigned his U.S. Senate seat, putting the choice for a replacement into overdrive.

No one still knows whether the Obama camp found out about Blagojevich's alleged wheeling and dealing for the seat. But the notion that Jarrett's decision to drop out of the running because of Pay Rod just doesn't jive with the facts.

Thanks to Roland for telling us this.

Republicans Belittle Community Organizers

Republicans enjoyed a hate fest last night, spending a lot of time trashing grassroots community organizing. Yet they claim to understand America at the grassroots level. This was one of the best examples that i've seen that says plainly that they don't get it.

This nation was built on Community organizing.

After all of these months of the Republicans and their lap dogs in the media painting Barack Obama as an elitist... you couldn't get more elitist than the Republicans were at their Convention. Keep in mind... the theme for that particular day was "prosperity"... (Prosperity for them). Who were the speakers? Corporate elites. After the rich CEO's finished speaking...Mike Huckabee gave his speech. Huckabee, in a roundabout way, suggested that Americans who are struggling were whiners who were waiting for the Government to rescue them.
And they capped the night off with an attack on grassroots community organizing, with Giuliani and Palin.

Amazing!

Roland Martin struck back with a great response:



The Obama camp issued a response shortly after

Hopefully Obama will speak on this later in the week.

Unbelievable!

Of course, the speeches focused on attacking Obama rather than talking about their record over the past 8 years...or laying out a detailed plan for how they would deal with healthcare, jobs, and the issues that voters are most concerned about.

They stuck to their usual themes of war, 9/11, Terrorism, family values, scaring voters, and pushing the myth that they somehow have a monopoly on patriotism.

When will this sickness end?

Roland Martin Previews His Michelle Obama Interview

FYI: Roland Martin will interview Michelle Obama on TVOne, Sunday, August 24th, 8pm EST.

Here is The Official TVOne Press Release.

Here are Roland Martin's thoughts about the interview.:

August 22, 2008
Up close and personal with Michelle Obama

On Wednesday I had a chance to sit down with Michelle Obama for our first ever on-camera interview at the new Trump Hotel in Chicago.

But it wasn't the first time we've chatted on the air.

She has been a guest on my radio show on WVON-AM in Chicago, and the one thing I can say about her is that she hasn't changed one bit since we first met.

Going through a presidential campaign literally changes people. Having Secret Service agents clear rooms before you walk in, as well as having staff members hanging on your every word with their tape recorders and furiously tapping away on their Blackberrys could drive some folks nuts.

But Michelle? Nope. Still playful. Still focused. And still keeping it all in perspective. Truth be told, I guess that's the best way to handle all of the drama of being the spouse of a presidential nominee.

Early on in the campaign, a lot of people weren't too happy with Michelle Obama talking about her husband's stinky socks, forgetting to take out the trash and that nasty smoking habit he used to have. But the reality is that was her way of remaining level-headed about the presidential race and continuing to see her husband as the guy who walked through the Sidley Austin law firm as an intern fresh out of Harvard.

One of the issues that we wanted to achieve at TV One with the interview was not waste our precious time going through intricate policy positions and rehashing a bunch of drama. Frankly, that can be saved for news networks.

Our goal was to get a sense of Michelle and her view of family, and what it mean to the nation - and for her - to be the first African-American First Lady. She spoke consistently about their children, and what this historic moment means to them.

One thing that jumped out was when she talked about the impact of the couple showing intimacy in front of their daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Obama said their daughters are always watching and paying attention, and she found it was important as a parent for her children to see their parents expressing their love for one another publicly.

If you are looking for Michelle expound on taxes, illegal immigration and offshore oil drilling, you're out of luck.But if you are interested in seeing a confident woman share her thoughts on family, faith and the love of her life - Sen. Barack Obama - you'll enjoy the one-hour conversation a lot.

I'm looking forward to it.

Roland Martin to Interview Michelle Obama on TVOne, Sunday, 8pm EST

He taped it yesterday.

Sunday, August 24th.

Remember, Michelle Obama is the featured speaker Monday, August 25th - the opening night of The Democratic Party Convention.