WGN America has released a teaser trailer for their upcoming series, Shoot the Messenger. 

It is an eight-part events series whose cast includes She’s Gotta Have It star Lyriq Bent.

Shoot the Messenger follows its lead, Daisy Channing (Elyse Levesque), a young reporter trying to balance a messy personal life with a burgeoning career.  Things begin to go sideways for Daisy when she witnesses a murder she thinks is gang related, only to find herself slowly drawn into an interconnected web of criminal and illicit sexual activity that reaches into the corridors of corporate and political power. It’s the kind of news story that will destroy lives, including those of her own family.  With help from her editor Mary Foster (Alex Kingston), co-worker Simon Olenski (Lucas Bryant), and lead homicide detective Kevin Lutz (Lyriq Bent), Daisy uncovers a cover-up so scandalous it could bring down the government.

The creators of the series are black: Jennifer Holness and Sudz Sutherland (who also directs).

This is WGN’s new direction of scripted programming since canceling Underground when it was bought by the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting.

The network said they were moving toward less scripted original (Shoot the Messenger is Canadian based from CBC Television, it was just acquired by WGN America for U.S. distribution). 

Watch the teaser trailer below: