PBS NewsHour and NPR have announced that they will partner for coverage of the 2016 presidential conventions. The two also say they will also have live primetime coverage, which NPR says is a first for public media. The two outlets will form one group of journalists who will contribute to both television and radio coverage.
The coverage will be anchored by NewsHour co-anchors, Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill. NPR correspondents will serve as analysts and floor reporters. Lisa Desjardins of PBS NewsHour will also serve as a field reporter.
The duo says that their coverage will focus on the issues, not the horse-race. A common criticism of election coverage, especially on television, is that it focuses too much on trying to predict a winner or who is “up or down” that given news cycle. NPR and NewsHour say that they will instead look at the substantive issues of the race.