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June 14, 2012

Roland Martin
Roland Martin

CNN’s Roland Martin Says He Survived Suspension Just Fine

By Barry Cooper

CNN contributor Roland Martin says he learned a lot from his month-long suspension from the network in January. Arguably the most visible African-American journalist in television, Martin was suspended by CNN after making what the network considered insensitive remarks about soccer player David Beckham.

Martin made his remarks on his Twitter account when he saw Beckham dressed in underwear during a Super Bowl TV commercial. Martin recently told MediaBistro that he survived the controversy by simply letting it be.

“First of all, my thoughts were the same then — I was cracking on soccer and that’s what I talked about,” Martin told MediaBistro. “It happened, you deal with it and you move on. My deal is, if you spend significant amounts of time freaking out and going nuts, you’ll simply go crazy. My philosophy is very simple: You keep it moving.”

Media Bistro described Martin as a “man of 1,001 jobs,” and it may seem that way to his followers. In addition to appearing on CNN, Martin is a senior news analyst for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, has a nationally syndicated opinion column, and is the managing editor of Washington Watch on TV One. He also writes books and appears around the country for speaking engagements.

His roots extend to the black press, including a stint with the Chicago Defender before leaving for CNN.

MediaBistro asked Martin if black newspapers can survive amid increasing pressure from the Internet. Martin says they can – maybe. “If black newspapers are able to understand how valuable their niche is and if they are truly able to make the switch to the digital medium, then I think they can do extremely well. ... I always make the point that the mainstream papers could never out-black me,” he told MediaBistro.

“What I mean by that is it's not my job to try to compete with them every day on the news of the day. You cannot win that fight. But when it comes to stories that are unique to our audience, I've made it perfectly clear that they can't beat me at my game. That means you got to have quality talent; you got to have the leadership that's going to do what's necessary. There's a place for black newspapers just like there's a place for Hispanic media, media targeting women. But those black newspapers can't keep thinking that the printed world is still going to be there. They have to understand that we are now operating in a digital and mobile world, and they must be able to keep up.”

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