The Bloggers Roundup segment has been wildly popular, and more people are listening to the Shawn P. Williams Show than ever before. Kristin and I couldn't be more thrilled about the guests that we've had, including our two heavy hitters joining us this week. Click here to listen to an archive of last week's show. Thursday April 30th - Bloggers Roundup Guests:  Wayne Hicks, Electronic Village & Vanessa Byers Vanessa: Unplugged! , on the black hand side and others. Topics:  H1N1 Virus (swine flu), Obama's 1st 100 Days Time:  9PM Central and 10 PM Eastern Call in # - (347) 215-9337 Join in online and stop by the chat room which has been really jumping.

I'll be talking a lot about "the new media reality" over the next few weeks. In the new media space, we will see more newspapers going out of business, more newsrooms announcing layoffs, gaps in coverage. All of this impacts people of color exponentially. Shawn P. and Carmen D. A couple of weeks ago NPR's News and Notes, a program geared towards African-Americans, recorded their last show. News and Notes formerly aired a segment called Bloggers Roundtable that was a source of pride among black bloggers. Twice a week, Farai Chideya and then Tony Cox invited bloggers from around the country to discuss a wide range of issues on the show. I was on the segment with Kevin Ross (The Kevin Ross Show) the day that it was announced that News and Notes was going off the air. The cancellation leaves a void in the public discussion among black folks. You can look at the forums on many shows like This Week or Jim Lehrer and see there . In the new media age rather than begging others to provide the coverage, we have to do it ourselves. Blog Talk Radio gives us an opportunity to continue ...

Join Kristin and I Thursday night as we talk about the state of media in general and what that means for Black Media in particular. Kevin Ross broached the subject on Dallas South and after spending a week at the Poynter Institute with some of the top minds in new media, I think we need to  explore the topic on  Blog Talk Radio. Link to Shawn P. Williams Show Check us out tonight at 9 PM Central.

Join Kristin and I tonight on The Shawn P. Williams Show as we talk about solutions as it relates to "Black Males in America."  We will also discuss AIG and the fallout surrounding their executives receiving millions of dollars in bonuses. Last weeks show was one of our best yet, and the chat room was going off with people weighing in on everything to male responsibility, excuse making, and what women do to help and hurt the situation. Click here to listen to the show Thursday night a 9 PM.   Also, check out last weeks show by clicking here.

After a couple of weeks off the air, Kristin and I are bringing back a new and improved version of our Blog Talk Radio Show. Thursday night at 9 p.m. we're back on the air with a show focusing on the latest news from the Obama Administration, the RNC upheaval over Rush Limbaugh, and the state of the Black Male in America. The show has a new title -The Shawn P. Williams Show- and new address www.blogtalkradio.com/shawnpwilliamsshow . Our guest on Thursday night will be community advocate and mentor Ski Chills. Make sure to tune and and spread the word.

INTERNET RADIO TO THE RESCUE By Kevin Ross No wonder bloggers and specifically the black blogosphere have become the go-to folks for bringing issues such as these to the forefront. And for many, sites like Blogtalkradio are assisting in that effort. One of several online stations that have come on the scene in the last few years, Blogtalkradio allows anyone with a phone and a computer to host and podcast their own Internet radio program for free. Last year the social networking site saw exponential growth with hundreds of hosts from all racial and ethnic groups. In November 2008, some 3.8 million listeners tuned in to Blogtalkradio, nearly 750,000 or 16% of which were African-American alone. These folks clearly have something to say and are finding an audience, albeit small, eager to hear it. Obviously these hosts are playing in the minors while superstars like Limbaugh reign supreme in the big league. "I have a very simple philosophy ... put the very best product you can on the air, regardless of origin," says Gabe Hobbs, a senior vice president for programming at Clear Channel for twenty-five years. Hobbs was among those recently laid off at the San Antonio, TX based company as ...

