Let's Have a Real Conversation

I know this is supposed to be a column about the music business, but this time I'm gonna change it up a bit because there's something that's been on my mind lately that's got me stumped. Maybe all y'all who write comments on this blog can help me understand:

Since when did some random statement cooked up by people in the news media and the blogosphere start trumping words from the horse's mouth? Since when did MediaTakeOut become the voice of authority?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a guy who complains about media coverage, usually. People in this business who say they don't want to be famous or talked about are basically full of shit. I know this, because I have artists I'm working with now who get all bent out of shape when they're not recognized in the street or in a club. For years I wanted more props in newspapers and magazines, and I wasn't fond of feeling overlooked. So when someone attacks me in the media I more or less accept it as the price of fame. As long as it's just me who's being targeted and not the people I love, it's cool. I get over it.

But what's crazy to me is how stories go around in this media echo chamber of blogs, entertainment shows, tabloids and even regular newspapers that are twisted or dead wrong. One person writes something with no basis in fact, then everyone just repeats it as if it was fact, over and over again until no one questions it, even when they've already heard the full and correct story from the person they are writing about! It's like the horse's mouth has become irrelevant!

I could give you dozens of examples where that's happened in my life. But what scares me most is the hurt this kind of mindless misinformation can inflict on a whole community or movement. Take for instance the way the anchor lady on a local news channel called a drug dealer a hip-hop entrepreneur. Say what? Like you can draw a comparison between what drug dealers do, and what I do? But that became the standard description every time you saw a report about that case on the news. I am a hip-hop entrepreneur and there's no way you should get the two things mixed up.

Because that newscaster made her big, sweeping statement like it was fact, the description caught on. Next thing you know, hip hop and drug dealers become one and the same thing in people's minds. People hear something often enough and, to them, it becomes the truth. No one questions it. It's partly this kind of bad journalism that's where hip hop is getting its f***ed up name from!

It seems things have spun out of control in the last few years. I don't remember it being like this ten years ago. If the National Enquirer had a story, no one believed it. But now you'll see it picked up by blogs and newspapers all over the world. Sometimes that rag has a better chance of getting the story right than so-called respectable media outlets. Is it because we have news 24/7 and millions of websites trying to get the news first that the media doesn't care about the truth anymore?

I guess with so much noise out there everyone tries to scream the loudest and be the first to put out the story without checking the facts. I guess if the White House press guy can pass off lie after lie to Fox News and CNN and all the major networks, and get away with it, we can't expect the entertainment media to get their stories right.

Basically any journalist who asks me a question is gonna get a straight answer from me. I don't care. I got nothin' to hide. For three years now I've been telling people me and Janet are not married, or engaged. (If we were married believe me I'd have no problem telling people, and you'd hear about it anyway because the wedding reception would be the party of the century!) But it's like nobody's listening, because EVERY TIME I walk the red carpet reporters ask me the same questions: "Are you married yet?" or, "When's the wedding?" It's kinda funny, but it's also retarded.

When Page Six ran that story about my book Young, Rich and Dangerous, they added their own lil' spin to something I said and ran with it. When I saw the story I had to laugh about it. After all it was the New York Post, so it was pretty much what you'd expect. But then that story went all over the place. The blogs repeated it exactly as it was in Page Six.

No one bothered to pick up my book, turn to the correct page, and actually read that passage to check the quote. How hard can that be? Since when did newspapers start hiring people who didn't give a f*** enough to read the real source? Apparently it was too much work, since supposedly trustworthy newspapers ran stories that were totally inaccurate. It even made the Times of India! The media world has gotten so viral, that bullshit just spreads, and spreads and spreads!

The whole mess got me thinking about the bigger picture and wondering whether y'all are as worried as I am about what's been going down in the media world lately. It's also why I'm glad to have platforms like this HuffPost blog and TheMostAccess.com. I want people to hear what's up directly from me, the horse's mouth. As consumers of news we need to take back some credibility in life.

In my own small way I'll do my part by giving you, the readers, my own raw, uncut truth. That's why I wrote my life story, and that's why I write this column. I can't help it when people cut and paste my words to their own sites and take my thoughts out of context. I know there are always gonna be some people who don't want to hear the whole message. That's what happened with my last post and it'll probably happen with this one too. But at least now you're gonna know where to look.

Right here and right now we can have a conversation that's real.

Jermaine Dupri, who was named the most successful R&B producer of all time by the Guinness World Records 2007, is a Grammy-award winning music producer, president of Island Urban Records and author of Young, Rich and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul (Atria, October 2007). For more information about this blogger, click here.

Comments

[martinchill]

mr. dupri doesn't address the issue of CORPORATE CONTROL over the media. one would think he would be familiar with the concept given the condition of the music business over the last ten years or more.

[nihilon x]

Come on, you should be used to hip-hop being slandered by now in the same way that they slander (and overexpose) Britney Spears and Paris Hilton on a daily basis, despite people (and Britney and Paris themselves) saying that they are tired of all of the celebrity hype.

The same "media" that went crazy over your woman's "wardrobe malfunction" hardly bats an eyelash when dozens of Iraqis are killed on a daily basis, often by fire from American troops themselves.

Of course we are all "tired of it" but until someone who actually cares owns these networks and newspapers and other media outlets, we will simply have to make do with turning off the television set and finding something better to do with our time.

I started doing so long ago, and in doing so I was able to produce both a book and a CD within a year's time.

[stevi]

At my house we call the nightly news the "Daily Speculation". The talking heads who come on, one after the other, and tell us what they think is going on in politics, crime, business and entertainment, the world in general. The media has created (deliberately) a culture with a 30 second sound-bite mentality and now they make up snappy little phrases that will be easily remembered and repeated. SICK, isn't it? For some truth, and the news that the American powers that be have decided we don't need to know, our tv goes to BBC World and BBC America. It is amazing how those British seem to employ actual "journalist" to find the news of the day and let us in on it. At least it appears to be much more information that is confirmable, but who knows if "we" will ever really be told TRUTH. It might be much to dangerous for those in power to allow this after so much work has been done to dumb down our country, they can't turn around now and start giving facts and information that might cause thought to occur.

[jackpinesavage]

Homo Sovieticus has some words of advice for Americans, "There is no truth in the news, and no news in the truth."

[hootie1fan]

Amen brother!!!!!!!!!

[eaglecapri]

The media is fully aware that we americans will take anything as fact if it is printed or it's on the news. It used to be, that we trusted the news sources and people in general. However, since Nixon (before my time by the way), we've learned that people (and now news sources) who we uphold as truthful and honorable will lie to us or not give us the whole story or quote. How sad it is to learn that someone, especially in power, you trust will lie. It's like finding out there really isn't a Santa Claus - heartbroken. Now, lying is mainstream. No big deal.

This country is also built on fear. Rove is a prime example of this. We all remember the terror threat colors: red, orange, yellow, etc.! We also remember that any time the White House needed a diversion, an orange or yellow terror threat was issued. We believed it, we became fearful. Terrorists was our fear last election. Immigrants will be our fear this election.....and race...and gender.

Unfortunately, celebrities feed into this chaotic energy, too. There are publicity stunts, leaked rumors to the press and denial of something that is truth.
I have learned not to believe ANYTHING that is said or written about a celebrity. I take it with a grain of salt and file under 'entertainment'.

The media also knows the majority of us are lazy. We don't read. We have no clue about our own foreign policies or what's going on in the real world. Or, we don't care. We want to remain ignorant. We will not seek the truth. We still trust what is delienated to us. In a way, we still believe in Santa!

The only news sources I trust are The Economist, The Atlantic, BBC and the source itself (depending on the person).

[WilliePilgrim]

Jermaine; thanks for posting here. I will admit that at first I thought it was just another case of a deluded hiphop zillionaire who thinks his bank account is his IQ...as if that mattered. But really, if you want to speak about the truth in media, please ratchet it up to something of consequence. Who makes money over wheelin' and dealin' in the futures of pop stars as if they really matter is undermining any progress you make in your appeal for the rest of us to smarten' up.
You sir. Are you challenging the urban youth audience to read, get a real job and explore the world instead of their interior spaces as seems to be the sole focus of modern american urban culture.

[mamacat]

Mr. Dupri, I can't comment on anything related to you, because your whole music scene is not one that I know anything about, and probably I never will.
However, what you said about the way things seem to happen with the news media, rings true to me. There are so many instances where the real news is ignored, and some spin to the news gets repeated over and over as if it were true, that a list would be very long indeed.
I noticed a long time ago that reporters have to meet deadlines, and so they will go with whatever they have, even if it is not very accureate, when the deadline for filing comes near. That is one reason why we should be very careful to not believe everything we read in a newspaper, or hear on the TV or radio.
A recent phenomenon seems to be the problem of news outlets that are totally slanted because the owner of same can and does dictate what and how the news is reported. This goes way beyond simple understandable human failing, to obvious and despicable manipulation of the news.
Today in America, it appears that there is a portion of the populace that would rather listen to what they like to hear, than to what may actually be factual. It may be that the best we can do when faced with blind ignorance is to decide not to become part of the problem ourselves.

