Contact: Teri L. Sullivan
WKNO Promotions Manager
(901) 325-6518
tsullivan@wkno.org
March 29, 2011
For Immediate Release
WKNO TO AIR INTERVIEW WITH SPEAKER OF TENNESSEE HOUSE
Beth Halteman Harwell, Tennessee Republican Representative of Davidson County’s District 56 since 1988, is the first woman to be elected Speaker of the House in the 2011 General Assembly. WKNO/Channel 10 will learn more about her in a new half-hour exclusive sit-down interview. Madam Speaker: Beth Harwell Makes History, hosted by Nashville’s NewsChannel5 anchor Rhori Johnston, will premiere Monday, April 18 at 9:30 p.m. on WKNO/Channel 10. It will also air statewide on Tennessee’s other five public television stations.
Madam Speaker will document how a Pennsylvania native and a product of the Nashville college system has become the most powerful woman in Tennessee politics. The position of Speaker of the House had been held for many years by prominent politicians such as Governor Ned McWherter and Rep. Jimmy Naifeh. Harwell rose to power as the Republican Party claimed majorities in the Tennessee House and Senate in 2010 for the first time since post Civil War Reconstruction.
A Lipscomb University graduate with advanced degrees from Peabody and Vanderbilt, Speaker Harwell was an associate professor at Belmont when she was first elected to office representing Davidson County’s most southern district. Today she is second in line to succeed Governor Bill Haslam and she controls all House committee appointments and the legislative agenda now in Republican hands.
But who is Beth Harwell? Our in-depth interview will explore the background of this married mother of three and examine the unique qualifications she brings to the job as Madame Speaker. In addition to the interview, Speaker Harwell has granted Tennessee Public Television an “all-access pass” to document her day as Speaker of the House. We’ll see how government works from her own personal perspective.
Finally, Madam Speaker will also inquire about her own political ambitions. The former chairperson of the Tennessee Republican Party and co-chair of the John McCain presidential campaign in Tennessee has been rumored in past years as a candidate for Governor or the U.S. Senate.
Madam Speaker: Beth Harwell Makes History will air Monday, April 18 at 9:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 23 at 2:30 p.m.; and Sunday, April 24 at noon on WKNO/Channel 10. It also airs Saturday, April 23 at 9:30 p.m. on WKNO2, available over the air on Channel 10.2 and on Comcast Digital Cable Channel 910. In addition to the statewide broadcasts on Tennessee’s public television stations, Madam Speaker will also air on Nashville’s CBS affiliate second tier channel, NewsChannel5 Plus.
“We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to Tennessee viewers,” said Michael LaBonia, WKNO President and CEO. “In addition to giving them an insider’s view of what’s going on in our legislative sessions by broadcasting them on our second digital channel, WKNO2, this new profile of our Speaker of the House will give viewer’s a chance to learn more about our legislators.”
It is produced by WKNO/Memphis, in association with East Tennessee PBS, by Nashville producer Tim Weeks.
About the Host
Rhori Johnston is an Emmy-award winning journalist who came to Nashville from WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter. His career as a broadcast journalist has taken him across the country, including anchoring and reporting for NewsChannel 5’s sister station, KLAS-TV, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Johnston has been honored with a regional Emmy award for anchoring in Indianapolis, and was twice voted Best TV News Anchor in Las Vegas. He is a graduate of Syracuse University with a BA in English, with additional post graduate studies at the University of Houston.
About the Producer
Madam Speaker: Beth Harwell Makes Histoy is produced by Tim Weeks for WKNO, in association with East Tennessee PBS. Weeks, based in Nashville, has been in television as long as Beth Harwell has been in politics. With a significant track record in entertainment programming with High Five Entertainment including 5 years as producer of Opry Live, Tim has piled up numerous credentials with public affairs series and documentaries for public television, including Tennessee Capitol Newsmakers, Earth In The Balance with Al Gore, Great Smoky Mountains Code Blue, and most recently A Conversation with Bill Haslam (and Mike McWherter) during the fall gubernatorial campaign.
A graduate of Ole Miss, Tim’s work on cable television and national PBS has earned Telly and Emmy Awards.
About WKNO
WKNO is a non-profit organization, private foundation serving the Mid-South for more than 50 years. An important community resource, WKNO uses the power of non-commercial public broadcasting to provide the Mid-South with quality educational and cultural programs that inform, entertain, and inspire. For more information about WKNO, visit wkno.org.
About East Tennessee PBS
East Tennessee PBS, a nonprofit viewer-supported public television station and the local PBS affiliate, offers all East Tennesseans the opportunity to explore new worlds and new ideas. The organization is driven by its public service mission to help everyone discover more about his or her world both on and off the air. The station broadcasts non-violent, commercial-free children’s series; instructional programs to K-12 classrooms and home schooled students; basic skill and adult education series; and national and local programs that entertain, enlighten and educate to approximately 925,000 households in East Tennessee, southern Kentucky and western North Carolina. In addition, East Tennessee PBS provides educational online resources for adults and children as well as coordinates outreach programs like its “Martha Speaks” Reading Buddies initiative and Young Writers Contest.
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