Im sharing this because the topic headline of Breaking the Silence has to do with my past withdrawal from the Soap Rag Mags because of a lack of diversity on their covers. (1990s) After spending many years on daytime, as the nineties came to a close, I became increasingly more frustrated with people of color being NON EXISTENT on the covers of Soap Opera Digest, CBS Soaps In-depth, Soap Opera Weekly, Soap Opera Update. etc… The journalists seemed to only be interested in topics that were mundane, or story-line driven. Whats your favorite music? Color? Where do you like to vacation? Maybe a feature, personal article once a year, and then, nothing. Meanwhile, a dominant, majority rules mentality with the exposure of white actors on the covers 52 WEEKS A YEAR!!! I can count on ONE HAND the number of times Ive been a part of a full cover. And I can count on TWO HANDS the number of times Ive been in a small box or section on the cover. The same goes for all of my compatriots/people of color from the entire world of Daytime. Understand this fact; AFRICAN AMERICANS MAKE UP 1/3 of the audience that is watching The Young and The Restless, and that traffic spills over to the Bold and The Beautiful. The Young and The Restless has the highest African American viewership of any soap on television, now, and in years past. The viewership spiked in the early to mid-ninties when all of daytime was still thriving. Then, along came O.J. Simpson, reality television, and 500 satellite channels to choose from. I am reminded by the editors-in-Chiefs of the respective Soap Mags that certain characters that are extremely popular dominate the magazine covers. Eric Braeden, aka Victor Newman leads the pack for Y and R. Melody Thomas Scott, aka Nikki Newman, has been featured on literally hundreds of covers. These actors and characters are iconic and legendary and understandably sell covers. There are many more actors from the Y and R that have settled into a comfortable 2nd position next to Eric and Melody, assuming cover boy/cover girl status. Its no secret that the entire television medium is dominated by the majority. African Americans are still trying to scratch out a living as actors on daytime and primetime television. The feature film arena is another story. Directors, producers and writers have even a tougher existence. I have been EXTREMELY LUCKY AND BLESSED to have held a steady job for the past 23 plus years on Y and R, and 40 years in total in Hollywood. FACT; I am the longest running African American Male on one continuous series, daytime or primetime, in the history of television. Jim Reynolds from Days of Our Lives has had an incredible run, but he left DOOL for periods of time. Again, I thank my lucky stars. Let me make one thing perfectly clear; this is not a racially motivated post, pitting people of color versus white. This is about putting an age old issue in the bright light of day for all to see. I am not complaining that I am not a cover boy. My words are not stemming from jealousy or envy. Rather, I am shocked at the blatant disregard for all people of color that are not featured or exposed in a more prominent way in the soap mags. If the Editors In Chief do not give talented, popular performers of color a chance to sell their magazines, how will they ever know if the audience will or will not buy them? Are they basing sales from the few times that the covers have been minority based? Are we assuming that African Americans/people of color merely read the magazines in the store and dont buy them, whereas other people buy them? Whatever the reason, it doesnt make up for the fact that there is a huge disparaging issue that we must overcome…or not, depending on who YOU are. I remain KSJ
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 23:04:32 +0000