September 29, 2008
CONTACT: Meg Fullwood
214-740-9377
mfullwood@kera.org
'THE TEXAS DEBATES – RACE FOR THE U.S. SENATE’
John Cornyn and Rick Noriega debate October 16 on KERA
DALLAS/FORT WORTH: One of the most anticipated political races in Texas will be broadcast to millions when The Texas Debates - Race for the U.S. Senate airs on television and radio stations throughout the state. The debate between Republican incumbent John Cornyn and Democratic challenger Rick Noriega will air live on Thursday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m. This is the last debate before the election. The program will repeat at 5 a.m. and again at 4 p.m., Sunday, October 19 on KERA 13 in North Texas only.
The Texas Debates is produced by KERA in partnership with The Texas Association of Broadcasters (TAB), KUVN Univisión 23, Texas Monthly, The Dallas Morning News, Texas State Network and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
The Texas Debates will originate from the studios of KERA 13 in Dallas and will be distributed to commercial and public radio and television stations statewide as a public service to media outlets in Texas. Stations have the option of taking the broadcast live or delaying it. The broadcast will be available in English and Spanish and will be closed captioned. Locally, The Texas Debates will be simulcast on KERA Radio (90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 99.3 in Sherman, 101.1 in Tyler and 88.3 in Wichita Falls) and can be heard in Spanish on the station’s secondary audio program (SAP) channel. Under the agreed format, the candidates will be seated during the debate which will be moderated by KERA News Director, Shelley Kofler. Questions will be posed by a panel of journalists including:
• María Renée Barillas, KUVN Univisión 23
• Paul Burka, Texas Monthly
• Gromer Jeffers Jr., The Dallas Morning News
More information about the The Texas Debates is available at www.texasdebates.com which will also provide live audio and video streaming of the debate the night of the broadcast.
MEDIA ONLY:
Audio and video feeds of the debate will be available at KERA's studios to the media on a first-come/first-served basis. Media should plan to arrive at KERA for set-up no later than 7:00 p.m. and will be able to watch the debate live from a pressroom, but will NOT be allowed to be present in the studio DURING the debate. Media will also have an opportunity to interview candidates after the debate concludes. The KERA Studios are located at 3000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas (entrance on Harwood). Directions are available at www.kera.org/about-directions. Coordinates will be sent under separate cover. Those with special technical needs should contact Meg Fullwood at 214-740-9377.
MODERATOR AND PANELISTS
KERA News Director and Debate Moderator Shelley Kofler is an award-winning broadcast journalist and television producer with expertise covering public policy issues, statewide elections and presidential primaries for KXAS-TV/NBC-5, WFAA-TV/ABC and KERA.
María Renée Barillas is a reporter and anchor with KUVN Univision 23. She began her journalism career in Guatemala and has covered politics and other issues of importance to Hispanics for more than 15 years. She has extensive experience in radio and television, including work as a general assignments reporter for Univision's Los Angeles station.
Paul Burka is an award-winning journalist with Texas Monthly. A member of the State Bar of Texas, he spent five years with the Texas legislature, serving as counsel to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Burka teaches at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and is a frequent guest on national news programs with MSNBC, Fox, NBC, and CNN.
Gromer Jeffers Jr. writes about local, state and national politics for The Dallas Morning News. He covered Dallas City Hall and in 2002, the Senate contest between John Cornyn and Ron Kirk. Jeffers covered the 2004 presidential race, writing stories about race and ethnicity, voter turnout in battleground states and the role of Texas in the national campaign. He writes a weekly political column and for the Trail Blazers blog.
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Award-winning producer, Rick Thompson is KERA’s director of multimedia content. As executive producer, he oversees the production of CEO with host Lee Cullum and the series Nowhere But Texas. With more than 30 years experience as a producer, his previous credits include: Richard Avedon: In the American West – A Twentieth Anniversary Special, The Texas Debates, Texas and the Latino Vote and Finding Our Voice: The Dallas Gay & Lesbian Community. National credits include JFK: Breaking the News, Matisse & Picasso and KERA’s 26-episode cooking series, New Tastes from Texas with Chef Stephan Pyles.
Alexis Yancey is an independent producer and owner of Alexis Yancey Productions. An award-winning network news producer, her credits include contributions to the CBS Weekend News, Sunday Morning, Street Stories with Ed Bradley, Street Stories with Mike Wallace, America Tonight and CBS News This Morning, and additional experience with WFAA-TV in Dallas, WBZ-TV in Boston and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.
ABOUT THE PARTNERS
KERA is an independently owned and operated not-for-profit public broadcasting organization. For the past 20 years, the station has provided the public with elections of importance through the Texas Debates. Services include original television and radio productions, national public television and radio programs, online resources at www.kera.org and an educational resource center that develops programs for children, families and educators. KERA productions have earned the highest awards in broadcasting, including Peabody, DuPont, Emmy, Clarion and many more.
The Texas Association of Broadcasters (TAB) is a non-profit, professional trade organization representing the interests of radio and television stations in the State of Texas. TAB promotes and protects a favorable climate for broadcasting and educates members and the public about opportunities and advances possible through free, over-the-air broadcast operations. TAB is dedicated to the preservation of rights granted to the news media and individuals under the Texas Constitution and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Online at www.tab.org.
KUVN-TV / Channel 23, part of the Univision Television Group, owns and operates 63 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico. The station is owned by Univision Communications Inc., the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations include Univision Network, TeleFutura Network, Galavisión, Univision Television Group, Univision Radio and www.univision.com. Univision Communications has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. Visit www.univision.net for details.
Texas Monthly, now in its 36th year of publication, has a circulation of over 300,000 and is read by more than 2 million people each month--one out of nine Texas adults. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Communications. Based in Indianapolis, Emmis is a diversified media company with radio broadcasting and magazine publishing operations. Online at www.texasmonthly.com.
The Dallas Morning News, Texas’ leading newspaper, has long been a partner with KERA in sponsoring candidate debates. The News, using staffers in Dallas, Austin and Washington, has focused on the Senate and presidential races this year as part of its local political coverage in print and on its Web site, www.dallasnews.com. Dallas-based A.H. Belo owns The News and three others daily newspapers.
Texas State Network is the oldest and largest state radio network in the country with more than 200 news affiliates in Texas. A member of the National Association of State Radio Networks, TSN provides hourly newscasts, long-form and short-form news, sports and talk radio programs. NASRN affiliates include Texas State News Network, Texas Agribusiness Network and the Texas Rangers Radio Network. Online at www.tsnradio.com.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is a nonprofit resource that encourages, sponsors and facilitates a greater appreciation, knowledge and understanding of the First Amendment. Working since 1978 to ensure that the public's business is conducted in public, the FOIFT's mission is to protect and preserve the state's open meetings and open records laws. Details are available at www.foift.org.
