Grown folks radio: U.S. Election politics and a "hidden" black counterpublic

Micaela Di Leonardo*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

President Obama's 2008 electoral triumph garnered enormous journalistic and scholarly attention, but analysts have shown very little interest in African American media coverage of the campaign. In this piece, I focus on one major, nearly ignored, black media outlet: a syndicated radio show with a huge audience, commercial success, and progressive politics. I analyze the show's construction of a powerful mediatized black counterpublic, consider its rise parallel to the neoliberal deregulation of U.S. media, and narrate its coverage of the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. I also consider the political effects of a new cross-media platform synergy among black and progressive outlets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)661-672
Number of pages12
JournalAmerican Ethnologist
Volume39
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2012

Keywords

  • African American
  • Counterpublic
  • Neoliberalism
  • Politics
  • Public Sphere
  • Radio

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anthropology

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