Radio One founder and chairperson Cathy Hughes spoke with “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” today about the prospect of writing a book on her life and pioneering career.
Hughes, who will be the recipient of McDonald’s 365 Black Award at the upcoming Essence Music Festival, said she hopes to get started on the book before the end of the year.
The media tycoon said her new website, Christian5xTimers.com, played a significant part in her decision to share her story.
“Everyone said, ‘Write about your career in Black radio, but it wasn’t until we launched [the site] that I really felt this need,” Hughes said. Christian5xTimers seeks to enjoin Christian believers to pray for peace for a minimum of five times a day.
“[I] realized praying five times a day has opened my eyes to the fact that maybe I do have information that I need to share in writing.”
In 1980, Hughes started Radio One in Washington with only one station. Today, Radio One owns 53 stations in 16 cities. The company, which owns TV One and Interactive One, partnered with Joyner’s Reach Media, becoming one of the leading African-American media companies in the country.
On air, Hughes venerated the partnership’s precedence in media and Black culture.
“For Reach Media and Radio One to form a partnership was very significant in Black History, period, but totally a defining moment in Black radio,” she said. “Future students of the communications industry will study the merger between [these two companies].”
Hughes will be honored on the Essence Music Festival stage alongside Mary J. Blige, Ruby Dee and NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous.
*NewsOne is also owned by Radio One.
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