A new HBCU news program is now on Urban Edge Network (UEN).
HBCU Legends creator Kyle T. Mosley has partnered with UEN to produce the Black Sports Insiders, a weekly news program that will be broadcast across its digital streaming platform.
The new program, which premiered Sept. 1, is a throwback to past sports journalism shows no longer on the air, Mosley said in an MSR phone interview.
Mosley proposed having a couple of programs similar to what Bryant Gumbel did with “Real Sports,” the former HBO monthly sports program. The goal is “to be able to give some in-depth coverage of sports figures, notable sports figures whether it’s an athlete or a coach or a business owner or franchise owner or whatever,” said Mosley.
As did “Real Sports,” “Black Sports Insiders” hopes to present long-form reports and features each week but instead will be about Black colleges.
“That’s how I pitched the concept,” recalled Mosley, who also works for Sports Illustrated and other media outlets. “I wanted to have correspondences who I know and had relationships with these guys.”
Wilton Jackson, Kim Davis, Keisha J. Kelley, Ray Rogers, and Wole Akenso are the correspondents. Mosley is executive producer and chief correspondent.
Jackson, who writes for ESPN’s Andscape, The Next Hoops, and The Sporting News, is a former reporter at the Clarion-Ledger and digital content producer at Atlanta’s WSB-TV. “A lot of people don’t realize this young man also teaches at Jackson State. He has two master’s degrees. He’s a very talented, very smart young man,” noted Mosley.
With over three decades of sports journalism experience, Kim Davis has covered Houston sports and has her own media training company: “She’s been well known as a groundbreaking sports anchor as an African-American woman [who] cover all types of sports. She’s done it for such a long time,” said Mosley.
Keisha J. Kelley “started the Black College experience many years ago,” an HBCU sports media company since 2011, added Mosley. “She’s a Southern University graduate and she’s very passionate about her institution.”
Ray T. Rogers and Wole Akenso are both popular sports journalists in the Washington DC., Maryland and Virginia areas: “These two guys are an up-and-coming tandem that have been really doing a great job on the East Coast. They’re young. They’re very entertaining, and they do a lot of good stuff,” said Mosley.
“The Black Sports Insiders” now joins Mosley’s HBCU Legends weekly broadcasts.
“I didn’t want to be one of those guys that just sit down, and I’m just going to tell you how I think… That’s great, but are we giving the people something that they can learn about?” said Mosley.
HBCU sports and the people involved “are overlooked—they have great stories to tell about their experience as well,” said Mosley. “There are those are just some of the things I would like to focus on.”