PBS NewsHour to Present “Battleground: Florida” on Monday, October 29

Washington, DC (October 25, 2018) — On Monday, October 29, eight days prior to the 2018 Midterm Elections, PBS NewsHour will air a special broadcast, “Battleground: Florida,” to be anchored by managing editor Judy Woodruff in Tampa, with PBS NewsHour’s White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor reporting from Miami and Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins in Sarasota, Venice and Tampa.

“There are key races around the country that will impact the balance of power in Washington and many powerful governor’s mansions,” said Sara Just, PBS NewsHour’s executive producer and WETA SVP. “NewsHour is choosing to focus on Florida now because it is a fascinating and politically important state in many ways. Florida has a number of critical races this year and it is a microcosm of so many of the major issues playing out in this election.”

NewsHour will devote most of its broadcast on the 29th to examining key races in Florida, the state’s candidates, and its residents, but also more broadly the major themes among voters nationwide in what might be the most consequential election of our time. Coverage will include Woodruff with a roundtable cross-section of voters, Alcindor reporting on the challenges facing the effort to rally Democratic voters, and Desjardins on how hot button environmental issues are increasingly front and center with many voters there. In addition to these three segments, NewsHour’s weekly Politics Monday discussion will broadcast live from Tampa with special guest Susan MacManus (longtime Florida political analyst) and series regular Tamara Keith (NPR White House correspondent) in conversation with Woodruff.

In addition to extensive coverage on broadcast, NewsHour has significant coverage plans online. PBS NewsHour digital politics editor and senior writer Daniel Bush will cover the governor’s race from two key counties in Florida: Pinellas County, which flipped from Barack Obama in 2012 to Donald Trump in 2016; and Pasco County, a GOP stronghold critical to both parties in 2018.

About PBS NewsHour

PBS NewsHour is a production of NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly owned non-profit subsidiary of WETA Washington, DC, in association with WNET in New York. Major funding for PBS NewsHour is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and public television viewers. Major corporate funding is provided by BNSF, Consumer Cellular, and Raymond James, with additional support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Lemelson Foundation, National Science Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Ford Foundation, Skoll Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Friends of the NewsHour and others. More information on PBS NewsHour is available at www.pbs.org/newshour. On social media, visit PBS NewsHour on Facebook or follow @NewsHour on Twitter.

Media Contact: Nick Massella
nmassella@newshour.org