Top Political Analysts Headline Spirited Discussion on Media Coverage of Elections

Quick Facts

The appearance by Chuck Todd, Steve Brusk and Steve Brook will occur just two days before South Carolina’s first-in-the-South GOP presidential primary.

The hour-long panel discussion on “The Evolving Media Coverage of the Presidential Campaign” will begin at 11 a.m. in the Richardson Ballroom, DiGiorgio Campus Center.

Chuck Todd

Steve Brusk

Steve Brook

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Three top political analysts from CNN, NBC and The State newspaper will offer their unique perspectives on the 2012 presidential race on Jan. 19 at Winthrop University.

The hour-long panel discussion on “The Evolving Media Coverage of the Presidential Campaign” will begin at 11 a.m. in the Richardson Ballroom, DiGiorgio Campus Center. The appearance by Chuck Todd, Steve Brusk and Steve Brook will occur just two days before South Carolina’s first-in-the-South GOP presidential primary.

The moderator of the event will be Nathaniel Frederick, assistant professor of mass communication.

The event is free and open to the public. There will be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask questions of the panel members.

The distinguished panelists are:

*Chuck Todd, chief White House correspondent, host of the television program, “The Daily Rundown,” and NBC News political director. He also serves as NBC News' on-air political analyst for "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Today," "Meet the Press," and MSNBC.

In addition to his on-air analysis, Todd is responsible for all aspects of the NBC's political coverage, serving as the network's chief point-person for political news and information. He is also the editor of "First Read," NBC’s must-read blog site that offers insider tidbits, up-to-the-minute political news and campaign trends.

In 2009, Todd co-authored the definitive election result analysis book for the 2008 presidential campaign entitled, "How Barack Obama Won."

Before joining NBC News, he was the editor-in-chief of National Journal’s “The Hotline,” Washington’s premier daily briefing on American politics. In his 15 years working at “The Hotline,” or one of its affiliates, Todd became one of Washington’s foremost experts on political campaigns at all levels. Todd also serves as a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly where he pens political essays, and is a frequent contributor of op-ed pieces for various publications, including The New York Times and the Washington Post.

*Steve Brusk, CNN political coverage manager. Brusk joined CNN in 1999, beginning as a national assignment editor based in Atlanta. He helped spearhead coverage of some of the biggest stories of the last decade, including the 9/11 tragedy, Hurricane Katrina and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In addition, Brusk has played a key role in coverage of three presidential campaigns. In 2010, he moved to Washington D.C. after being named coverage manager for CNN's political unit.

Brusk began his career as a radio reporter in Columbus, Ohio while still a student at Ohio State University. His beat included everything from police news to reporting on both City Hall and the Ohio State House. He holds the distinction of covering his first presidential campaign before he even graduated college. After reporting and running the assignment desk at a television station in Columbus, Brusk went to Houston as an editor at KTRH radio--the same place Dan Rather once toiled away. Brisk then returned to Ohio as planning and assignment editor for WJW-TV in Cleveland before going to CNN.

His distinguished work on various news-teams at CNN has been resulted in two national Emmy nominations, and three prestigious Peabody Awards.

*Steve Brook, managing editor of The State. He joined the newspaper in 1991 as executive business editor, after stints with newspapers in St. Paul, Minn.; Macon, Ga.; and Carrollton, Ga.--where he knew Newt Gingrich as a college professor.

Brook's work at The State includes heading up day-to-day operations in the newsroom, and serving as editor of the paper's political and state government coverage.

Under his aegis, The State's political reporters have won national honors for their coverage of the scandal involving then-Gov. Mark Sanford's trip to Argentina to visit his mistress, and present Gov. Nikki Haley's ouster of multi-millionaire philanthropist Darla Moore's from the USC Board of Trustees.

The Jan. 19 event is sponsored by the West Forum at Winthrop and is one of several events planned for 2012 during this presidential election year.

For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or longshawj@winthrop.edu.

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