Is BET really the Belly of the Beast? An Open Letter from Andreas Hale

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We often hear about some of the negativity surrounding BET (Black Entertainment TV). Over the years it has been the target of boycotts, protests and thousands of complaints. Most center around the network resurrecting nasty stereotypes. Thats not a good look for an outlet that has positioned itself to be a leading voice and representation of Black America.

Andreas Hale is well known in the Hip Hop world. He was the man behind the success of Hip HopDX where he served as editor and chief for a number of years. he was a factor in the National Hip Hop Political Convention-Las Vegas chapter. He’s been an outspoken critic of BET and media outlets that disrespect Hip Hop and Black people in general.

Hale being hired to work at BET was a shock to many of us because we knew about his outspokenness. He said he would give it a good year. He is now starting to tell his story.

-Davey D- 

 Is BET really the Belly of the Beast? An open letter from Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale

To friends, colleagues and those that should know,

As of today (September 8, 2009) I am no longer the Executive Editor of Music at BET.com.

Upon entering the position at BET I said that I needed one year to see what really went on inside the belly of the beast. I needed 365 days to sleep with the enemy and infiltrate the system. One year to see if they REALLY wanted change at BET.

As someone who has been critical of BET for many years, it surprised many that I would leave my post at HipHopDX last year to take a position at BET. But it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take. I could no longer be critical of this company without accepting the opportunity to change it when given. Although I was hired to bring about change, I was systematically shut down. I wasn’t hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced.

The truth of the matter is that everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true.

Over the past year I’ve seen a lot to reinforce my position that BET is too far gone in the negative to turn into a positive. We have all always thought the worst, but to actually see it in action is another thing in its entirety. The unprofessionalism, the tom foolery, the favors, the misappropriation of resources, the bad ideas that reinforce negative stereotypes, the emasculation of men, the meetings that break down in full fledged cursing battles, the unpaid overtime, the tears from employees scared for their underpaid and overworked positions and ultimately the unwillingness to change are all harsh realities that I’ve witnessed firsthand.

That is not to say that there aren’t some good people who have sat in the offices of BET. Unfortunately, the good people are not in positions of power to instill any change. Instead, they work their fingers to the bone just to keep their jobs in this harsh economic climate. The other good people ran out of the door as soon as an another employment opportunity presented itself. To say BET was a revolving door would be an understatement.

I came in with a plan to provide balance and to deliver good music to the masses and help make BET relevant again – at least in the dot com world. Those attempts were shut down by out of touch executives who run a dot com but could barely turn on a computer. By those who judge their metrics by page views over absolute unique visitors (that‘s ad sales talk). By those who simply don’t understand the internet.

They brought me in because of my track record but never once took a look at my body of work. If they did, they would have known that I was the pen behind editorials such as “BET’s Coon Picnic” or were aware of the many times I have been critical of their award shows and programming. All they knew is that I played a major role in making a once unknown website into a online media outlet that surpassed theirs and they wanted a piece of the action. Too bad they never researched who I really was.

During my tenure I worked long hours and sometimes succeeded at bringing in decent content to try to reflect the change I wanted to achieve. But it wasn’t without opposition. While some interviews and content initiatives were able to make it through, many others were either shut down or met with ridicule. I offered ideas to incorporate the blog world and to spotlight new talent before MTV did. Those ideas were met with comments such as “This isn’t HipHopDX” or “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

BET is not about the quality of your work. Rather, BET is about the relationships you have with powerful people within the company. BET is not about challenging. Instead, BET is about accepting and saying “yes.” If you have known or followed me over the years, you would know that these are things that simply are not in my character and ultimately resulted in my removal.

For the artists and labels that I have worked with for years, I tried. I did whatever I could to achieve that balance many of us wanted to see happen. To the writers who wanted to writer for BET, I made an attempt but was never given a budget to work with.

Upon my arrival, I was told I would be given a staff. Not true. I had a staff of one to carry out daily operations on a website. I fought tooth and nail to accomplish the minimum (an embeddable player and a site people could navigate) and was constantly brushed off. It was a position that was set up for failure. But I endured as long as I could.

Alas, I have been removed from my position after infiltrating the system and the timing was perfect. I wasn’t let go because the site’s numbers were down. Not because I didn’t work hard. Simply because of a personality clash with an individual whose proverbial ass I didn’t kiss enough. Again, not about the work you do but about the relationships you keep and the sides you take.

I’d like to thank BET for covering the cost of my relocation to bring me to the great city of New York/New Jersey. I’d also like to thank them for putting me in close quarters with people who think like me and will hopefully work with in the near future. I’d also like to thank them for providing me enough controversial content that I observed firsthand and will make for many tales to be told.

I said it and I meant in: One year to either make changes or move on. I left HipHopDX on September 16th 2008. Today is September 8, 2009. Eight days short of a year. Most thought I wouldn’t even last that long. But in that year I’ve had my greatest fears about Black Entertainment Television affirmed.

There is so much wrong with BET that I’d rather not break it down in a single email.

It is pretty good fodder for a book don’t you think?

As of today, Andreas Hale is a free agent.

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Comments

  1. This was not an interesting read at all. Besides the myriad grammatical errors (from both Ozone’s intro and Hale’s email), no information is given. Certainly nothing eye-opening or shocking. And Hale thinks this is good fodder for a book? He spent a year at BET and he’s now going to muckrake and bring to light that corporate execs are stupid, out of touch, greedy, and generally morally debased. Wow, you learn something new everyday huh? And here I thought BET wasn’t an entertainment corporation, but a fucking salvation army.

    This article/email shows the author is naive, grandiose, and even a little racist. He seems to feel since it’s BLACK entertainment television, the execs won’t care about their own pockets. I bet he thinks Obama’s nose is clean too.

    But hey, everything’s a learning experience, right? Now Andreas knows that black execs are just as stupid, out of touch, greedy and morally corrupt as everyone else. By the way, tomfoolery is one word, moron.

  2. Robert Jr. James McClendon says

    You don’t have to be a sensationalist, just tell the “truth”. The brother did and that took courage. Anyone that speaks out against the “media oppressors”, I’ll listen to. They always try to silence the “truth”. Keep writing, Brother.

  3. everything he dealt w/ could’ve been dealt w/ in less than 6 months, if that…. so before he went to work @ BET he didn’t believe that the execs had literally and figurately sold their souls?? good article, but it more or less confirmed what alot of folx that no longer support the kneegrow eMpTyV already now….

  4. Is anybody surprised this didn’t work out?

    BET has been beyond saving for years. I wish people would stop talking about “infiltrating the system” and admit they want the power/prestige that comes from working with major conglomerates (media or otherwise).