The Role: Tyler Perry’s Madea character has been an integral part of building his multimillion dollar film and television empire. Madea, a tough elderly grandmother played by Perry, appears in a series of movies including Madea Goes Jail (2009). Perryin the role of Madea has also made guest appearances on House of Payne, the TBS television series that he created.
Who: Arsenio Hall
When: 1988
Movie: Coming To America
Role: Before Murphy started playing female characters in The Nutty Professor and Norbit, his friend and costar Arsenio Hall dressed as a woman in their classic movie Coming To America. Hall goes full drag for a scene in the movie.
This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.
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Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.
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