Nexstar To Host Congressional Forum

Nexstar Media Group announced today that its KARK (NBC), KNWA (NBC), KTAL (NBC) and WATN (ABC) in partnership with Mission Broadcasting stations KTVE (NBC) and KOLR (CBS), will broadcast an exclusive discussion with all four Arkansas Congressional leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives. Produced by Nexstar’s recently expanded Washington news bureau, Your Voice Arkansas: A Congressional Forum will air on all six stations in two parts beginning Thursday, July 27, at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Drew Petrimoulx, Nexstar Media’s Washington correspondent and former Arkansas Capitol reporter, will lead the discussion with U.S. Representatives Rick Crawford (R-AR2), French Hill (R-AR3) and Steve Womack (R-AR4). The second part of the forum will air Sunday, July 30, during each station’s regularly scheduled broadcast of Capitol View. 

Your Voice Arkansas: A Congressional Forum is the first political programming produced from Capitol Hill by Nexstar’s Washington news bureau featuring a group of local lawmakers addressing questions from voters on specific issues that are impacting their local districts. The participating stations reach all 75 counties across Arkansas.

“For over two decades, Nexstar has cultivated an organization-wide commitment to deliver exceptional local programming and service to the local communities where we operate,” said Tim Busch, president of Nexstar Broadcasting. “Now more than ever viewers rely on our stations for credible news and information. As one of the nation’s largest local media companies, we remain focused on extending our legacy of local news leadership by investing in our news resources and reporting capabilities to deliver more hours of trusted local programming to our viewers. Our recently expanded Washington D.C. news bureau is already living up to its mission by providing exclusive access to local lawmakers and enhanced coverage of local news from Capitol Hill to each of our local markets. We look forward to connecting voters across the state of Arkansas with their local lawmakers in our upcoming forum and thank Representatives Crawford, Hill, Womack and Westerman for their participation.”

Local Arkansans who would like to hear from their Congressman may submit questions ahead of the forum by using the hashtag #YourVoiceAR on Twitter or Facebook today. Jessi Turnure, KARK political reporter and Capitol View Arkansas Host, will collect questions over the next week and present them to the representatives as part of the televised conversation. In addition, all four congressmen will be live-tweeting during Thursday evening’s broadcast of Your Voice Arkansas: A Congressional Forum to answer additional questions that were not addressed during the televised portion of the program. Local Arkansans who are not on social media may email their questions to Jessi directly at [email protected].

“At Nexstar, we are committed to supporting the needs and interests of the local communities that we proudly serve in the great state of Arkansas and across the United States,” said Jerry Walsh, the company’s VP, local content development. “Our local news programming is an important public service we provide to local communities and our viewers trust us to deliver balanced, accurate and timely information to keep them factually informed. The expanded resources of our Washington D.C. news bureau allows Nexstar to deliver exclusive coverage at the local level of issues on Capitol Hill that are important to American families. We are grateful to Representatives Crawford, Hill, Womack and Westerman for agreeing to participate in Your Voice Arkansas: A Congressional Forum and for the tremendous support we have received from the local community about the upcoming event.” 

Your Voice Arkansas: A Congressional Forum

Part 1 – Thursday, July 27, 6:30 p.m. CDT | Part 2 – Sunday, July 30, (check local listings)