[FrenchmanAZ]

There was a time when " not entertaining " such ridiculous gossip would signify dignity, but this is no longer true. The fact is that the sheep who feed off of the gossip are as likely to believe the rebuttal as they are the original story. Defending yourself in a book does not reach the same people.

In the end whether it be on real news or gossip, it is important to note that the silent majority in this country do not feed in these troughs. We may watch from the sidelines for boredom sake, but the bullshit filters are on. Chances are anyone that reacts to sensationalized news is not worth the worry.

The days of expecting real reporting from American news agencies are long gone and imho will never return, so those of us who live in reality, thanks to the web can and do look elsewhere.

[FrenchmanAZ]

Mr. Dupri, people of intelligence in this country seek their news from sources outside the US for undiluted truth in world events. In fact you don't have to go very far, BBC NEWS on BBC America. It is non-sensationanalist reporting and boring compared to the fluff rich format shown on the big news channels or even paper and web based news agencies. But you get the news and it is global and rarely skewed.

To expand on the " must make revenues " angle, one need only look at how many news / gossip companies there are now, all vying for that nugget of front page worthy info that will convince the consumer to buy or watch their product over that of the competitor.

On your end of the media spectrum, the regular joe's life throughout the world is pretty lackluster, so many thirst to live vicariously through our entertainers and let's face it, one only needs to see the pervasiveness of star reality shows to see how many stars are taping into this and man do they profit from it. However, how is it that majority stars like let's say George Cluney manage to stay out of the headlines, when we know that there is a market for information on this person ? He keeps a low profile, while so many stars do not. Given this, there is a simple way to combat this and it works, if something is not true, stars need to make a quick, no emotion rebuttal and the public moves on to the next story. It's not very hard to do and a new function of the celebrity lifestyle. As things change so must you.

[priorzola]

I think much of this was amped up during the 90's and the assault on Clinton and his personal life (including purely politically-motivated impeachment proceedings) and not so much thoughtful critique of his policies. This coincided with a decade of relative peace and prosperity and the expansion of the 24-hour news cycle. While there were plenty of news stories, there weren't as many as say now. Before the 90's much of the "news" of the day could be summarized with a half-hour recap. By the mid-90's there wasn't necessarily more news being covered but there were more attention whore pundits willing to talk ad nauseum about the news. Now it's not that these pundits were entirely informed about every little news story that came around but they loved the attention of getting their face on tv everyday. So how did these pundits get around being ill-informed and under-equipped to talk about everything from welfare reform to Elian Gonzalez? They had an army of operatives from both the Republican and Democratic Party, including the likes of David Frum, drumming up rhetoric by inventing talking points (ie. made-up phrases that reduce huge convoluted issues to nugget sized buzzwords that do little to enlighten the masses but are intentionally superficial and misleading). Some of these are phrases like "partial-birth abortion", "axis of evil" and "cut and run". These phrases pretty much make of the bulk of George Bush's rhetoric.

So with the expansion the news from 30 minutes a night to three 24-hour channels and thousands of blogs, instead of expanding to include informed stories about other parts of the world or to give more in depth analysis of the big news stories, the presentation of the news has become a free-for-all of blowhard commentators who no longer merely comment on the news, they have begun to scope how the masses digest the news, in effect becoming the news themselves.

[Qbear]

sex, drugs, and rock and roll....wasn't just a slogan. Without the help of the internet, fan magazines, underground newspapers, gossip columns...had no shortage of material...true or false

All the way back to the Harlem rennaisance with artists like Billie Holiday, rumors about artists habits were common place

[deedrdo]

who are you and why should i care?

[Maschine]

Hey Jerm, in case yopu missed it , we are more concerned with how the MSN is ignoring the BUsh Cheny wart criminal prseidency.

I think y'all have to take a back seat for a time.

Oh ya...Peace out , bro.

[Danny]

We need a fair Federal Communications Commission. The F.C.C. has been dominated by the right wing for over 12 years. It's high time for a change, and a return to fairness in the media. Mr. Dupri, a very valid and timely piece.