Over the past few weeks the more than five million listeners of the Tom Joyner syndicated radio show heard Joyner and the show�s political commentator, Travis Smiley, talk about Black economic power and the lack of respect that too many corporations have for our community. As a case in point, Joyner and Smiley focused on CompUSA, the computer and computer supplies retail chain, which has done little or no advertising in the Black community despite the millions of dollars spent there by Black consumers. Mr. Joyner and Mr. Smiley wanted to meet with CompUSA President James Haplin to talk about that, but Mr. Haplin stonewalled the Joyner show and refused to talk.

In mid-October, it all came to a head when ABC Radio, which syndicates the Joyner show to some 99 markets nationally, threatened to take the Joyner show off the air unless they stopped their campaign against CompUSA. CompUSA allegedly had threatened ABC officials with a lawsuit, which CompUSA denies. Finally, after being deluged with calls, faxes and emails from Joyner listeners, ABC and CompUSA both backed off and Haplin even appeared on the Joyner show himself. Whatever happened behind the scenes, the real learning for Blacks and other people of color as we go into the 21st century�the information age where communications and technology will be ever more important�is that we can no longer allow others to take control of our information sources and our access to technology.

FACT 1: Of the 11,524 commercial radio and television stations in the United States, only 337 are owned by people of color. While the number of commercial television stations rose slightly between 1997-1998, the number owned by people of color decreased.

FACT 2: Black ownership of commercial radio and television has not kept pace with the industry and is losing ground. Access to capital remains one of the most significant impediments, particularly in a rapidly consolidating industry where fewer owners own more broadcast outlets.

FACT 3: Since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which directed the Federal Communications Commission to �eliminate the national multiple ownership rule and relax the local ownership rule,� there has been a rapid consolidation of ownership, higher station prices and more competition for advertising revenues. Indeed, the broadcasting industry is now dominated by non-minority owned companies that own three or more stations in one market, giving them more power to hire the best staff and to buy nationally syndicated programming. It is not inconceivable that many Black-owned radio stations could not afford to buy the Tom Joyner show, for example.

FACT 4: Other communities of color are in the same situation, or worse. The nation currently has only one Native American broadcast station owner. In the year 1997-98 there was a loss of 15 Hispanic commercial broadcast station owners. Asian broadcasters lost one of three owners.

FACT 5: The most established television owners of color are selling their stations and almost two-thirds of commercial radio stations owned by people of color are single station owners in a world which is rapidly changing. With the consolidation of radio ownership and the higher station prices, increased competition for both radio and television stations, there are fewer new owners of color entering the market.

The question for our communities, then, must be, can we allow ourselves to become disenfranchised in the information age by huge companies which own the radio and broadcast stations in our community? ABC radio, for example, is in the top 10 largest radio groups in the nation, owning some 29 stations with a revenue of over $300 million in 1997. With that kind of power, they believed they could threaten Tom Joyner, and it was only because of the steadfastness and refusal to buckle under that our community was able to force CompUSA to talk to us and take us seriously.

If you�re concerned about the fate of minority-owned radio and television stations, then you must stand up and be counted. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is chaired by a Black man, needs to hear voices of protest and concern from our communities. It�s about politics and it�s about economics. It�s about respect and it�s about power. Maybe it�s a wake-up call for us all about who owns the media in our communities.

You can write the Federal Communications Commission at 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554 or call (202) 418-0190.

(Bernice Powell Jackson is executive director of the Commission for Racial Justice, based in Cleveland, Ohio.)