Opinion
Human Tragedy and Triumph
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
T ED B ANKS
Advertising Manager
J ERRY F OSTER
Account Executive
L ISA L OVING
News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
D AVID K IDD
Graphic Designer
M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
415 N. Killingsworth St.,
P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228.
Telephone (503) 285-5555.
I
am always fascinated by the
impact of human emotions on
our consumer behavior –
whether those emotions are
inspired by tragedy or triumph.
Two television broadcasts made
ratings history recently, one
because of a tragedy and one
because of a triumph: the 54th
Annual Grammy Awards on CBS
and the contest between the Los
Angeles Lakers and the New York
Knicks, February 10, on ESPN.
Nielsen
research
has
proven Americans love sports and
music programming. African-
Americans are typically well-rep-
resented in both. The Grammy
Awards have been a viewing
favorite. Research backs up the
common sense notion that Blacks
tend to gravitate to programming
where there are larger numbers of
people who look like us – but this
year, the number of us who
watched the Grammys was almost
off the charts (no pun intended).
The recent 54th Annual Grammy
Awards attracted nearly 40 million
viewers (39.9 million), which
made it the largest Grammy audi-
ence since 1984 and the second
largest in the history of the broad-
cast.
Of those 39.9 million
viewers, African- Americans made
up 6.21 million. That means a
whopping 60 percent more Black
folks watched the Grammys this
year than last (3.7 million out of a
total viewership of 24.7 million in
2011).
Some people like me may tune
in to see who’s wearing what.
How fabulous will our favorites
be, or how outrageous? Others are
true music aficionados. While the
why for this year’s phenomenal
success of the Grammys has not
E-mail: info@theskanner.com
N IELSEN
Cheryl Pearson-McNeil
yet been officially analyzed, I sus-
pect that the tragic news of the
sudden death of beloved music
icon Whitney Houston the night
before piqued the increased inter-
est. If you were like me and my
friends, we were reeling with dis-
belief. Tuning into the Grammys
seemed to offer a kind of solace
and comradery in our collective
desire to pay homage to a musical
phenomenon who was one of our
own.
Now, in the interest of full dis-
closure, the show didn’t hold my
attention for long beyond the lus-
cious LL’s prayer for “our fallen
sister” (a very nice touch). But
after his intro and having glimpsed
the outrageous outfits of Nicki
Minaj, Gaga and the sweet
acknowledgements from Alicia
Keys and Bruno Mars, I begged
my Facebook friends to wake me
ing open in disbelief. “Really,
mom?! Seriously, you LIKE this
country music?” (If he reacted like
this to my Glen Campbell tribute,
he does NOT want to be around
when my sister, his Aunt Natal-
ie, goes berserk over Kenny
Rogers). Following Jennifer Hud-
Blacks tend to gravitate to
programming where there are larger
numbers of people who look like us
son’s moving tribute of “I Will
Always Love You,” and after
fighting back tears, I clicked off.
On the flip side, Americans love to
cheer on an underdog, a “Rocky,”
a champion who rises from the
ashes of obscurity to achieve vic-
tory. In two words: Jeremy Lin.
It was my basketball-playing son
who turned me onto the phenome-
non that was taking place with the
undrafted 23-year old, Harvard-
Americans love to cheer on an
underdog, a ‘Rocky,’ a champion who
rises from the ashes of obscurity
up when they got to the Whitney
tribute. Someone from Ft. Wayne,
Ind. (my hometown) actually
alerted me when Glen Campbell’s
tribute came on. (You couldn’t
grow up in the Fort without being
inundated with his music back in
the day). So I loudly and proudly
sang along to the tribute. My son
watched me with his mouth hang-
between the Knicks and the Lakers
on ESPN was the most-watched
Friday night regular season NBA
game on the network, so far this
season - with just over 3 million
viewers.
On top of that, NM Incite (a
Nielsen McKinsey company)
educated Asian-American from
California and his fortuitous
match-up against the New Jersey
Nets. Lin has averaged 27 points
per game – launching him from
bench warmer to global superstar.
