Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ed Gordon on His Legacy and ‘Journalism in the Age of Trump’ [EUR Exclusive]

star studded special

*Award-winning journalist Ed Gordon hosts a star-studded special featuring interviews with some of the biggest African-American talent in movies, television and comedy premiering Mon. July 17 at 10:00 p.m. (ET) on Bounce.

The celebrity-driven special features the cast of “Girls Trip” talking about the Will Packer-produced comedy and importance of black women in Hollywood. Super Bowl champion-turned broadcaster Michael Strahan discusses the challenges of becoming famous and being a role model. “Power’s” Omari Hardwick talks about the hit drama series and the criticism he received for being married to a white woman. Gordon also sits with Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley who, among other things, discuss the state of comedy in the age of Donald Trump.

“That’s the part that is frustrating, that you can’t always find humor in it,” says Cedric. “You do have to take it on stage, you do have to find moments in there that you can turn it into a joke, but on a daily basis, the dude is a liar, the dude is a liar. When is that funny someone who just lies to you all the time?”

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Alexandra Pelosi Talks Trump and Her HBO Documentary: ‘The Words That Built America’

ed gordon show
Comedians Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley with Ed Gordon

During a recent media teleconference, Gordon explained to EUR/Electronic Urban Report how he believes journalism has been affected by this age of Trump that we’re now living in.

“Journalism has changed tremendously since I started obviously, some 25 years ago, but I think what we see today is very much adversarial journalism across the board, even before Trump came in but it certainly has been heightened since then. D.L. Hughley talks about this (and) his ability as a comedian to really look at issues without feeling that he has to be balanced, per say. And he says, “As a journalist, you’re supposed to be balanced and fair but we don’t necessarily see that today.” We see a lot of opinionated journalism and not just in talking heads but in the “anchors.” So it is difficult sometimes, particularly with this administration,” Gordon said.

Continuing, “When you see that a story can change within hours and as a journalist you really do need to push this and say, look, you can’t continue to “lie” to the American public and “lie” to the press and expect us to just go along with every change of your story. So I’m really interested to see what news does in the next year or so in terms of really trying to combat what we’re seeing from a White House that seems to change its story as the wind blows.”

The stars of the upcoming summer comedy Girls Trip, (L to R) Tiffany Haddish, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall and Jada Pinkett Smith with
Ed Gordon

Gordon serves as executive producer and host of the Bounce original series “Ed Gordon.” He has been a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes II,” “The Today Show” and “Dateline NBC,” the host of “News and Notes with Ed Gordon” on NPR, anchorman for BET and is a weekly contributor to the national Steve Harvey Radio Show.  He is also the recipient of an NAACP Image Award, as well as the prestigious Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

“We wanted to do some lighter fare for the summer,” Gordan said of his series. “The upcoming September edition, we’ll do a profile of Congresswoman Maxine Waters. She’s been on the floor fighting Donald Trump. We’ll do a sit-down with Steve Harvey. We’ll do a profile of Yara Shahidi, who is just a remarkable young woman. We’ll also talk with Grammy-winner Gregory Porter. And we’ll also take a really close look at Flint and why it’s still going through a water crisis after 2+ years.”

Adding, “And in December, we’re very proud of this, we’re going to do an hour special called Am I Black Enough For You? And it’s taking a look at the definition of what is black and who defines it and who gives you your black card — why we still have issues amongst ourselves and skin color and all of these things. It will really be an in-depth look at who defines black. We’re proud of what we have coming up.”

ed gordon show
Ed Gordon and actor Omari Hardwick

When speaking about his professional legacy and what he hopes to leave behind for generations to come, Mr. Gordon noted, “It’s really funny now that I’m gray and have been doing this for a while, people are now saying, “Oh, here’s our legend!” And when you hear that you think, “That just means I’m old,” and I get a chuckle. I appreciate it and I just hope my legacy is this… I already know that I have kinda set a road for those that followed behind. I’ve had that conversation with many people in this business. I mentored many people in this business. And so I hope my legacy, would be that I was fair, that I was smart and that I represented African-Americans well in a field that has not given us fair or great opportunity,” he explained.

“Michael Strahan and I talk about that in the segment. And so I’m very pleased and blessed to have many people say that they are proud of my representation of us. People think I’m very serious and I’m not all. I was two votes away from class clown in high school. I’m still that same person, but I’m not on the air because of how I know we need to be perceived when we’re doing serious business. The other end of it would simply be that I left a legacy for those who will follow behind to try to just make sure that you are about your business when you’re on the air. Whatever your job is, I just tell people to be about your business when you’re on the job.”

Tune-in to the Ed Gordon special Mon. July 17 at 10:00 p.m. (ET) on Bounce. Don’t have cable or Bounce is not part of your provider? No worries, you can watch this show and more for free via the Bounce mobile APP.

 

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