Monday, January 10, 2011

BET Founder On Oprah’s Channel: Needs More African-Americans

Have you taken a look at Oprah’s OWN? Naturally some critics are certainly having a good-ol-time cracking on the media mogul’s new channel due to the lack of diversity, specifically Black faces.

BET co-founder Sheila Johnson had a mouth full to say about it on NPR’s “Tell Me More.”

“The only advice that I say, let’s open up your circle a little bit more. You know, we love the Dr. Phils. We love the Suze Ormans. Let’s open up. There are other people. And there’s also African-American experts out there that I think she should start bringing on her show that can reach even a wider audience.”

Host, Michel Martin commented about the Whiteness on the programming and lack of diversity is a bit confusing to some.

“No. Yes,” replied Johnson. “And I think she really should do that and not be afraid to do it. There’s really a lot of great experts out there that really know the businesses at hand. And I’d like to see her open up her circle to do that.”


In the meantime, Oprah announced to her OWN team that she’s proud of the new venture and says this is “revelatory for her.”

“We couldn’t ask for more – we built it and they came,” Winfrey told Multichannel News Thursday night during an OWN dinner party. “My dream is that they continue to come. It’s a long process – it’s not about this weekend it’s about sustainability long term, but I’m pleased with the start.”

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