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VOLUME 18 No. 895
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From the left, defense attorneys Grady Irvin, Denis de
Viaming and Sundria Lake jein hands with Rev. Henry
Lyons, his wife, Deborah Lyons and others in a prayer
circle in the hallway of the Pinellas County Criminal
By Adrienne Turner
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
... . AUGUSTA
The Reverend Henry Lyons, Presi
dent of the National Baptist Conven
tion USA, was convicted saturday of
grand theft and racketeering.
Rev. Lyons was charged, in con
junction with his alleged mistress,
Bernice Edwards, with swindling $4
million from corporations wanting to
sell cemetery products, life insurance
policies and credit cards to the con
ventions supposed 8.5 million mem
bers. In addition, Rev. Lyons was
charged with grand theft in the disap
pearance of nearly $250,000 donated
by the Anti-Defamation League of
B’nai B'rith to rebuild burned black
churches in the south.
Ms. Edwards was acquitted of her
charge, Rev. Lyons was found guilty
on both charges.
Locals ministers say that they are
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Paine College SIAC Champions
Senving Mefropolitan g Augusta, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
praying for the fallen leader of one of
the nations most influential black de
nominations.
“It is a.sad day for the National
Baptist Convention. It is a sad day for
thechurch,” were the thoughts of Rev.
Bobby G. Hankerson, pastor of Old
Hammond Grove Baptist Church. “If
he did what he was found guilty of, I
offer a prayer of restoration”, said
Rev. Hankerson.
Rev. Otis Moss 111, pastor of Taber
nacle Baptist Church, says that he is
praying for Rev. Lyons’ family, his
church and the National Baptist Con
vention. “We must hold all leadership
accountable,” says Rev. Moss, “and be
self critical of leadership, as well. If
there had been a stronger presence of
self-critique, this may not have gone
this far? < RS
Noonecould venture why Rev. Lyons
did the things he did. Rev. Moss
simply feels that any person should be
bound by ethical cenduct and should
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, gestures at a Washington news conference
Thursday Feb. 25, 1999 concerning police brutality in the United States.
NAACP president Kweisi Mfume is at left. (AP Photo/George Bridges)
Reno to meet with civil rights
leaders on police brutality
By Paul Shepard
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
WASHINGTON
Attorney General Janet Reno plans to
meet with civil rights representatives con
cerned #bout police misconduct.
Reno told reporters at her weekly news
conference Thursday that she would hold
such a meeting after she returns from a
Justice Center in Largo, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 25,
1999, after the jury in the grand theft and rack
eteering trial against Rev. Lyons and Bernice Edwards
started deliberations. (AP Photo/Jim Damaske, Pool)
not move outside of their ethical con
vietion.™ - %
“One of his greater mistakes was
that he did nos surséund himself with
thinkers,” said Rev. K. B, Martin,
pastorof Antioch Baptist Church. Rev.
Martin contends that at that level one
can’tdoit all by themself, there should
be people there to help think and keep
things on the right track.
Rev. Moss agrees. He believes that
any person or organization, regard
less of what it is, should ensure that
those who work within have the best
interest of the organization at heart.
“For the misguided judgment and
errors I did make, I ask their forgive
ness,” said Rev. Lyons. “But my plea
to the deacons is withhold your judg
ment until I at least have my day in
court.”
A member of the convention’s ex
ecutive board of directors said the
See LYONS, page 3A :
scheduled trip to South America next
week,
“I think this is a very serious problem,”
Reno said. “There are so many good police
officers in this country ... but there are
some bad police officers, like there are
bad people in every walk of life.”
Earlier Thursday, black, Asian, Latino
See POLICE BRUTALITY, page 2A
guilty of bias
BBlack broadcasters get paid
less than their white counter
parts, an FCC study concludes.
Survey unveils pattern of
racial and ethnic bias on the
part of ad agencies and their
clients.
By Adrienne Turner
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
: L AUGUSTA
Imagine being told that “black people
don’t eat chicken.” '
Though it seems absurd, this is exactly
the type of excuse some advertising agen
cies have given minority salespeople for
not buying ads on their radio stations.
