Forum looks at election year TV

Television and politics will be the topic when Sacramento State brings together a high-powered panel of experts from the media, government and the University to discuss election coverage.

The free forum "How Do We Engage Voters? Television Coverage of the Upcoming 2006 Election" will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 9 in the University Union Redwood Room.

The evening will begin with a panel of area broadcasters, government watchdog groups and professors versed in both politics and the media. They will give short presentations on their opinions and research, and then take questions from the audience.

Panelists include:

• Moderator and forum organizer Barbara O'Connor, Director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media, and Sacramento State communication studies professor
• Stan Statham, President of the California Broadcasters Association
• Bruno Cohen, General Manager for KOVR Channel 13
• Dan Weiser, News Director for KCRA Channel 3
• Kathay Feng, Executive Director for California Common Cause
• Ron Cooper, Executive Director for Access Cable
• Kimberly Nalder, Sacramento State government professor

The panel will be followed by break-out discussion groups, led by Sacramento State professors and community experts, on a variety of topics such as reaching traditionally undeserved voters, innovative media and new technologies, what surveys say about attitudes toward media, telecommunication laws, and the role for broadcast radio in informing voters.

For more information, contact O’Connor at 278-6415 or boc@csus.edu.