NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Transitioning Mediums and Understandings
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Transitioning Mediums and Understandings: An Examination of Entertainment in the 21st Century Black Press A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS For the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Field of Media, Technology and Society By: Miya Williams Fayne EVANSTON, ILLINOIS June 2019 2 © Copyright by Miya Williams Fayne 2019 All Rights Reserved 3 Abstract Transitioning Mediums and Understandings: An Examination of Entertainment in the 21st Century Black Press Miya Williams Fayne Journalism scholars have investigated how mainstream (typically white) news organizations are adapting to digital media, but this research has created the impression that the entire industry operates similarly. My research shows this is not the case. Although entertainment content has significantly increased in the new media age, it affects the black press differently than mainstream media. This dissertation puts conceptualizations of entertainment, journalism, digital technology and race into conversation. In doing so it extends scholarship on the black press, which typically focuses on the history of the medium from its inception through the 1970s. By understanding entertainment’s effect on today’s black press, we gain insight into how an African-American institution has endured and evolved. I explore entertainment in the black press via interviews with journalists, focus groups with readers and descriptive web metrics data. Triangulating my research compensates for the limitations of any one approach and offers comprehensive insight into both production and consumption shifts in the black press. My primary objects of study are digital-first black press websites—that attract from 10,000 to over one million unique visitors monthly—and legacy black press publications—that have been continuously publishing for 49 to 135 years. I find that black press journalists and consumers both value entertainment. Entertainment in the black press often represents black success, provides a space for emotional reprieve, serves educational purposes and is frequently entangled with politically significant topics. In an effort to escape hard news coverage of African Americans, which can be psychologically taxing, black 4 press readers consume entertainment as a form of self-care. Also, black press outlets often cover racism in the entertainment industry and the black entertainers who are increasingly using their platforms to make political statements. As such, entertainment is an integral component of depicting the fullness of black life and serving the needs of a diverse black community. I also argue that the proliferation of entertainment is a result of the economic limitations on black press outlets and can have deleterious implications given that those outside of the black community comprise a large percentage of its readership. The nonblack audience for black press outlets is nearly three times larger than the black audience online. The significant presence of the white gaze troubles conceptions of entertainment in the black press as beneficial as it can present a one-dimensional view of African Americans. This is especially problematic when mainstream- owned black press outlets do not publish hard news content because it could alienate their nonblack audience. Additionally, although the entire journalism industry operates under financial constraints, the black press is disproportionately affected due to institutionalized racism among advertisers and the financial hardships of black consumers. Small budgets limit the amount of hard news content that black press outlets can publish and incentivize the production of the more affordable and lucrative entertainment content. Entertainment can then be perilous when it subverts hard news and prioritizes monetary gain. This dissertation investigates how new media is challenging journalists’ and readers’ traditional understandings of the black press. The 192-year-old institution has continuously evolved over the years, yet an increase of entertainment content evidences a fundamental shift in how it is being conceptualized. My findings contribute to research on journalism’s shift from print to digital media and highlight how entertainment in the black press is working to both advance and restrain the diversity of thoughts in the black community. 5 Acknowledgements I have never done anything in my life completely on my own and this dissertation is no exception. I am beyond grateful for everyone who has encouraged, strengthened and guided me along the way. I am blessed to have shared this experience with such amazing people and am forever thankful for my village. Thank you to my committee members who always supported my vision and helped me bring it to fruition. My advisor Jim Webster’s advice and insight was invaluable. His knowledge of web metrics and communication studies discourse helped me better situate my work. He was generous with his time, gave me space to work through ideas and trusted my professional knowledge of the black press. Ava Thompson Greenwell validated my research interest when I was unsure about pursing the topic. She gave me great perspective and shared numerous resources for information about the black press. AJ Christian was instrumental in helping me think critically about digital media and race. He helped ensure that my data collection represented the breadth of black press outlets and consumers and that my work incorporated research from other black media scholars. I could not have asked for better friends to come along this journey with me. Juontel White, my sorority sister and friend, as we both navigated PhD candidacy our weekly calls encouraged me and were my lifeline at times when I was facing various challenges. Amy Ross, I am so grateful that Northwestern brought us into each other’s lives. Your friendship and support over these last five years is beyond what I could have imagined. I also had people before me who literally showed me the way. Casey Pierce was like a big sister to me from the very beginning of my PhD journey. She gave me the tools necessary to succeed and genuinely embodied everything I was striving toward. Jake Nelson is truly someone who lifts as he climbs. He gave 6 me unfiltered advice and was always willing to share his work and past experience with me. I would also like to thank my other Northwestern peers who were there for writing and/or venting sessions: Robin Brewer, Shina Aladé, Leigh Soares, Bennie Niles IV and Tyrone Palmer. I had wonderful mentors who helped along various points on my doctoral journey: Dan Gruber, Jasmine McNealy, Kim Pearson and Jabari Asim. Thank you for your willingness to pour into me. I would especially like to thank my longtime mentor Allyson Hill for her continuous support and for her generous assistance with my Los Angeles focus groups. Thank you to my mentee Hannah Getachew-Smith as well; her assistance with my Chicago focus groups was a Godsend. I also appreciate the scholars who took time to speak with me about my research and share their insight: Catherine Squires, Charles Whitaker and Ashlee Humphreys. Qualitative research requires a lot of willing participants. Thank you to all of the black press journalists who spoke with me for this dissertation. I am also grateful for those in my professional network who either agreed to be interviewed or helped me contact other journalists for interviews: Anslem Samuel Rocque, Wendy Wilson, Mitzi Miller, Kyra Kyles and Ashley Williams. Additionally, I want to thank the black press consumers who participated in my focus groups and all of my friends and family members who helped me with recruiting. My family members have always been my biggest cheerleaders. A huge thank you to my mom, Dee, for constantly encouraging me to keep going while also reminding me to take breaks. Your perspective was priceless as it kept me both motivated and balanced. I also want to thank my dad, Michael, and siblings, Britney and Christopher, for their unwavering support; I certainly do not take it for granted. Last but not least, I am grateful for my husband, Rickey. He believed in me even at times when I did not believe in myself. Thank you for listening to my struggles and celebrating my victories. Your love is my eternal sustenance. 7 Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 10 Dissertation Overview ...............................................................................................................17 Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................................. 21 History of the Black Press ..........................................................................................................21 Traditional Versus Digital Black Press ......................................................................................32 Entertainment Content ...............................................................................................................36 The Sustainability of the Black Press ........................................................................................44 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................47 Chapter Three: Methodology ......................................................................................................... 53 Interviews