Shannon Bradley
Early in my career, I had the wonderful job of preparing political segments for Jim Lehrer, Robin MacNeil and Judy Woodruff for the PBS nightly program, then called the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. It was great fun because I got to pre-interview smart and connected people about issues of the day and recommend who should be invited to appear on the program that night. Jim and Robin were first rate, of course, but the host who I admired the most was Judy. She was calm, authoritative and classy. She brought out the best in guests by presenting politics with such grace that she made it seem like the noblest of professions.
Well, some 20 years later, I’ve been thinking about Judy a lot as we launched a new political series, Prime: Vote on our YouTube original channel, UCTV Prime. Each segment features the faculty of the University of California using their expertise to analyze what’s happening on the 2012 campaign trail. We began the series in March with video commentaries from three UC professors on issues including the high cost of austerity, incumbents’ responsiveness to voters and the economic impact of immigration.
With today’s premiere of “Political Messaging on the Economy,” UCTV Prime moves from commentary into analysis, with me playing the role of the esteemed Ms. Woodruff as I talk to political scientists Lynn Vavreck of UCLA and Thad Kousser of UC San Diego about how Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Barack Obama are crafting their economic messages to appeal to voters. It’s great talk from engaging professors who clearly enjoy politics. Thanks, Judy, for showing us how it’s done.
Learn more about UCSD-TV and UCTV Prime:Vote producer Shannon Bradley.