Arizona PBS, Center for the Future of Arizona establish partnership aimed at educating voters ahead of November’s election

Partnership to result in five-episode digital-first “Voter Ed” series and the production of seven issue-focused packages to air on “Arizona Horizon”
 
Arizona PBS and Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) today announced a partnership aimed at educating voters ahead of the general election, taking place this fall. Through this partnership, the two organizations are presenting “Voter Ed,” a five-episode digital-first series giving viewers a crash course in key civics topics. The other outcome of this partnership is a series of seven issue-focused segments, which will be included in episodes of “Arizona Horizon,” the station’s daily news and public affairs program. The topics of these segments were informed by CFA’s Gallup Arizona Survey research revealing seven shared public values of Arizonans.
 
“As Arizonans prepare to cast their ballots in this important election year, we are proud to partner with CFA to produce an informative and thought-provoking series, like ‘Voter Ed,’ which aims to promote civic action and participation in the democratic process,” said Arizona PBS General Manager Scott Woelfel. “In addition, the seven ‘Arizona Horizon’ segments we’re producing will show the human faces behind some of the most pressing issues currently facing our state.”
 
Narrated by “Arizona Horizon” host and managing editor Ted Simons, “Voter Ed” is comprised of five, three-to-four-minute vignettes with each one exploring a different component of the civics process in Arizona. A digital-first series, new episodes of “Voter Ed” will be released on azpbs.org/votered, the @ArizonaPBS Facebook page, and the @AZPBSNow YouTube channel the last Friday of each month, starting at 12 p.m. on Friday, June 28.
 
As part of CFA’s ongoing effort to listen to Arizonans, the organization regularly commissions survey research of residents across the Grand Canyon State. Through this work, CFA discovered Arizonans overwhelmingly agree on the things that matter most and subsequently identified seven shared public values: education; health and well-being; jobs and economic opportunity; environment and sustainable future; civic engagement and leadership; fair, just, and equitable systems; and immigration reform.
 
Each of those seven public values will be a focus of one of the aforementioned “Arizona Horizon” packages. Although specific airdates for those packages have not been determined, one is expected to air in July, with two more airing in the months of August, September and October. “Arizona Horizon” is broadcast weekdays at 5 and 10 p.m., and a livestream can be accessed weekdays on the @ArizonaPBS Facebook page, and the @AZPBSNow YouTube channel. Or catch full episodes online later or on the PBS app.
 
For Arizona PBS, this partnership and the content it will result in aligns with the station’s “AZ Votes 2024” initiative, which seeks to keep Arizona voters informed throughout this important election year. For more, visit azpbs.org/azvotes24.
 
For CFA, the announcement of this partnership comes one month after the organization released The Arizona Voters’ Agenda 2024 Report, which identifies the issues voters agree on across political and generational lines to inform election discourse. Visit CFA’s website for more information.