In addition to a 73 percent increase
in viewership of Knicks games on
MSG and ESPN in New York,
nationally the February 10 game
reports that social media buzz has
also hit a frenzied pitch around the
world since the first February 4
game. Even the phrase “LinSani-
ty” has been coined. The online
chatter about Lin has surpassed
conversations about the Knicks,
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant
combined. Now, that’s powerful.
And so are you. Because, if you
follow these ratings stories, you
know these surges in increased
viewership are a result of people
just like you and me tuning in. It’s
great news for the networks as
well as the advertisers. Those
advertisers are dedicated to reach-
ing us – the consumers. Which
brings me to my mantra, “Knowl-
edge is power.” The power is in
your hands, and so is the remote
control.
Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is sen-
ior vice president of public affairs
and government relations for
Nielsen. For more information
and studies go to www.nielsen-
wire.com.
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Fax: (503) 285-2900
The Incomparable Whitney Houston
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B
illie Holiday was 44. Judy
Garland was 47. Dinah
Washington
was
39.
Michael Jackson was 51. Jimi
Hendrix was 28. Janis Joplin was
27. Amy Winehouse was 28. And
Whitney Houston lived only 48
years on this earth. I was one of
millions of people around the
world who were stunned to learn
of the untimely death of pop-
music queen, Whitney Houston
last Saturday. Like so many other
entertainers who died too young,
Whitney was blessed with a divine
talent but also haunted by a heavy
load of troubles.
Throughout much of the 1980’s
and 90’s, Whitney Houston
reigned as the undisputed queen of
pop. With songs like “The Great-
est Love of All,” and “I Will
Always Love You,” she set a stan-
dard as an octave-shattering
virtuoso who brought both ele-
gance and a gospel-tinged
intensity to her work in studio and
on stage. That was surely a natural
outgrowth of her church choir
roots and being the daughter of
classy gospel legend, Cissy Hous-
ton.
Whitney got her start singing in
the junior choir of Newark, New
Jersey’s New Hope Baptist
Church, where her mother has
served as Minister of Music for
decades. Whitney also undoubted-
Page 4 The Portland Skanner February 22, 2012
T O B E
E QUAL
Marc Morial
ly benefited from the influences of
other great musical talents in her
family. Dionne Warwick was her
cousin. And Aretha Franklin was
her Godmother. But, Whitney was
a pure original.
In addition to setting the music
world on fire and influencing such
performers as Mariah Carey, Bey-
oncé and Jennifer Hudson,
Whitney also excelled as an
actress, and had starring roles in
such movies as “The Bodyguard,”
“Waiting to Exhale” and “The
Preacher’s Wife.” Her final film,
“Sparkle,” a remake of the 1976
is set to be released in August.
It is a sad irony that Whitney
Houston died on the eve of this
year’s Grammy Awards. The win-
ner of six Grammys herself,
Whitney was preparing to attend a
pre-Grammy party given by her
mentor, the legendary music pro-
ducer, Clive Davis. Her body was
found Saturday afternoon in the
‘To me Whitney was THE VOICE.
We got to hear a part of God every
time she sang.’
— Oprah Winfrey
bath tub of her room at the Bever-
ly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. As
of this writing, the exact cause of
her death is still unknown.
Like so many other entertainers who
died too young, Whitney was blessed
with a divine talent but also haunted
by a heavy load of troubles
movie about three sisters from
Harlem who form a singing group,
for the first time, some of the most
intimate details about her troubled
marriage to Bobby Brown, the
deep feelings she had for her
mother and her daughter, Bobbi
Kristina, and her struggles with
drugs. She candidly admitted to
Oprah that at times “It was too
much. So much to try to live up to,
to try to be, and I wanted out.”
In her 2009 interview with
Oprah Winfrey, Whitney revealed
Through it all, Whitney said she
was constantly reading her bible
and trying to get back to God.
While we are all shocked and sad-
dened by her death, I am hopeful
that Whitney Houston’s life and
incomparable musical gifts will
inspire others to let nothing stand
in the way of the full and healthy
expression of their God-given tal-
ents. Our thoughts and prayers are
with Cissy, Bobbie Kristina and
the entire Houston family.
Marc H. Morial is the President
and CEO of the National Urban
League