3 Black Fathers Launch Roku Channel With 13 Shows to Address the Lack of Diversity in News Programming

Three years ago, three black fathers, Marquis Lupton, William Way Jr., and Brandon Way Sr. decided to do something about the lack of diversity in their regional news stations. Building off of Marquis’ decade long journalism career, the three fathers decided to launch The Cultured Professional, best known as the TCP Network.

All three of these Lancaster-native fathers noticed, not only a void in diversity with their local news, but also noticed a trend of negativity when it came to covering people of color, especially men. Inspired by media moguls such as Tyler Perry, and Byron Allen, Marquis, William, and Brandon wanted to bring a fresh voice, fresh perspective, and diversity to their regional news scene.

In January of 2021, the three founders will be taking their business up another notch and will be airing on their content on Roku TV. Tilted TCP TV, these black fathers hope the content they were able to build and broadcast these past three years, can reach a larger audience. “We feel as though its important to tell our own stories, deliver our news, in our vernacular,” Lupton says. “So many times as a news reporter, I would be pulled off an amazing story, only to cover another shooting, another fight, or another fire. It gets exhausting covering your people in a negative light constantly.”

TCP Network aims to give people of color, and other disenfranchised groups a voice and platform, and supports its community through broadcasted content, community service events, and media literacy camps for kids. To date, the company mainly broadcasts on Facebook Live, and currently has over 10 Vlogcast shows, with over 30 volunteers helping the company grow.

To learn more about TCP Network, visit TCPNetwork.com

This article was originally published by BlackNews.com.