Don Imus Was Gone… And Then POOF, He Was THERE AGAIN BY KEVIN ROSS When acerbic radio personality Don Imus created the “nappy-headed ho’” firestorm after his 2007 comments about Rutgers women’s basketball team sparked universal outrage, mainstream media was suddenly looking for insight from self-appointed and elected black leaders. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, who himself has a syndicated program, mentioned that political talk shows don't have minorities as their main hosts, (para) "It's all white… all night." Those partial comments came on the heels of MSNBC snatching Imus from his morning cable show and then teeing up possible replacements. KABC’s Elder was given the opportunity to "tryout" for a week. Afterwards, no other African American was afforded the courtesy of auditioning to be a talking head. Not one. Ultimately congressman turned media personality Joe Scarborough got the gig (along with Bill O’Reilly’s old slot on KABC) and black screenwriter John Riley became part of the morning team briefly before quickly fading off the scene. As for Imus, he was back on the air after a year with an undisclosed financial settlement from CBS. KABC is the current radio home for the cantankerous sexagenarian, who has seen ...

BLAME IT ON THE ECONOMY By Kevin Ross Per 2008 revenues, terrestrial radio is a $15 billion dollar a year hustle. And yet for many, radio is a bad business to be in right now. The industry has suffered its worst year since 1954, the eighth consecutive “struggling” year. ABC News puts it all in context. “The radio industry, just like newspapers and books and other forms of media, is facing an unprecedented financial crunch. Radio advertising revenue dropped by 9 percent in the third quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in the previous year, and many radio companies are saddled with huge amounts of debt. As a result, more stations are turning to syndicated programming. Radio stations typically can broadcast syndicated shows at no cost; they just have to allow a distributor to sell some of the commercials on the show. In some cases, it's cheaper for a station to air syndicated programming than to hire a local talk show host.” That may be a wise strategy, but a heavy focus on national shows creates another problem: The next generations of KGIL Laura Ingraham’s or Michael Savage's won't have the opportunity to learn their craft at radio stations if ...

ALL WHITE, ALL THE TIME By Kevin Ross This "preference for white" in Los Angeles, the second largest media market in the country behind New York, is nothing new. With Elder’s absence, however, the racial disparities now go beyond jarring. Of the six talk outlets, not one has an Asian, Native American, Latino, or African American holding court on the dial during the week. There are 48 individuals being given incredible opportunities to make hordes of cash and hold sway over public opinions on the issues facing the nation. Of the cast of characters, 38 are white men, mostly over 40, and frequently accused of demagoguery. White women make up the rest, equally split in terms of their political ideology and two not sharing top billing with their male co-host. Among the six, only CBS owned KLSX 97.1 is on the FM dial. While more entertainment focused with the likes of child actor turned train wreck Danny Bonaduce, or the outrageous Tom Leykis, the absence of non-white lead talent is still glaringly apparent. In that sense, listening to KLSX is like watching eleven seasons of ABC’s The Bachelor or Bachelorette series. When President Barack Obama talked change coming to America on ...

Dallas South is excited to welcome current blogger and former municipal judge Kevin Ross in for a guest blogging spot this week. The noted Republican hosts The Kevin Ross Show, a conservative political show on Blog Talk Radio and blogs at Three Brothers and a Sister. I met Kevin at last year's Blogging While Brown Conference, and while our political views often differ we've developed a pretty good working relationship. Kevin and I have appeared on NPR's News and Notes together three times, including the day that it was announced that the show was canceled. Many thanks to Boss Ross for sharing his opinion on African-Americans in radio with us this week. This is part one of a five-part, week-long series where Kevin details the plight of talk radio in Los Angeles which mirrors the reality all over the nation. By Kevin Ross On KRLA AM 870, a Salem Network talk station broadcasting from Glendale, the day kicks off with Bill Bennett, followed by Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, and Dennis Miller. Kevin James, perhaps best known for the intellectual beat down from host Chris Matthews when he appeared on MSNBC’s “Hardball”, rounds out the evening. Bill Bennett Aside ...