Airs Thursday, Feb. 23, at 6 p.m. Recorded live from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. This special roundtable discussion is part of the 4th Lone Star Legislative Summit. The Summit was produced by the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with Stephen F. Austin State University and presented by Norbord. The panelists explore the media’s impact on the 2012 presidential race. Kate Archer Kent, news producer for Red River Radio, serves as moderator. The panel features Dr. George Edwards, a political science professor at Texas A&M University ; Dr. Ken Collier, an associate professor of political science at Stephen F. Austin State University; Kenny Boles, the news director for KLTV and KTRE-TV in East Texas; and Patti Kilday Hart, metro columnist for the Houston Chronicle.
More about the panelists:
Dr. George Edwards is a University Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University. He also holds the Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies. He has authored dozens of articles and has written or edited 25 books on American politics and public policy making. He is also editor of Presidential Studies Quarterly and general editor of the Oxford Handbook of American Politics series.
Dr. Ken Collier is an associate professor of political science at Stephen F. Austin State University. Ken holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He has written extensively on the presidency including the book “Between the Branches: The White House Office of Legislative Affairs” and a new book on presidential speechwriting.
Kenny Boles is the news director for KLTV and KTRE-TV in East Texas. Kenny has worked more than 40 years in broadcast news, starting at age 17 at KTRE in Lufkin. His tenure in broadcast news has included field producing in the Middle East and Central America for ABC News, and covering the presidential campaigns of Gerald Ford, John Glenn, Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson.
Patti Kilday Hart is metro columnist at the Houston Chronicle. She has worked as a journalist in four Texas cities and has written about Texas politics for about 20 years. She has contributed to the Texas Monthly’s story titled "Ten Best, Ten Worst Legislators" since 1989. She is a journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.