News Roundup

Danny Bakewell; WBOK 1230AM Returns Black Talk Radio to New Orleans

The New Orleans Agenda
November 7, 2007

Radio station WBOK in New Orleans held its official launch of its new talk radio format Thursday, November 1, 2007, 8 am - 11 am at 1639 Gentilly Boulevard (next to the New Orleans Fairgrounds). The call numbers of the radio station are 1230 on the AM dial.

General Manager, Cheryl Charles, announced the talk show hosts in drive time for WBOK: C. J. Morgan, 6am - 10am; Paul Beaulieu, 3pm - 7pm. Morgan held the number one rating position in the New Orleans market prior to Katrina on a rival radio station. The station has since changed it format to a national syndicated show, thus creating a void of consciousness in the New Orleans market.

Beaulieu and Lloyd Dennis developed an extremely popular public access program, “Between the Lines,” since Katrina, and became a militant voice for displaced and dispossessed blacks. Beaulieu, a former English teacher and public relations director for prestigious St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, reflects the radicalization of an important sector of African Americans in New Orleans in response to Katrina that has gone un-noticed in the mainstream media.

“We’re excited about our format and lineup of hosts,” Charles said, “We expect to have a positive impact on New Orleans.”

The first official in-studio guest of the station was Vincent Sylvain, publisher of The New Orleans Agenda e-newsletter, followed by a call-in from former New Orleans’ mayor Marc Morial, President & CEO of the National Urban League. Later, Pastor Tom Watson of Watson Teaching Ministries offered a blessing of the station praying for its continued success. Other guests included Wayne Baquet, Edgar Chase, Senator Ed Murray, Senator Ann Duplessis, Jon Johnson, Calvin Mack, Roderick West, Sheriff Paul Valtaeu, Sheriff Marlin Gusman, Marvel Robinson, and a host of others. Congratulatory calls were also made by distinguished leaders from across the country, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Congresswoman Laura Richarson and other national leaders. Each shared comments of the importance of the station’s role in helping to provide an alternative voice to issues affecting the Black community.

WBOK is owned by the Bakewell Media Company. Its principals, Danny Bakewell Sr. and Danny Bakewell Jr. are native New Orleanians who reside and operate a number of businesses in Los Angeles, CA, including being owners of the Los Angeles Sentinel. “The new broadcast outlet offers a window into the rapidly changing African American political consciousness in post-Katrina New Orleans. The new format, “Talk Back: Talk Black” marks a significant development in African American political life post-Katrina. Bakewell’s comments on today’s broadcast made it clear that his goal is to make WBOK a voice for African Americans in New Orleans and the Diaspora.

“WBOK listeners will hear elements of a political discourse that is emerging in the post-Katrina black community—marked by trenchant critique of racism in the recovery, a relentless attack on the current governing black political class, and a forthright discussion of destructive behaviors that are undermining black community regeneration. With virtually all the New Orleans electronic media controlled by white elites, one can expect WBOK to become an important forum for a black dialogue and alternative perspectives on race, class, and the recovery. Whether or not the “Talk Back Talk Black” radio format can find advertisers to ensure economic viability remains to be seen, especially given the decimation of the New Orleans black middle class and black businesses. But Bakewell seems to be guided by more a sense of justice than a desire for profit,” writes Lance Hill. Ph.D., Executive Director of the Southern Institute for Education and Research at Tulane University.

For more information please contact Cheryl Charles or Monica Horne at 504-942-0106.