PBS AND THE NEWSHOUR WITH JIM LEHRER WILL PROVIDE VIEWERS THE ONLY COMPLETE PRIMETIME BROADCAST TELEVISION COVERAGE OF BOTH CONVENTIONS

BROADCAST COVERAGE ANCHORED BY JIM LEHRER, WITH MARK SHIELDS AND DAVID BROOKS

RAY SUAREZ TO ANCHOR EXTENSIVE ONLINE COVERAGE

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INCLUDE REPORTS BY STUDENT

JOURNALISTS AND DAILY LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHERS

ALSO ON PBS, “TAVIS SMILEY” SHOW BROADCASTS LIVE FROM THE CONVENTIONS

When this summer’s national political conventions take place (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 and PBS will be the only nationally televised over-the-air broadcast to air complete, primetime coverage of podium activities and speeches.

Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor and Anchor of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, will anchor the convention coverage from skyboxes in the convention halls, where he will be joined by The NewsHour’s regular analysts: syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Senior Correspondents Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill will be reporting from the convention floors, as well as interviewing delegates and newsmakers on the scene; Senior Correspondents Margaret Warner and Ray Suarez will also be conducting interviews and moderating analysis panels at both Conventions. In addition, Suarez will anchor The Online NewsHour’s extensive web coverage.

Details of PBS & the NewsHour’s extensive broadcast and online coverage follow:

DATES & LOCATIONS:
Democratic Convention, August 25 – 28, 2008 in Denver, CO
Republican Convention, September 1 – 4, 2008 in St. Paul, MN

HOURS:
8:00 – 11:00pm., ET (or until the convention ends), each night, broadcast by PBS.

BROADCAST COVERAGE:
Extended uninterrupted coverage of podium activities and speeches; reports and interviews from the convention floor by Judy Woodruff & Gwen Ifill; NewsMaker interviews; panel discussions with political leaders and campaign representatives; conversations with historians to provide perspective and context; ongoing political analysis provided by Mark Shields and David Brooks.

ANCHOR:
Jim Lehrer, executive editor and anchor of The NewsHour

SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS:
Judy Woodruff, The NewsHour’s political editor and a veteran journalist who has covered politics for NBC, CNN and PBS
Gwen Ifill, former reporter for the New York Times and NBC, NewsHour senior correspondent since 1999 and moderator of PBS’ Washington Week with National Journal.
Ray Suarez, NewsHour senior correspondent since 1999 and former host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation. Suarez will also anchor The NewsHour’s extensive online coverage.
Margaret Warner, NewsHour correspondent since 1993 and
former White House correspondent for Newsweek.

POLITICAL ANALYSTS:
Mark Shields, syndicated columnist.
David Brooks, New York Times columnist.
Michael Beschloss, prolific writer and award–winning historian of the U.S. Presidency
Richard Norton Smith, scholar in residence at George Mason University.
Peniel Joseph, professor of history and African-American studies at Brandeis University.
Andy Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center.

ONLINE COVERAGE:
Reporter's Notebook – NewsHour senior correspondents Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill will file daily video reports at the beginning and end of each day with a preview of and reaction to the day’s events.
Insider Forum – Ray Suarez will pose viewers’ questions in video interviews with key political leaders, candidates and delegates to discuss the state of the race and the ongoing conventions.
2pm News Summary - Ray Suarez will anchor a special mid-day news summary highlighting the top stories from inside and outside the convention hall as well a preview of that night's NewsHour coverage.
Multimedia Slideshows – daily audio and video slideshows of significant events and key moments from the conventions.
Twitter/Flickr - live quotes, reactions, photos and updates from behind the scenes of the NewsHour editorial operations, as well as from events like delegate meetings, convention events and major speeches.
http://twitter.com/NewsHour
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newshour
Convention Blog – continuous coverage by NewsHour web reporters throughout the convention halls will provide brief and timely updates that will tie-in with the NewsHour Twitter coverage.

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES:
Student journalists - NewsHour Extra, the NewsHour’s web resource for high school students and teachers will partner with Children’s Pressline (CPL) and create unique reports geared to what’s important to kids. CPL is a media organization based in New York City that trains kids (ages 8-18) to be journalists. These young journalists will attend the conventions, interview participants and file reports online and via podcast about events at the convention, what they reveal about this year’s candidates and the political process itself.
Lesson Plans - NewsHour Extra offers lesson plans covering a wide range of issues related to the election at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/
Daily Convention Lesson Plans - NewsHour Extra will provide teachers tools to incorporate NewsHour convention coverage in their daily civics, social studies and or current events lesson plans. Each day, Extra will offer a lesson plan composed of a 5-10 minute video with suggestions for a warm up activity, select quotes and discussion questions to spark debate and critical thinking.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/blog/

THE NEWSHOUR:
In addition to anchoring PBS’ complete convention coverage, Jim Lehrer will anchor the week-nightly NewsHour broadcast from the PBS Skybox within the convention hall in Denver and St. Paul.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Linda Winslow

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer is seen five nights a week on more than 315 PBS stations across the country (check local listings) and is also available online, via public radio in select markets and via podcast. The program is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, in association with WETA, Washington, DC and Thirteen/WNET in New York. Corporate funding for The NewsHour is provided by Chevron and Pacific Life, along with major funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation the National Science Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.

TAVIS SMILEY
In addition to the NewsHour’s nightly conventions coverage, the PBS series TAVIS SMILEY will be live each night (check local listings) in both Denver and St. Paul reporting from the Democratic and Republican conventions. On Monday-Thursday, August 25-September 4, TAVIS SMILEY will have full analysis of each night’s primetime convention activities plus in-depth conversations with party leaders, elected officials and high-profile supporters from both parties. On Friday night in both cities, Tavis and a diverse panel will re-cap the week. During the coverage of both the Democratic and Republican conventions, TAVIS SMILEY on PBS will continue to fulfill its promise to “introduce Americans to each other” by offering stimulating conversations with a diverse mix of trendsetters and opinion-makers from the worlds of politics and media.

PBS VOTE 2008
PBS goes behind the headlines throughout the summer and fall with the “PBS Vote 2008” election line-up, offering Americans a unique opportunity to explore the Presidential elections. PBS’ trusted news brands and personalities bring viewers 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.. PBS.org’s election hub page, pbs.org/vote2008, provides further perspectives. The site aggregates video from PBS, features syndicatable content from across public media and highlights innovative Web-only projects from PBS producers and stations.