Thread by @rolandsmartin

For the 3rd time in a week, I’ve had people get mad because I’ve not covered a story they say needs attention. NOW do y’all see why this fight for Black-owned media dollars matter? I’m ONE PERSON. I don’t have producers or reporters I can assign to spend weeks investigating. 1/8

And some of these folks demanding I do something don’t even follow me, which means they likely aren’t even members of the #RolandMartinUnfiltered @BlkStarNetwork #BringTheFunk Fan Club. REPORTING costs money. It doesn’t just happen.2/8

So when I am posting about Black-owned media fighting for advertising, I need y’all to RT, repost and share. $322 BILLION is spent annually on advertising, and we COLLECTIVELY get .5% to 1%. The reason no Black-owned media outlet doesn’t do lots of news is $$$. 3/8

Look, the only Black-owned TV network with a news show is @diddy’s @revolttv, and it’s a weekly show. Nearly all Black-owned media outlets focus on entertainment, beauty, style. @theGrio does some original news reporting. But we gotta be honest, when you see “news” stories 4/8

Posted online by Black-owned media, it’s a re-write of mainstream media. So short term, if y’all want to see us at #RolandMartinUnfiltered @BlkStarNetwork add reporters/producers, we need you to give. I’m fighting DAILY to get advertisers/sponsors, but that ain’t easy. 5/8

If just 20,000 of my #RolandMartinUnfiltered @BlkStarNetwork supporters give $50 a year - that’s $4.19 a month or 13 cents a day - we can take that $1M and hire 10 additional reporters/producers. We can easily expand. I get the resumes daily. I just can’t afford to hire them. 6/8

This is what we call the BUSINESS OF THE BUSINESS. And too many folks have no clue what it cost to cover news. If we got the ad dollars mainstream media got, I could hire 30-50 people. So stand with us as we fight alognside @RepHankJohnson to get federal ad dollars. 7/8

Please stand with us Black-owned media owners fighting these major companies and largely white ad agencies for our fair share of that $322 billion. #ImNotSatisfied with 1%. We need #BlackEconomicSocialJustice because #BlackOwnedMediaMatters 8/8