PBS ANNOUNCES “VOTE 2008”
ELECTION LINE-UP
– PBS Digs Deep to Provide Viewers with Information and Analysis as They Head
to the Polls –
PBS goes behind the headlines throughout the summer and fall to offer voters a slate of
programs that provide in-depth information and insight into the issues and candidates.
PBS’ election coverage will be led by THE NEWSHOUR WITH JIM LEHRER, WASHINGTON WEEK
WITH GWEN IFILL AND NATIONAL JOURNAL, NOW ON PBS, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL and TAVIS SMILEY,
and enhanced by programming from other trusted PBS sources, including AMERICAN EXPERIENCE,
FRONTLINE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT and P.O.V..
At this summer’s national political conventions (Democratic National Convention in
Denver, CO, August 25 to 28; Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN, September 1
to 4), THE NEWSHOUR WITH JIM LEHRER will produce 24-plus hours of live, primetime coverage
for broadcast in high-definition nationwide on PBS. These eight nights of convention
coverage will be the only complete broadcast coverage made available by a U.S.broadcast
television network. TAVIS SMILEY and CHARLIE ROSE also will offer special convention
coverage.
PBS’ broadcast election coverage will be detailed and
comprehensive and PBS.org’s election hub page, pbs.org/vote2008, will launch in
mid-July to provide further perspectives. The site will aggregate video from PBS, feature
syndicatable content from across public media and highlight innovative Web-only projects
from PBS producers and stations.
Among the Web-exclusive projects underway from PBS national programs:
Online NewsHour
Predict the winner based on electoral votes and explore previous race results with the
NewsHour/NPR interactive elections map; download election report podcasts and watch
streaming video; get the latest news from the Reporters’ Blog and ask the experts on
Insider Forum.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour
American Experience: The Presidents
Connect today’s election issues with the past by letting history answer questions
like “How to end a war?” in clips from the series; stream full episodes online.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/2008/
NOW: Adventures in Democracy
Find out who’s contributing to whom, break through the political spin and go beyond
the headlines with the Democracy Toolkit; explore critical election issues that go
under-reported by the mainstream media; submit a caption for a political cartoon and watch
full election reports online.
http://www.pbs.org/now/election-2008/index.html
Tavis Smiley Election 2008
Learn about the candidates, watch interviews with political figures and see what young
voices are saying about this election season.
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/special/election08/index.html
Highlights of PBS’ on-air election coverage include:
OCTOBER
CHARLIE ROSE
Thursday, October 2, 2008 (check local listings)
Charlie Rose hosts a live discussion about the vice presidential debate.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “The Presidents: Jimmy Carter” [r]
Monday, October 6, 2008, 9:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. ET
This program traces the ascent of an ambitious country boy from a peanut farm in Plains,
Georgia, to the Oval Office; it examines the failings of Carter’s political
leadership in the context of the turbulent 1970s and explores the role religion played in
his career. Jimmy Carter rode into power on the post-Watergate disaffection with
Washington politics, but his inexperience resulted in an ineffectual and fractured
administration. The crowning achievement of his one term in office, the Camp David
Accords, which established a framework for peace in the Middle East, was the inspiration
for his life after the White House. In the years since, Carter has recast himself as a
giant of moral leadership, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in the process. He has struggled
to bring peace to war-torn countries; fought for the eradication of life-threatening
diseases; and dedicated himself to housing America’s poorest citizens.
CHARLIE ROSE
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 (check local listings)
Charlie Rose hosts a live discussion about the second presidential debate.
LATINOS & POLITICS (w.t.)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
LATINOS & POLITICS examines the 2008 election through the prism of ethnic politics.
Latinos are less cohesive than other voting blocs, and they do not fit the black/white
racial binary that has long shaped American politics. This documentary examines how
today’s candidates and advocacy groups are trying to mobilize and attract this
unpredictable group of voters. Will McCain manage to win back Latino defectors, in light
of his party’s sometimes harsh rhetoric on immigration? Will Obama succeed in
securing the votes of the many Latinos who supported Hillary Clinton during the primaries?
In investigating such questions — and others — LATINOS & POLITICS sheds
light on an important part of America’s future.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “The Presidents: Nixon” [r]
Monday, October 13, 2008, 9:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. ET
One of the most controversial and enduring figures on the American political landscape,
Richard Nixon was at the center of American politics for 25 years. “Nixon”
explores the fateful combination of strengths and weaknesses that propelled him to the
presidency, then brought him down. From his boyhood in Yorba Linda, California, his days
as a young anti-Communist crusader, his foreign policy initiatives in China and the Soviet
Union, to his resignation from the presidency in the face of likely impeachment in 1974,
Nixon was distinguished by his ability to come back from defeat.
