Former BET co-founder, now co-owner of the Washington Mystics, Dr. Sheila Johnson talked candidly with DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine about her days at BET.
We caught up with her at the Mystics scrimmage against the New York Liberty, prior to the 2007 WNBA
season.
dculsmagazine: You've been pretty vocal about your days at BET and the video
images portrayed on the station.
Dr. Johnson: "I have been fighting it ever since. There was a point where all
the videos suddenly took this turn that was not appropriate for young viewers to watch, and it's constantly been going down,
down, down, down, and the bar has been lowered."
"I have been complaining about it and it's always been out in the media. People know me for that.
I have been fighting it, and that's why I created Teen Summit."
"It was on for eleven years to combat that so that these young ladies could really talk about being just
ripped apart on these videos as far as their self-esteem, about the way they were portrayed, being called the 'B' word,
we've just had enough."
"The problem is that the media, especially BET, that's how they make their money."
"Videos don't cost anything to put on. And because there are so many young people who watch this,
the advertisers are buying the time to support the videos. So, the only way we can combat it is the parents need to
take the responsibility, shut that down, keep the kids from buying the rap stuff, (the records) and then suddenly things will
change because they (the advertisers) are not making money any more."
dculsmagazine: So, you're
saying that even though you didn't support the BET videos you couldn't really stop it?
Dr. Johnson: "It's a business. The company had the upper hand. I can sit up there
and talk about it all I want, but if that's how people are getting paid.. everybody, BET got paid off those videos.
You see what I'm saying? That was our only source of revenue. We weren't making it off the news."
"We are our own worse enemy. If the African American community would step in and say, look BET, we're
not going to watch this anymore."
"If they had started watching the news and the talk shows and the sitcoms that were put on, then that
side (videos) would have been shut down a long time ago. So it's not just BET, it's the viewers that are feeding BET. It's
those young people between 18 and 35 who are supporting this viewership."
dculsmagazine: How were
you able to talk to your daughter about the images seen on her mom's TV channel?
Dr. Johnson: "She never watched it. Paige has never been into this. She
is an athlete, an equestrian, and never had time to really watch it. It's just something she's never taken an interest
in. It's not that she doesn't know the songs. She'll listen to a few; she has a few select favorites - you know.
It could be Beyonce or something like that, I don't know; but I have never known her to sit down and watch the videos.
She just doesn't do it."
.:.:.:
