Free Republic

If you had tuned in to "The Michael Baisden Show" early last year, you would probably have heard the host talking mostly about urgent issues such as "how to please your man in the bedroom" or "pimps in the pulpit." That's now changed. The new star of Baisden's four-hour syndicated radio program is Barack Obama. "It was a no-brainer," says Baisden, 45, whose freewheeling show reaches millions, primarily African-American listeners in urban markets. "The conversation had to change to 'How do we change our futures now that we have someone who might actually care about us in the race?' What...

QUINCY -- Two powerhouses of urban radio are teaming up to launch an African-American-centered talk-radio network, the cornerstone of which will be programming hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton. Baltimore-based Radio One, the nation's seventh-largest radio company, and Reach Media, which owns and syndicates the highly successful ''Tom Joyner Morning Show," aim to roll out the network after the first of the year. Radio One owns a controlling interest in Reach Media. The ambitious plan was discussed yesterday by Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins III during an interview at the new WILD offices at Marina Bay. WILD-AM, which will carry...

NEW YORK (AP) -- In an effort to break the Democratic Party's grip on the black vote, several leading black Republicans have accepted an offer from one of the nation's largest urban radio networks to deliver a weekly address targeting African Americans. Alphonso Jackson, whom President Bush chose to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will present the first address on Saturday at 1:06 p.m., said Jerry Lopes, president of program operations and affiliations at Pittsburgh-based American Urban Radio Networks. "We welcome the opportunity to speak directly to the African American community throughout our nation," Ed...