FRONTLINE “The Choice 2008”
Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET; rpts. Sunday, October 26, 2008, 10:00
p.m.-12:00 a.m. ET and Monday, November 3, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
It is one of the most memorable presidential elections in decades. It is a race that pits
the iconoclast John McCain against the newcomer Barack Obama; the heroic former prisoner
of war against the first African-American major party nominee. For two hours, “The
Choice,” celebrating its 20th anniversary, examines the rich personal and political
biographies of these men and goes behind the headlines to discover how they arrived at
this moment and what their different candidacies say about America.
CHARLIE ROSE
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 (check local listings)
Charlie Rose hosts a live discussion about the third presidential debate.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “The Presidents: LBJ” [r]
Mondays, October 20-27, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
The arc of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s life is a version of the American dream: the poor
boy from the backwaters of the Texas hill country who ascended to the very pinnacle of
power — only to see his presidency undermined by the conflict in Vietnam, a war he
supported and expanded but never understood. One of the most perplexing, astute and
larger-than-life politicians in modern American history, LBJ set out to “out-Kennedy
the Kennedys” by pushing through historic social legislation on a scale that rivaled
FDR. Big, brash, intimidating and driven by an all-consuming ambition, Johnson dominated
people and institutions.
FRONTLINE “Heat”
Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
For years, big business — from oil and coal companies to electric utilities to car
manufacturers — has resisted change to environmental policy and stifled the debate
over climate change in America and around the globe. Now, facing rising pressure from
governments, green groups and investors alike, big business is reshaping its approach to
the environment. With the election looming, FRONTLINE producer Martin Smith investigates
what some businesses are doing to fend off new regulations and how others are
repositioning themselves to prosper in a radically changed world.
FRONTLINE “The War Briefing”
Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
The next president of the United States will inherit some of the greatest foreign policy
challenges in American history — an overstretched military, frayed alliances and wars
on two fronts. FRONTLINE gives viewers a hard, inside look at the real policy choices the
next president will face. The report features strategists and diplomats giving their best
advice on how to correct past failures and how to shape a realistic foreign policy
approach in the Middle East.
NOVEMBER
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW “Politically Collect”
Monday, November 3, 2008, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
ROADSHOW throws its hat in the ring with a special edition, “Politically
Collect,” a salute to the presidential election and the keepsakes of political
battles long past.
ELECTION NIGHT 2008: A NEWSHOUR SPECIAL REPORT
Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 9:00 p.m. ET (end time TBD)
The NEWSHOUR team, led by Jim Lehrer, brings viewers up-to-the-minute results and
analysis.
CHARLIE ROSE
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 (check local listings)
Charlie Rose hosts a live discussion on election night.
FRONTLINE “The Race 2008”
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
FRONTLINE and Newsweek magazine join forces to tell the inside story of the 2008
presidential campaign. Scheduled just a week after Election Day, “The Race 2008”
provides an intimate backstage view of the high human drama of this historic campaign
— from the internal conflicts over strategy and tactics to the bruising battles
between key campaign aides and the complicated relationships among the advisers, the
candidates and their families. The film covers all stages of the campaign — from
twists and turns of the primary season through the difficult attempts at party unity, the
super-heated general campaign with its media air war and get-out-the-vote ground war,
through the inevitable gaffes, charges and countercharges, to the high-stakes presidential
debates and the final exhausted dash to election day. “The Race 2008” features
fresh footage from the campaign trail and candidate headquarters, and interviews with key
strategists and campaign operatives, with intimates who know the candidates well and with
Newsweek’s extensive embedded reporting team, which has been tracking the campaigns
from the beginning.
PBS CONVENTION COVERAGE – A NEWSHOUR SPECIAL REPORT
“Democratic Convention” Monday-Thursday, August 25-28, 2008, 8:00-11:00
p.m. ET
PBS’ convention coverage, anchored by Jim Lehrer of THE
NEWSHOUR WITH JIM LEHRER, will include extended uninterrupted coverage of podium
activities and speeches; reporting from the floor of the convention; newsmaker interviews;
political analysis and historical perspective. NEWSHOUR senior correspondents Gwen Ifill,
Ray Suarez, Judy Woodruff and Margaret Warner will join Lehrer. Political analysis will be
provided by New York Times columnist David Brooks and syndicated columnist Mark Shields.
