We have a right, as Americans, to expect that media in a democracy is truthful and honest. Hopefully, Gaza coverage has made clear just how far we are from having an honest media.
CBS NEWS demonstrated just how shoddy journalism is today. It happens 30 seconds into the segment above that was aired last week.
It was garbage. And they got away with it. We waited for someone to call them out.
What's the problem with the above, Dionne Warwick is not the woman with the second most singles to make BILLBOARD's pop chart ("the second most charted vocalist of the rock era"). Some would say the first is Aretha. If you're focusing solely on the 20th century, yes, the first is Aretha Franklin -- though not mentioned by CBS NEWS in the segment above, Aretha does have the most. Dionne is not second to Aretha even if you focus only on the 20th century. Let's do that for a moment, focus only on the 20th century.
Does it matter?
Well if ESPN had someone declaring Alex Rodriguez to hold the title for most homeruns, we think most baseball fans would object (Barry Bonds holds the title, Alex isn't even second).
Where do these lies come from? CBS is a major network and its news division has a huge payroll.
But apparently, they're all too busy playing games on their computers to do actual work.
Instead of doing actual work, they go to CRAPAPEDIA where they found this:
She has charted 69 times on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making her the second-most charted female vocalist during the rock era (1955–2010), after Aretha Franklin.[1]
That is a lie. It was put out by a press relations company that Dionne had just signed with.
CRAPAPEDIA is crap but if CBS NEWS knew how to do math, they could have looked at the discography CRAPAPEDIA provides -- all of Dionne's singles. It would have taken them some work, but they could have counted and they would have counted fifty-six. She sang lead or co-lead on 56 singles that charted on BILLBOARD's Hot 100 singles chart (the pop chart).
CRAPAPEDIA is a secondary source.
The smart thing to do would be to use the primary source: BILLBOARD. Click her for the list of Dionne Warwick's 56 singles that hit the BILLBOARD Hot 100.
We're getting really sick of liars. Dionne is not a close second to Aretha. Aretha landed 73 songs on BILLBOARDS Hot 100. There are many artists between the two women. But the one actually after Aretha?
Diana Ross.
Need it in text? Here you are:
In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Ross the most successful female music artist in history, having had more hits than any female artist in the charts, a career total of 70 hit singles with The Supremes and as a solo artist. This year Diana Ross celebrates her 75th birthday and Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy will be simulcast to over 250 UK cinemas on 26 March.
Need it on video? About three minutes and ten seconds into the video below, you'll see Diana be presented with her plaque from GUINNESS.
In 1994, Aretha would tie Diana with the release of "A Deeper Love" and then surpass Diana with "Willing To Forgive," "A Rose Is Still A Rose" and (her last Hot 100 chart entry) "Here We Go Again.
Again, you really should utilize the primary source. Here for the Supremes -- there are 45 songs that made the hot 100 -- 30 are sung -- lead vocal -- by Diana. The other 15 are after she left the group. If you're not familiar with the Supremes, the easiest way is to look at the release date on BILLBOARD's chart. Anything from 1970 and after on that chart was after Diana left the group. So 30 as lead singer of the Supremes. Solo career here -- and her solo total is 40. 70 total which puts her three behind Aretha. Dionne, again, has only 56.
Maybe if CBS NEWS actually grasped that they are supposed to get facts right, they'd have known that.
Here's some more reality for them? Aretha's no longer number one. Readers of CRAPAPEDIA will falsely be told Nicki Minaj is now the number one female artist with songs placed in BILLBOARD's Hot 100. Per BILLBOARD, she's the lead on 147 songs. That's huge but it doesn't make her number one.
She's a rapper. Some argue that rappers are not vocalists (some don't -- we're among those who consider rappers vocalists). So why are we arguing with CRAPAPEDIA? Taylor Swift. She's now charted 232 songs in BILLBOARD's Hot 100.
If you want to reduce it to singers, and just focus on the 20th century, Aretha's number one and Diana comes in right behind her.
We could use other measures on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 charts to determine most popular female singer of the 20th century. Want to go by numbers ones? Diana has 18. Aretha has 2. Dionne has 2. Want to go by top ten hits on the Hot 100? Diana Ross sang on 30 top ten hits, Aretha on 17 and Dionne on 12.
But we really believe the best measure of which of the three singers was the most popular and heard the most is the number of weeks they spent with songs in the Hot 100. Check our math but these are the numbers we came up with (again using BILLBOARD since it is the primary source).
Dionne charted on the Hot 100 for 376 weeks. That puts her in third. Aretha for 574. Diana? 789 weeks. That means Diana dominated the charts.
There is no measure by which Dionne Warwick comes in second to Aretha.
What if we leave pop (Hot 100) and go over to R&B? That chart matters too. So let's look at that Aretha has 92 songs that charted on the R&B charts in the 20th century. Diana has 79. Dionne has 56. If we include the 21st century, Aretha's number jumps to 97; however, Diana and Dionne's numbers stay the same.
Dionne Warwick is a great singer and we're glad that she was honored by The Kennedy Center (CBS will broadcast the ceremony on December 27th). Like Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin who were earlier honored by The Kennedy Center, Dionne deserves it. She's a great singer, a one-of-a-kind vocalist.
The Kennedy Center notes "more than 60 charted songs" for Dionne. 56 on the Hot 100. 57 if you include "We Are The World" -- but if you do that, add one more to Diana who also sings on that song. Maybe they're pulling from pop and her R&B and AC chart singles that didn't make the Hot 100? Possibly.
When they honored Aretha, they didn't feel the need to count her hits or provide a number; however, when Diana Ross was honored, they stuck to the pop charts:
She has not one but two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has won
a Tony and a Golden Globe, she has been nominated for a dozen Grammys,
and she was named "Entertainer of the Century" by Billboard magazine,
and the Guinness Book of World Records declared her the most successful
female musical artist of the 20th century-with 70 hit singles. It's no
exaggeration. "Diana Ross long ago moved from mere success to the status
of a classic," The Washington Post once stated and concluded that Ross
and the supremes, together with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, were
America's strongest and most successful line of the defense against the
powerful music of the British Invasion.
Dionne's more than talented enough that people don't need to spread lies. She's got tremendous talent and has had amazing success. When you tell a lie to make her look better, you only make her and yourself look worse.
And can you imagine if they did about an athlete? They would be held accountable. CBS NEWS and CRAPAPEDIA need to be held accountable.
