Sykes would fit in among their company—in good ways and bad. His interest. His passion. His life. His story. Divorce can get nasty. The email said that in two weeks, she was gone. Her pay, she suggested—in an argument that seemed a bit disconnected from what it takes to be a stellar DJ—should be related to her educational attainment. Sporting a pink patterned shirt, cargo shorts, black high-tops, and a shaved head, Clagon, 41, looks like the host of a never-ending backyard party.
If you put a Michelob Light in one hand and a paper plate weighted with food in the other, everything would seem right with the world. Instead, when I meet him, I encounter a tired-eyed man standing on stage in front of hordes of screaming teenage girls at an amusement park. Backstage, Clagon has thrown on a pair of sunglasses and wears a disinterested look. His arms are folded. So I just got creative. The FM station hired him next. Ask around the go-go community and you get a predictably wide range of opinion about that.
Black radio is in flux. Corporations like Clear Channel Communications have been expanding into the market since a law abolished limits on broadcast station ownership.
Currently, Clear Channel owns 11 stations locally and nationally. A study by Arbitron Media and Research says that 44 percent of Americans are streaming audio and video from the Internet these days, nearly twice as many as three years ago.
Between and , according research conducted by professors Catherine Sandoval and Allen Hammond of the Santa Clara University School of Law, along with the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, there was virtually no growth in the number of minority-owned radio stations, long the backbone of black programming.
But the standings changed with the advent of a device called the Portable People Meter. Arbitron, which compiles broadcast ratings, began using the meters locally in That may be why contract wrangling is still a radio staple. In the industry, a sharply negotiated contract can deliver a windfall.
Donnie Simpson, who once worked down the hall from the Home Team, negotiated a contract with WPGC that gave him over a million a year—without syndication. One strategy to get the big money is jockeying for a better time slot. Mornings draw the biggest advertising dollars. Media journalist Dave Hughes, who runs the site dcrtv. But another prominent female voice on the local airwaves says it really is all about gender. I myself had that experience with Russ Parr.
Then she had her own stormy departure. She says she actually left over pay discrepancy. She discovered Parr was making about three times as much as she was. Moments earlier, he had summoned Royal and her colleague, Allure, onto two black tables. Unlike a shift worker or other employee paid on a scale, the salary determinations for a radio personality may vary based upon any number of factors.
There have been no hearings scheduled for the case as yet because Bell is fighting WPGC on jurisdictional issues. WPGC wants the case tried in federal court, where judges and juries tend to be more conservative.
When I ask Sykes if she thinks Bell meeting me at a strip club was weird, she answers no. In any event, she has more pressing things to think about. Weeks ago, she and her husband, who works in international aid, flew off to Kenya. She is pregnant and has been hospitalized with complications.
Being bedridden has given Sykes a lot of time to think. I show prep all day by using social media like Twitter and Facebook. However, despite the show prep, no day is the same. I could be at a school inspiring students during the day and relaxing with my grandparents the next. It varies. Who is your inspiration?
She walks into a studio everyday that she owns. The cameras that are filming her she owns. I aspire to greatness like that.
You've been helping high school kids all over D. How did you get started with that? I knew that radio gave me a voice, and high school kids are very impressionable. What exactly does College is Cool do? We motivate youth to go to college by exposing them to the college lifestyle. We prepare them for everything from classes to roommates. Stay confident! The radio business is still male dominated. How do you think women can change that? I think women can change that by really trying not to get in the stereotypical role.
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