Veteran news producer Karen Saunders and award-winning broadcast news producer Jason Samuels have joined the BET News division.
Saunders, former staff producer, field director and writer for ABC News and 20/20 and most recently executive producer and creative director for Crystal Bell & KCS Productions, will join BET as senior producer of the network's new series BET News In-Depth -- a series of quarterly specials that aim to expose the misinterpretations of African-American culture in mainstream media.
Samuels, who served as senior producer for ABC News' World News with Charles Gibson from 2006-2008 and most recently was senior producer for ESPN's primetime newsmagazine E:60, will serve as the senior series producer of BET's Heart Of The City, which examines the most significant issues impacting urban America at the dawn of the 21st century. The series launches Sept. 12.
"Karen's expertise and creativity will be extremely influential in building BET News In-Depth into a successful series; her achievement-filled career and interest in supporting the Black community makes her an ideal match for BET News," said Keith Brown, senior vice president of BET News and Public Affairs in a statement.
Brown noted that Samuels "has achieved a great deal already in his distinguished career as a producer for NBC News, ABC News and ESPN ... his talents are well-suited to his new role creating compelling, high-quality news content for BET."
