Free Republic

Tavis Smiley announced a bevy of new projects, including a new television series, less than a month after being ousted by PBS amid allegations of “sexual misconduct.” In a Facebook video posted Monday afternoon, Smiley said his new weekly online series “The Upside With Tavis Smiley” will “celebrate the spirit of resilience, the power to overcome that resides in each of us.” He said the show would be distributed by the Word Network, which bills itself as the “largest African-American religious network in the world.” The show is expected to debut in the spring. “We are thrilled to have Tavis...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), the immediate past chair, Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) and Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.), have asked Sirius Satellite Radio (Sirius) executives not to cancel The Word Network, a five-year-old mainstream media broadcaster for African-American ministries and gospel music. On behalf of their constituents, the members of Congress urged Mel Karmazin, Sirius' CEO, to continue broadcasting The Word Network's family values programming. The letters from the CBC members cited the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) original intent for satellite radio: to serve the public...