PRESS RELEASE from PBS

PBS and The NewsHour to provide complete coverage and analysis of the 2008 National Election – Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Jim Lehrer anchors, with analysis from Mark Shields and David Brooks
as well as Amy Walter and Stu Rothenberg

(October 27, 2008) - A tightly contested presidential campaign finally draws to a close on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and PBS will be there to provide complete coverage. Jim Lehrer anchors PBS’ election coverage with The NewsHour’s in-depth and balanced reporting, as well as political analysis from Mark Shields & David Brooks, among others, and historical context from The NewsHour’s panel of historians all at 9pm ET, Tuesday, November, 4, 2008. PBS coverage will continue until midnight (ET) or until a winner of the presidential race is announced.

Joining Lehrer will be NewsHour Senior Correspondents Jeffrey Brown, Gwen Ifill, Ray Suarez, Margaret Warner and Judy Woodruff, plus NewsHour Correspondent Kwame Holman. Lehrer will be joined in the studio by the NewsHour’s regular analysts: Additional election analysis will be provided by: Photos of NewsHour correspondents and election night guests are available at PBS Pressroom here: http://pressroom.pbs.org/programs/the_newshour_election_night_coverage_2008_

The NewsHour’s election coverage extends beyond the NewsHour broadcast on PBS. The Online NewsHour will deliver the latest election news to your computer and cell phone, and features the following:

VIDEO YOUR VOTE
http://www.youtube.com/videoyourvote

The Online NewsHour features videos from Americans around the country and U.S military members and expatriates around the world casting their ballots, discussing the voting process, and chronicling democracy at work as part of “Video Your Vote” a citizen journalism project by PBS in partnership with You Tube.

TWITTER
http://twitter.com/newshour

Online reporters will post results, updated Electoral College counts, interesting analysis quotes and links to the NewsHour’s Twitter feed while using the Twitter community to locate problems at polling locations.

MOBILE PHONE ELECTION RESULTS PAGE
http://pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/mobile

Recognizing that many people will want the latest election results and analysis on their cell phones, the Online NewsHour will offer live tallies from the presidential and Senate races in a convenient mobile phone site. The site, optimized for the iPhone, will also feature the NewsHour’s Twitter updates and a list of poll closing times.

NEWSHOUR / NPR INTERACTIVE MAP
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/map

The NPR/NewsHour interactive election map will provide up-to-the-minute election results for the presidential race down to the county level as well as all Senate, House and gubernatorial races; an Electoral College vote count; reports from NPR, the NewsHour and local public broadcasting stations; background and analysis on each state; and balance of power graphs for the House and Senate.

LOCAL STATIONS
The Online NewsHour will talk with reporters in local public broadcasting stations in key states on Election Day to gauge the scene across the country. Local reports will also be posted on the NewsHour Web site and in the NPR/NewsHour election map.

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, Pacific Life and Vestas, 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.

CONTACTS:
Anne Bell
703-998-2175
abell@newshour.org

Rob Flynn
703-998-2174
rflynn@newshour.org


www.pbs.org/pressroom