Presidential historians Michael Beschloss and Richard Norton Smith will add historical
perspective; Andy Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, will update viewers with
the latest polling information.
The staff of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer invites you to
join them in the convention halls of Denver, Colorado, and St. Paul, Minnesota, for the
most complete presidential convention coverage on television. Tune in August 25-28
(Democratic National Convention) and September 1-4 (Republican National Convention) for
gavel to gavel coverage.
“The political conventions will be the places to see how this
year’s incredibly exciting primary campaigns have affected the self-portraits of the
two major parties,” said NewsHour Executive Producer Linda Winslow. “The
NewsHour plans to showcase the people who participated in getting each candidate this far
— not just the campaign strategists, but also the delegates who will help us show our
viewers what the politically engaged American electorate looks like in 2008.”
The 2008 political conventions will be a turning point in a
campaign season that will go down in the history books with numerous firsts and records
broken: the first female to come within striking distance
of the nomination, the first African-American nominee and the oldest first-time
nominee. Unprecedented numbers of young Americans turned out to vote in a primary
season that lasted longer than any in history. The lengthy primary season meant more
states than ever experienced the campaign firsthand. The heightened interest, coupled with
the campaigns’ use of the internet, has resulted in record-breaking financial
donations. The conventions are also the place to catch a glimpse of the parties’
future.
The Republican convention in 1988 featured a rising star in the
Republican Party — John McCain. Just two years after capturing the Arizona Senate
seat, he shared the platform with President Ronald Reagan as a featured speaker at the
opening of the convention in New Orleans. Twenty years later, the senator will stand
victorious as his party’s nominee.
In 2004, the nation was introduced to a young Senate candidate from
Illinois — Barack Obama — when he gave the keynote speech at the Democratic
convention in Boston, MA. In 2008, Obama will be introduced in Denver, Colorado, as his
party’s nominee for president.
Joining Jim Lehrer in the PBS sky box above the convention floor
will be The NewsHour’s regular analysts, syndicated columnist Mark Shields and
New York Times columnist David Brooks. Senior correspondents Gwen Ifill, Judy
Woodruff, Ray Suarez and Margaret Warner will report the excitement from the convention
floor. And presidential historians Michael Beschloss and Richard Norton Smith will provide
historical perspective. Together, they will bring
you all the sights, sounds, and news in and around the conventions.
Look for ongoing election coverage as
PBS goes behind the headlines this fall with the PBS vote 2008 election line-up!
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “THE PRESIDENTS”
Ronald Regan – Mondays, September 22 and 29 at 9 pm
Jimmy Carter – Monday, October 6 at 9 pm
Nixon – Monday, October 13 at 9 pm
LBJ – Mondays, October 20 and October 27 at pm
BILL MOYERS JOURNAL – Weekly Ongoing Coverage, Fridays at
9 pm
FRONTLINE
The Choice 2008 – Tuesday, October 14 at 9 pm
Heat – Tuesday, October 21 at 9 pm
The Race 2008, Tuesday, November 11 at 9 pm
NEWSHOUR
– Ongoing Coverage Weekdays at 6 pm
Made possible in
part by:
Astrolabe Gallery
NIGHTLY
BUSINESS REPORT – Ongoing Coverage Weekdays at 7:00 pm
Made possible in
part by:
Jefferson County Job Development Corporation (JCJDC)
RBC Wealth Management
PJ Doherty
NOW engages viewers by probing the most important issues facing
democracy. The series occupies a unique place in the American television landscape. Hosted
by veteran journalist David Brancaccio, who joined the series in fall 2003 after a decade
as host of public radio's “Marketplace,” NOW pursues the stories overlooked by
other public affairs broadcasts and travels the nation to shed light on the important
public policy issues that have real-world impact on working Americans. Fridays at 8:30
p.m.
P.O.V. – “Critical Condition” Tuesday, September
30 from 9 – 11 pm
RELIGION
& ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY – Ongoing Coverage Sundays at 6:30 am
TAVIS
SMILEY – Ongoing Coverage Weeknights at 11 pm
WASHINGTON WEEK WITH GWEN IFILL AND NATIONAL JOURNAL Hits the
Road for a Series of Election Year Special Broadcasts. Friday evenings at 8 pm.
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