Political forum to feature MTSU expert
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Dr. Bob Pondillo, associate professor of mass media history and American culture at MTSU, will serve as moderator for the portion of the program in which incumbent District Attorney Dale Potter and his challenger, attorney Lisa Zavogiannis, debate the issues and push for votes. The local DA?s race has become one of the most closely watched contests in this election season.
“We are fortunate to have a person of Dr. Pondillo?s caliber, his experience and expertise, to handle the questioning during this phase of forum,” said Patricia Zechman, executive editor of the Southern Standard, which, with public radio WCPI, has co-sponsored political debates for every election cycle since 1998. ?His collaboration in this project will be a service to democracy, as members of the live audience, WCPI listeners and Southern Standard readers will see.?
Candidates for all county-wide offices have been invited to participate in the forum, which will be broadcast live from the county administrative building on Locust Street beginning at 6:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.
Pondillo is the author of Censorship’s Golden Age: The Secret Life of NBC-TV?s Stockton Helffrich, America?s First Network Television Censor (Southern Illinois University Press, 2007), as well as numerous journal articles on early network TV censorship. His research interests include American media censorship, the interplay of media politics and government, and issues of media and religion.
He is faculty member in MTSU?s graduate school in mass communication.
The political forum is being held a day before early voting begins, July 14. Candidates will be allowed time to make opening remarks and they will also answer questions from a panel.