NEWS ROUNDUP: PHILLY BEATING UPDATE / BLACKS TELEVISION NEWS CHANNEL / NEW NAACP PRESIDENT

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

After a two-week examination of the video which showed Philadelphia police officers beating three suspects, the city’s police commissioner announced that four officers were fired and four others demoted or suspended.

The eight officers were among 18 who surrounded a car earlier this month, dragged the suspects out of the car and began kicking and punching them while they lay on the ground.

“We do have a group of officers whose actions were outside department policy and procedure,” Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a news conference on Monday.

The officers may face criminal charges by Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, whose office is now examining the video. The FBI is also reviewing the video, Ramsey said.

When it launches in 2009, the Black Television News Channel (BTNC) will be a 24/7 cable news network that provides original news programming with a distinctly African-American perspective, filling a major gap in coverage of African-Americans by today’s mainstream media.

Created by J.C. Watts, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, the network is part of a multi-year carriage agreement with Comcast Cable. Initial distribution will be limited to Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Atlanta and Baltimore.

As BTNC brings blacks news from their own points of view, it hopes to stem growth and maturation of black people who will not only be on-air talent but the ones making editorial decisions on what stories actually get covered. Watts said, “Our unique and vast content partnerships with African American newsmakers will provide our viewers live access to the stories and people in whom our viewers have a special interest.”

For more info, visit BTNC.TV.

The NAACP has chosen its next leader.

On Sunday, after meeting for eight hours, the board chose 35-year-old activist and former news executive Benjamin Todd Jealous. He is the youngest leader in the 99-year old organization’s history, but he says he’s excited.

Jealous told The Associated Press, “I think that it’s a real affirmation that this organization is willing to invest in the future, to invest in the ideas and the leadership of the generation that is currently raising black children in this country.”

He will take office as president in September. His bio is now available on the NAACP website.