Guest Blogger:OwlAsylum "MJ's Privacy Invasion"

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After the dismal, and let's face it, pretty shabby commemoration of Michael Jackson on BET,( I hate to even think that the acronym actually has the term "Black" in it), I believe that people will finally begin to boycott the station that has helped to ruin one of our greatest forms of expression. The station was the brainchild of entrepreneur Robert Johnson, who built the media monster in reflection of MTV's lack of black video coverage. Now, as a stable mate of the that same station, Viacom owns CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Infinity, Showtime, and Simon & Schuster(http://ketupa.net/viacom.htm).

As a media giant that has ownership of the largest black television media outlet, it goes to ask certain questions. What is Viacom interested in the black community for? As a media controller and thus cultural influence, what exactly does Viacom feel it's responsibility to the black community is, and how have they gone about being accountable for the imagine of blacks around the globe(Viacom's BET international reaches 30 countries in Europe and 36 countries in Africa). The fact that Viacom owns every music video outlet on cable television(http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=viacom) is extremely troubling when I reflect on much of the content on MTV, BET, and VH1 depicting blacks is well...troubling. From shows such the "Flavor of Love", "I Love New York","For the love of Ray J", and even "college Hill", one can begin to surmise that the decision making body over at Viacom don't think to highly of the black culture, or simply feel we are to easily distracted by women defecating on floors, and breast implants to worry about it.

The argument regarding volition, or saying that you have the ability to change the station is an obvious one, and well taken on my part, and the part of most people. And ultimately that is the solution. We all need to not only send a message to Viacom, we need to stop them from being able to place the stamp "Black" on any all shows that they present air. Our culture has been slowly degraded ever since the early seventies and BET has eroded as a vehicle for positive culture. Entertainment is one of the most important tools for influencing a group of people's behavior, and music has been one of the most effective conduit for emotional persuasion. If we don't stop the owners of these tools and vehicles, we will continue to watch our people be embarrassed, and morally degraded on the world stage for easy ad revenues.