Arizona PBS Offers Comprehensive Look at Candidates and Issues in 2016 Election

PHOENIX — (July 15, 2016)

This election year, Arizona PBS is providing an extensive schedule of news, public affairs, documentary and digital programming centered on the 2016 race for the White House.

As one of the country’s most trusted news sources, Arizona PBS is rolling out in-depth local and national election coverage, which includes the largest presence of any Arizona news organization at the national conventions with daily coverage that digs deeper on issues of concern for Arizonans. Arizona PBS election programming also includes investigative reports, historical perspective and stories of interest on the local and national levels.

“Arizona PBS promises to provide viewers with an in-depth look at the 2016 presidential election with a lineup providing comprehensive reporting, examinations of past elections, investigations into the Democratic and Republican nominees for president and much more,” said Nancy Southgate, associate general manager of content at Arizona PBS. “Our lineup of original programming analyzes news and political issues from a variety of perspectives, providing viewers with a well-rounded and insightful look into the complexity of current politics, locally and nationally.”

Cronkite News will have a total of 18 reporters split between the two conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia, reporting on immigration, education, health care and tax reform, among other issues.

“We are looking for stories that matter to Arizona,” said Cronkite News Executive Editor Kevin Dale. “We will be keeping in touch with the Arizona delegations at each convention, talking to Arizona elected officials in attendance and looking for issue stories that align with the state.”

In addition to covering both major party conventions, election night returns and local election coverage from “Cronkite News,” “Arizona Horizon” and “Horizonte,” Arizona PBS also will feature documentaries that place this year’s presidential race in historical context with in-depth profiles of 16 of the most significant presidents in U.S. history, as well as more than a dozen other game-changing presidential runs. The Election 2016 lineup on Arizona PBS also includes national coverage from Peabody and Emmy Award-winning PBS NewsHour and Washington Week.

After the conventions, the Cronkite News team will continue to follow the presidential race throughout the election cycle and report on the latest developments. In addition, “Arizona Horizon” hosts a series of debates for upcoming local elections, including the races for the Senate, Congress and Arizona Corporation Commission. Local public affairs program “Horizonte” will contribute to local election coverage by continuing to follow Latino voter turnout and registration.

Arizona PBS also has an active role in the 2016 Clean Elections Primary Debates. The debates will be filmed by Arizona PBS producers at various locations across Arizona. The Corporation Commission Clean Elections debate will be filmed in the “Arizona Horizon” studio on Aug. 8 and will be moderated by the show’s Emmy-winning host, Ted Simons. Arizona PBS will provide links to view the debates on its Election 2016 website:www.azpbs.org/election2016/.

At the national level, “PBS NewsHour” will provide full coverage of the 2016 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and all-night coverage on Election Night. In addition, “PBS NewsHour Weekend” will feature remote broadcasts from Philadelphia and Cleveland on the weekends leading up to the Democratic and Republican Conventions. The program will provide ongoing in-depth reporting in a feature called “Every Vote Counts: Examining the People, Places and Issues the Candidates Overlook,” throughout the 2016 campaign.

The “Frontline” acclaimed series “The Choice” returns Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. with a two-hour film investigating what has shaped the two major-party presidential candidates, where they came from, how they lead and why they want to take on one of the most difficult jobs imaginable. “The Choice 2016” will investigate formative moments in the candidates’ lives, providing in-depth reporting and powerful new insights about the candidates.

The extensive coverage lineup also follows the stories of candidates who may not have had successful presidential campaigns, but still changed history. The weekly series, “The Contenders: 16 for ’16” profiles 16 presidential and vice presidential candidates who ran campaigns that had a lasting impact on the political landscape of the country. Among the politicians profiled are Sarah Palin, Gary Hart and Michael Dukakis. The 16 episodes will air weekly with two back-to-back half-hour episodes each Tuesday at 7 p.m., beginning Sept. 13, until the November presidential election.

Additionally, “Washington Week with Gwen Ifill” features the “PBS NewsHour” anchor alongside Washington’s top journalists, analyzing key election news stories and their effect on the lives of all Americans. This election season, “Washington Week” will originate from key election locations with a series of live “road shows” along the campaign trail, including Cleveland, the host city of the Republican National Convention (July 15); and the following week from Philadelphia, host city of the Democratic National Convention (July 22).

“American Experience” recently launched “The Presidents,” an all-new digital portal showcasing hundreds of assets from the Peabody Award-winning collection of films about our nation’s most important leaders. Films in the collection include “Murder of a President” and biographies of John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln and John Adams. The portal allows viewers to screen films, delve deeper with experts and living witnesses, and examine more than 200 primary source documents. “The Presidents” explores issues faced during various administrations, including the economy, war, dealing with a crisis and abuses of power.

Arizona PBS will also air the one-hour special “America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa” on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 9 p.m., examining the changing demographics in the United States, viewing critical electoral issues through the lens of the new American mainstream and the country’s evolution to a majority-minority nation.

Viewers are invited to delve deeper into the election online through Election Central, an online educational resource bank for students and teachers. Created by pbslearningmedia.org – the free media-on-demand service from PBS that offers more than 100,000 digital resources for classroom use – and “PBS NewsHour,” Election Central is designed to provide educators with resources to help drive student engagement around the political process throughout the year, while highlighting videos, activities and interactives available through PBS LearningMedia. Content will be refreshed on a weekly basis or when timely events occur, such as a debate or convention. Other educational components include student contests and debates, and an interactive map that allows teachers and students to track the campaign trail of the candidates, provide details on candidates’ views, feature fun facts about the election and house election-specific news from “PBS NewsHour.”