Black News Channel reloads with talk focus, morning show
NEW YORK – Four hours of morning television is a lot of time to fill, but new Black News Channel hosts Mike Hill and Sharon Reed don’t expect to run out of things to say.
Their new program, which debuts Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern, is the centerpiece of Black News Channel’s relaunch to emphasize commentary and a more analytical approach to the news. Nearly invisible when it debuted last year, BNC is methodically becoming more available to viewers.
“This is when I need my voice to be heard and I want my voice to be heard,” said Hill, who has worked at Fox Sports and ESPN. “So much is happening in our country.”
His co-host on “Start Your Day With Sharon and Mike” has anchored the news at CBS’ Atlanta affiliate for the past five years and been a reporter in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Cleveland.
Founded by former GOP congressman J.C. Watts, BNC has been run on a day-by-day basis since last summer by veteran television executive Princell Hair, who has worked at CNN, Comcast and NBC Sports.
BNC was available in only 2.5 million homes via cable or satellite when it started, and is now up to 52 million, or a little more than half of those available, Hair said. It started with access to 50 million internet-connected devices and is now up to 180 million.
For the most part, BNC has aired straight newscasts, but surveys revealed a desire for more depth.
“We’re going to be presenting the news of the day, but we’re going to present it with more context and more perspective,” he said.
BNC says it will soon be featuring programming with Charles Blow, columnist at The New York Times; Marc Lamont Hill, a Temple University professor, bookstore owner, author and commentator; Adrienne Lawrence, a former legal analyst and anchor at ESPN; and Yodit Tewolde, a lawyer and Court TV host.
Emphasizing talk over newsgathering is often a way to save money. But Hair said BNC is adding correspondents, and will have two in New York and Washington and others stationed in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, with more on the way.
BNC is covering how COVID-19 is affecting the Black community and closely following the start of President Joe Biden’s administration, Hair said.
The reporters frequently break stories missed by mainstream outlets, such as the current lack of pharmacies in Black neighborhoods in Chicago, he said.
“The attractive thing to me is telling the full story of our community, and being allowed to do that,” Reed said. There are plenty of painful stories about social justice that need to be told, but “at the end of the day – news flash – Black people are about excellence, too,” she said.
Hill said he’s looking forward to bosses who don’t just want him to “stick to sports.”
How much is he looking forward to the opportunity? He’ll be working from Los Angeles, at least at the start, going on the air at 3 a.m. local time. Reed is based in Atlanta.
BNC’S moves come at a time many mainstream news organizations are examining their own commitments to cover minority communities and employ
more non-white journalists. Hair said he’s seen an increased emphasis in coverage at competitors; the makeup of leadership teams is what matters more.
Three Black women have gotten important new television jobs in recent months: Rashida Jones is the new president of MSNBC, Shawna Thomas is the executive producer of “CBS This Morning,” and Marie Nelson is on the team running ABC News following the network news president’s resignation.
“Time will tell if this is a moment or a movement,” Hair said. “Hopefully it will
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be the latter.”
Next month, BNC will have its audience measured for the first time by the Nielsen company.
Hair indicated, however, that there are no tricks to increasing the network’s influence.
“It’s about good content, and it’s about good storytelling,” he said. “That’s how you build awareness. People start talking about what they saw on BNC last night. We have to build on that content to make the network something special.”
WASHINGTON – Federal investigators probing the death of a U.S. Capitol Police officer killed in the Jan. 6 riot have zeroed in on a person seen on video appearing to spray a chemical substance on the officer before he later collapsed and died, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The FBI has obtained video that shows the person spraying Brian Sicknick and other law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6 riot, the sources said. But they cautioned that federal agents haven’t yet identified the attacker by name and the act hasn’t been directly tied to Sicknick’s death.
The idea that Sicknick died after being sprayed by a chemical irritant has emerged in recent weeks as a new hypothesis in the case.
Investigators initially believed that Sicknick had been hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, based on statements collected early in the investigation, according to one of the sources and another law enforcement official briefed on the case. But as they’ve collected more evidence, their thinking has evolved and investigators now believe Sicknick may have ingested a chemical substance – possibly bear spray – during the riot that may have contributed to his death, the officials said.
The people could not publicly discuss the details of an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sicknick died after defending the Capitol against the mob that stormed the building as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win over Donald Trump.
The attack came after Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat.
The circumstances surrounding Sicknick’s death remain unclear and a final cause of death has not been determined.
Capitol Police have said he died after he was injured “while physically engaging with protesters. ” This past week, the agency’s acting chief said officials consider it a line-of-duty death.
Sicknick collapsed later on, was hospitalized and died.
The Justice Department opened a federal murder investigation into Sicknick’s death, but prosecutors are still evaluating what specific charges could be brought in the case, the two people said.
In a statement late Friday, Capitol Police said the medical examiner’s report on Sicknick’s death is not yet complete.
“We are awaiting toxicology results and continue to work with other government agencies regarding the death investigation,” the statement said.
The New York Times first reported that investigators were zeroing in on one person in the case; CNN previously reported law enforcement had collected video evidence to identify a handful of potential suspects.
The FBI has already released about 250 photos of people being sought for assaulting federal law enforcement officers during the riot.
Some have already been arrested. The Justice Department said about 300 people have been charged with federal offenses related to the Jan. 6 riot.