Due to the unfortunate fact that many
advertising agencies subscribe tomany un
founded racial stereotypes, salespeople at
minority-owned and urban-formatted ra
dio stations (urban meaning contemporary
R&B and hip-hop music) experience prob
lems very similar to the one outlined in the
example. As a result, stations that target
minority audiences receive fewer advertis
'ing dollars per listener than stations that
air mainstream programming - 63 percent
fewer, according to a recent study by the
Civil Rights Forum on Communications
Policy.
Kofi Ofori, author of the study and Direc
tor of Research for the Civil Rights Forum,
states, “..many advertisers continue to
believe negative stereotypes about His
panics and African-Americans. Despite
the proven buying power of minorities, too
many advertisers do not value this growing
segment of the market.”
This is certainly the case with Amcast, a
company owned by Kaiz Media Group, that
sells advertising time for hundreds of radio
stations nationwide. In a 12-page memo,
obtained by the Daily News, Amcast told
clients, “When it comes to delivering pros-
SOUTH CAROLINA
Quick action against
‘road rage’ cop eased
tensions, LeDuc says
BFiring of Conoly
upheld by Aiken
grievance board.
By Timothy Cox
Special to the Augusta Focus
AIKEN
A high-ranking City of Aiken
official wants to make sure the
city isn’t misconstrued as*being
racially insensitve, in reacting to
a situation concerning a fired po
lice officer currently accused in
the reported roadside attack of
two black females.
According to the Aiken city
manager Roger LeDuc, swift ac
tions taken in the firing of ex-
Aiken policeman Frank Conoly,
occurred with the city officials
taking into account the contin
ued stabilization of Aiken’s total
community-white and black.
LeDucrecently made comments
regarding the case of Conoly-the
ex-police officer who was dis
missed by the Aiken Department
of Public Safety while accused in
the alleged assault of Laprell
Drumming, 26 and her sister
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See 6B
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NO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA
pects, not suspects, the urbans deliver
the largest amount of listeners who turn
out to be #he least likely to purchase.”
The study, entitled When Being No. 1
Is Not Enough, suggests that racial and
ethnic bias is rampant throughout the
radio broadcast industry. Many stations
are plagued by “no Urban/Spanish dic
tates”, the practice of not advertising on
stations that target programming to eth
nic/racial minorities. Another statement
included in the Amcast memo, “Buying
too many ads on ethnic stations would
“...many advertisers
continue to believe
negative stereotypes
about Hispanics and
African Americans. Despite
the proven buying power
of minorities, too many
advertisers do not value
this growing segment of
the market.”
— Kofi Ofori, author of the
study of ad agency bias.
mean losing the more important white
segment of the population,” exemplifies
this dictate. According to the study, this
attitudeis typically of that held and prac
ticed by most advertising agencies.
Another problem listed in the study is
“minority discounts”, the practice of pay
ing minority-formatted radio stationsless
than what is paid to the general market
stations with comparable audiences.
“Advertisingis the lifeblood of the broad
casting industry,” says FCC Chairman
William E. Kennard. “Without ad rev
enues, broadcasters cannot begin to ful
fill their mandate to bring the American
See ADVERTISING BIAS, page 9A
Tammy Drumming, 18, near
downtown Aiken on January 3rd.
Conoly, who is white has been
indicted by South Carolina’s State
Law Enforcement Division
(SLED) in connection with thg
alleged attack of the Aiken resi
dents. The 47-year-old former
lieutenant was off duty at the
time of the incident. He has been
charged with assault and battery
of a high and aggravated nature,
malicious damage to personal
property under SI,OOO and simple
assault.
On February 25, Conoly was
given a chance to tell his side of
the story at a city grievance board
hearing. He denied a number of
allegations which led to his dis
missal and according to reports
inthe Aiken Standard, the ex-cop
said he did not hit anyone with
his baton or use pepper spray as
reported by the victims. Conoly
said he was in uniform when the
incident occurred and believes the
event served as a way for former
Aiken police chief Carroll Busbee
toseek revenge by dismissing him
from the force.
See TERMINATION, page 3A