PBS Announces Plans for Debate and Beyond

Tonight Jim Lehrer, host of PBS's The News Hour, will moderate the first presidential debate of the general election, which will take place at University of Mississippi in Oxford.

PBS will be one of nine networks broadcasting the debate tonight. With Mr. Lehrer in the moderator's chair, Ray Suarez will anchor PBS's pre- and post-debate coverage.

According to the network's release:

Earlier this week, the Media Mob asked Lester Crystal, the president of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and the former executive producer of The News Hour, why viewers, given all the choices tonight, should tune into PBS.

"I think the attraction is what it has always been and what it was during the conventions," said Mr. Crystal. "That is, very astute analysis, and not trying to game it—who won, who lost—but what were the important points, what were the important circumstances. Really good sound analysis is what we bring to that."

"It's a civil tone," he added. "I think that's very appealing."

Today, PBS executives also announced that The News Hour will be launching a new series of reports focusing on battleground states.

First up on Monday night: Judy Woodruff reporting from Florida.

From the release: