BET CEO, Robert Johnson

Oprah Winfrey

The first Black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, was published in New York City on March 16, 1827.

The first Black magazines were founded in the 1830s and 1840s:  Mirror of Liberty, published in New York, August, 1838; the African Methodist Episcopal Church Magazine, published in September, 1841, Brooklyn.

The first Black daily newspaper, the New Orleans Tribune, was founded in New Orleans by Dr. Louis C. Roudanez in July, 1864.  The paper started as a tri-weekly and became a daily in October.

The first major daily newspaper in the 20th century was the Atlanta Daily World.  The paper, founded as a weekly by W.S. Scott Jr. in 1928, became a daily in 1933.

The first commercially successful general magazine was Negro Digest, published November 1, 1943, by John H. Johnson.  In November , 1945, Johnson founded Ebony magazine, which is the largest Black magazine in the world.

The first Black-owned radio station was WERD which went on the air in Atlanta on October 3, 1949.

The first Black-owned TV station, WGPR-TV, went on the air September 29, 1975.  The station was organized by a Detroit group headed by Dr. William V. Banks.

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