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HBCU Grad Buys TV Station Where She Once Interned

April Ross is making news in Georgia.

Alabama State University celebrated an alumna who began her journalism career as “a low-level” production assistant and now owns her own TV station.

April Ross purchased WJCN TV-33 in LaGrange, Georgia in May 2021. The 24-hour news station reaches approximately 600,000 households, according to an ASU statement.

"What is ironic is when I was a student at Alabama State University, I actually interned at WJCN and now, I own it," said Ross, a 2001 graduate of the historically Black university.

Ross’ entrepreneurial journey in the competitive media industry began in 2017 when she used her cell phone and Facebook Live to report the shooting of a deputy sheriff.

Her crime scene reporting was the first step toward launching Bee-TV Network on Facebook. She developed the platform that grew to more than 15,000 followers and ultimately led to the purchase of WJCN.

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Her goal is to transform the TV station into a major network affiliate.

"I want to create something in this television market that has never occurred before and that includes creating and producing great local programming for our community that’s full of home-area content,” she stated.

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