The late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once observed that churches were the most segregated places in America on Sunday mornings. If he were still alive, he might have added Sunday morning news shows to his list.

Despite the presence of a black president, a black man as the third-ranking leader in the House of Representatives, four black House committee chairmen, and a plethora of Congressional Black Caucus members chairing House sub-committees, appearances by black lawmakers and pundits on the network Sunday news shows remains few and far between.

“I’m not pleased at all with the diversity issue as it relates to talk shows,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) told The Hill newspaper. “We have, what, 17 subcommittee chairs and four full committee chairmen? These members are brilliant; they know their stuff. They’re powerful. And they should be part of the Sunday morning talk shows.”

TV One, a black-oriented cable channel, intends to add more black faces and black perspective to the Sunday morning mix when it debuts “Washington Watch with Roland Martin” on Sept. 27.

The program will have a format similar to NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’s “Face the Nation,” where Martin – TV One’s political editor and an analyst on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” and CNN - conducts one-on-one interviews with newsmakers.

A rotating panel of journalists and experts, anchored by American Urban Radio Network’s April Ryan and Philadelphia Tribune columnist and Comcast Network host Robert Traynham, will discuss the top stories in Washington.

“People either love Roland Martin or hate Roland Martin, but people watch him because he brings a perspective in a way that’s appealing to African-Americans,” Ryan told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “The show will have a voice. We will advance the story. Washington insiders will be watching the show.”

Jonathan Rodgers, TV One’s president and chief executive officer, said the creation of “Washington Watch” stems from President Barack Obama winning the White House and from his own frustration with the current state of Sunday morning news shows. The last straw that triggered Rodgers to green-light the show was what he perceived as a lack of mainstream news coverage of a black caucus trip to communist Cuba earlier this year.

“They didn’t get any coverage and, if they did, people laughed and said it (the trip) didn’t matter,” Rodgers said. “The Congressional Black Caucus matters to us.”

That said, Rodgers warns that viewers shouldn’t expect the show to be a house organ or open microphone for black lawmakers and newsmakers to express their views unfiltered. Tough questions will be asked, positions will be challenged, he said, just like any other news program.

“I’m not going to rebuild the (Sunday show) model,” he said. “It will look something like (PBS “Washington Week” host) Gwen Ifill’s show or (“Face the Nation” host) Bob Schieffer’s show."

Much has been said about Sunday news show and the lack of blacks on them. A 2006 National Urban League report titled "Sunday Morning Apartheid" examined ABC’s "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," "Face the Nation," CNN’s "Late Edition,” “Fox News Sunday,” and “Meet the Press” between Jan. 1, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2005.

The study found that 61 percent of all the Sunday shows featured no black guests; 80 percent of the broadcasts contained no interviews with black guests and only eight percent of more than 2,800 guest appearances were by blacks.
Stunningly, one person – Fox News commentator Juan Williams – accounted for 40 percent of all appearances by black guests. And three guests – Williams and Bush administration cabinet members Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice – accounted for 65 percent of all appearances by black guests.

Stephanie Jones, the Urban Institute’s executive director, .....

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It's about time! Was I the only one who used to look forward to Lead Story on BET?

by   
Demp109
August 31, 2009, 1:36 pm
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It doesn't make a difference what channel he's on, he will still tow the left-wing socialist agenda.

by   
Uncletom
August 31, 2009, 12:27 pm
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I love roland, but increasingly he's becoming part of the echo chamber for the democratic party. What the black community needs more today than at any other time are strong independent voices willing to confront and challenge the power structure. Right now Roland Martin is mainstream with mainstream ambitions. Its becoming all about "face time" for Roland, which is a shame.

by   
Twiipi
August 31, 2009, 11:16 am
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Congratulations Roland,
You are such an inspiration to the Black community. Your appearances on the Tom Joyner Morning Show & on CNN are educational, informative and inspiring. I have faith that your show, "Washington Watch with Roland Martin" will be a great success!
God Bless You!

by   
Barackie
August 31, 2009, 7:43 am
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