Florida A&M University is being the change they want to see in the world by launching a 24-hour Black news channel.
Blavity reports that the university’s journalism school will be home to the Black Television Network Channel. Stationed in Tallahassee, Fla., BTNC’s goal is to “educate and entertain primarily for an African-American audience while diminishing negative and stereotypical stories.”
Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, who is a partner in the station tells local news channel WCTV, “This has been a long time coming. I really feel so proud to be a part of what I know is going to be revolutionary as well as evolutionary.”
BTNC co-manager and former Congressman J.C. Watts added, “We think we can be educational and informative not just to the African-American community, but to the nation. There’s a whole lot of different ways to report the news… a lot of different perspectives…and I think the perspective of the African-American community hasn’t been told.”
While there have been a number of Black-owned and Black-centered television stations including BET, TV One, REVOLT, Aspire and Bounce, none of them are dedicated to 24-hour news.
The BTNC is expected to create around 100 jobs and reach 33 million people. BTNC is currently locked in a multi-year deal with Charter Communications to premier the channel in 14 markets including New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Tampa, Orlando, Cleveland, Charlotte, Birmingham, Norfolk, Raleigh-Durham, and New Orleans.
It is scheduled to launch in February 2018.
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