Posted on 04/17/2002 4:55:44 PM PDT by GeneD
The New York Times Company said today that its eight TV stations, all network affiliates, will donate airtime to political candidates.
The stations will provide at least five minutes of nightly news and 'candidate discourse' in the 30 days leading up to general elections and primaries.
The effort will include 'daily reports, debates, forums, town hall meetings, in-depth interviews, candidate issue statements and voter registration PSAs.'
The stations will also post a variety of voter info and election-related content on their Web sites.
The stations are WREG(TV) Memphis, WTKR-TV Norflok, Va.; WHNT-TV Huntsville,Ala.;KFSM-TV Fort Smith, Ark;KFOR-TV Oklahoma City; WHO-TV Des
Moines, Iowa;WNEP-TV Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa.; and WQAD-TV Moline, Ill.
The New York Times Company Broadcast Group to Offer Free Airtime for Major Candidates in 2002 Races
NEW YORK, Apr 15, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The New York Times Company Broadcast Group today announced the launch of America Votes 2002, a public service initiative that will make free airtime available to major political candidates in the news programming of its stations.
America Votes 2002 is an extensive effort involving the Company's eight network-affiliated television stations and their respective Web sites to provide viewers with comprehensive coverage of the candidates and issues in the 2002 national, state and local elections.
The New York Times Company Broadcast Group stations will each provide a minimum of five minutes of nightly electoral news and candidate discourse coverage in the 30 days preceding this year's general elections, and 30 days leading up to the primary elections, where applicable.
"America Votes 2002 is the centerpiece of our efforts to serve our local communities with the highest quality news coverage of this year's elections," said Cynthia Augustine, president of The New York Times Company Broadcast Group. "We believe that an informed and active citizenry is the bedrock of our democracy and we are pleased to provide candidates with a forum to exchange their views with the citizens of their local communities."
America Votes 2002 will include a wide variety of initiatives at The New York Times Company Broadcast Group stations, including daily reports, debates, forums, town hall meetings, in-depth interviews, candidate issue statements and voter registration public service announcements.
The stations' Web sites will also feature special election-related content that will include voter registration information, regular reports and analysis, candidate position statements, links to election board, candidate, political party and other Web sites.
"America Votes 2002 is one of the many ways we fulfill our journalistic responsibility to inform our citizens and promote public discourse in our local communities. We look forward to the appearance of our candidates on the stations of The New York Times Company Broadcast Group, the leading sources of high quality local news and information in their respective markets," said Ron Walter, group vice president for legislative affairs and station manager for WREG-TV in Memphis, Tenn.
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2001 revenues of $3.0 billion, publishes The New York Times, The Boston Globe and 16 other newspapers; owns eight network-affiliated television stations and two New York radio stations; and has more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. In 2002 the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's list of America's Most Admired Companies. Among all 530 companies on the list, the Company ranked No. 1 in quality of products/services and No. 1 in social responsibility. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com
CONTACT: The New York Times Company Investor Relations: Catherine Mathis, 212/556-1981 mathis@nytimes.com or Media Relations: Toby Usnik, 212/556-4425 usnikt@nytimes.com
Again, isn't that sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet????
(By the way, pardon my formatting on the story. The folks at Broadcasting and Cable put in an extra paragraph break, and I pushed the "post" button before correcting it.)
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