Cathy Hughes Attacks Congressional Black Caucus Members

By Alan Smithee

Black radio mogul Cathy Hughes, right, is not only asking the black community to fight a new law in Congress that she claims would “murder black-owned radio,” she is 'going street' on some members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The object of her scorn is the Performance Rights Act (HR 848), a bill that would require radio stations to pay royalties to artists for playing their music. Music makers support the legislation but the radio industry opposes it. Hughes believes black radio in general will suffer and Hughes’ company Radio One, the nation’s largest chain of black radio stations, would be hurt.

Hughes tells her millions of listeners in radio spots that the bill is not in the interest of black people. But she does not stop there. She publicly scolds Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston for co-sponsoring the bill. She gets real personal with the bill’s sponsor Congressman John Conyers of Detroit and goes after his estranged wife's troubles. (theRoot, 10/27/09)