EURweb |
MEDIA TAKE OUT.COM DISHIN’ THE DIRT ON AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBS: But Skeptics say It’s All Lies
While such behavior may serve as a “clue” to most, entrepreneur Fred Mwangaguhunga, founder of the one-year-old African American web-based gossip sight, Media TakeOut.com uses it for bragging rights. With claims of snatching one million “unique visitors” per day on his site, Mwangaguhunga, a former lawyer by trade, boasts the ability to write anything about anybody and suffer no consequences.
Despite accusations of fabricating stories on African American celebrities and padding the number of hits his site receives, he says he “stands behind every claim his site has ever made 100%” and says journalists don’t like him because they’re jealous.
While he’ll be the first to admit he has no training in journalism whatsoever, Mwangaguhunga is no dummy. He is a Columbia Law School and Business School Grad; holding a Law Degree (Juris Doctorate) and MBA.
Born in the U. S., his parents hail from Uganda, East Africa and his brother, Ron, is a popular blogger who resides in Brooklyn, New York.
As difficult as it may be to believe that someone would actually complete law school; practice successfully for years, and then quit to become, well, a gossip columnist is definitely a head-scratcher. But hey, Fred may beat us all to the bank in the end.
“It was challenging, interesting work but my heart wasn’t really in it,” he tells EUR’s Lee Bailey about his stint in the courtroom during a 45-minute phone interview from his New York City locale. “Inherently I think I’m an entrepreneur so I left that and started...an internet based laundry and dry cleaning service.”
And a successful service it was. He, along with lawyer-friend-turned-partner, Notoya Green, started LaundrySpa; an internet-based laundry service that catered to busy Manhattan professionals. But Mwangaguhunga tired quickly of that too, and sold it after a year.
“...I could have gone back to practicing law but...I just wanted to...do something that I really wanted to do...that I could get my heart into. And I’m really a big fan of the internet and I love African American culture and that’s how Media Take Out was born.”
In explaining the motto for MediaTakeOut.com, Mwangaguhunga says, “It’s interesting. When I first started there really was no particular piece of African American news that I was interested in. I would basically put up everything. I’d put up some stories on Iraq, I’d put up some stories on education. I’d put up some stories on entertainment news...I’d put up some gossip and the way that the website is structured I can tell the stories that are the most popular because they’ll have the highest click rates. And the stories are generated based on the links that are clicked the most. So after I put all those links up I realized that the gossip stories were clicked on the most frequently ...and that’s sort of why the Media Take Out that you see now tends to have a decent amount of gossip stories on it. For no other reason than that’s what our audience is looking for...It’s an African American news site. That’s what it basically is. But the stories are based on what the readers find interesting and the more they click on the story, the more of that type of story we’re going to deliver...“
MediaTakeOut.com launched in January of 2006 and Mwangaguhunga contributes the sites high volume to its loyal fan base.
“Right now we get somewhere between 400,000 and 700,000 unique visitors a day. That translates into about one-and-a-half million page views a day and last month we hit, I think, two millions uniques... Well, you know, I think that we definitely have a loyal fan base; but I also think that it’s because there are so few places that do what we do. I mean obviously there’s Wendy Williams, the Queen of all Black gossip. She started it and she does it better than anyone else. But outside of her there are very few places that African Americans can go and find celebrity gossip... there are plenty of places where you can find interviews with Ne-Yo where he’s talking about his latest album. There are plenty of places where you can go and see air-brushed pictures of Mary J. Blige; but there are very few places where you can ...see African American celebrities in...a not-so-good light and sometimes a good light, but...a very realistic light I think.”
When Mwangaguhunga lists giants like Essence and Ebony magazine as competitors for Media TakeOut.com (and not EUR) he catches Lee Bailey by surprise.
“Direct competition I’m not sure that there’s all that much. However there are other African American news sources, there’s Essence...Ebony...Vibe is an African American news source, and a lot of the urban news sources that are particularly popular in the African American community. And so those are the places where we’re looking...that we see as our closest competitors.”
Bailey interjects, “So you don’t think EUR is...we don’t even rank on the scale anywhere?
“Well you guys clearly are competitors...When I think of competitors I think more so [of] ‘aspirational’ competitors; the people that we aspire to compete with, you know. I think there are actual competitors and I think there are a lot of them out there...EURweb has certainly been around a long time and they have a tremendous brand; and Allhiphop.com has been around for a while and they too have a tremendous brand, SOHH has been around for awhile...so I think we have a lot of direct competitors right now that are doing great things and providing news ...”
Mwangaguhunga is right on point in his claims that the Internet is taking over where print publications once ruled. Just as record label execs and retailers can no longer ignore the impact that technology has made on the music industry.
“While today it may not be as clear ...that the internet and magazines are direct competitors, I think in 2 years, in 5 years, it’ll be clear to everyone. So because that’s the way that I’m thinking, we’re looking to capture the same people that are reading Essence, Vibe, that go out on a month to month basis; or maybe they subscribe...Largely when you think about it, because we’re providing so much information to the users, most of the information that you find in Vibe and Essence, you’d be able to find in Media Take Out. So we believe that because we’re providing the same information to the consumer...that’s why we see them as competitors.”
While audiences may be tempted to tap Mwangaguhunga’s shoulder on the comparisons between Media TakeOut.com vs. longstanding household name publications like Ebony and Essence; which are not now, nor have they ever been, reputed as gossip magazines; but more so as publications that offer news, articles and features on African American celebrities; and with more than a modicum of substance in most occasions; yet one can’t begrudge him his obvious enthusiasm.
Clearly though, before he gets too carried away, there are several hurdles his site will need to surmount before he goes stealing any customers. For one: reputation; and the fact that other sites continually accuse Media TakeOut.com of creating stories. This is where Fred draws the line; lashing out on jealous journalists who wish they could do what he does.
To get Mwangaguhunga’s response and more, see Part 2 of this story HERE.
DeBorah B. Pryor is a freelance Journalist whose work appears often in EUR and a variety of national and local publications. Her work as a journalist has taken her all over the world, most recently to Southern Africa. She also presides over The Art of Communication: Public speaking for private people, a unique series of workshops conducted in the Los Angeles area and geared to empower support staff to succeed in today’s challenging workplace environment. To learn about upcoming workshops Email: DeBorah@Dpryorpresents.com
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