TAVIS SMILEY TACKLES POVERTY IN AMERICA

Special programming to air beginning the weekend of October 7, 2011

IN A WEEKLONG SERIES ON PBS’ “TAVIS SMILEY” and on PRI’S “THE TAVIS SMILEYSHOW”

Tavis Smiley will put a human face on the alarming new data about poverty in America with special programming on both his national public television and radio programs.

With nearly 50 million Americans, or one in six, now living in poverty, “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience” will kick off with a roundtable discussion on The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI on Friday, October 7 (check local public radio listings), and be the focus of five special episodes on the PBS program Tavis Smiley Monday, October 10 through Friday, October 14 (check local listings).

Tavis Smiley is a co-production of THIRTEEN and The Smiley Group, Inc. in association with WNET New York Public Media. For nearly 50 years, WNET has been producing and broadcasting national and local documentaries and other programs to the New York community.

To start the conversation, Smiley will sit down with poverty experts on The Tavis Smiley Showfrom PRI, airing October 7. The panelists include: Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association (NEA); Emily Allen, vice president of the AARP Foundation; Vicki B. Escarra, president of Feeding America; and Patrick McCarthy, president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Each night during the unprecedented weeklong series on poverty, Tavis Smiley on PBS will feature video highlights from Smiley’s nationwide August 2011 poverty bus tour with his Smiley & West co-host, Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West. Stopping in 18 cities across nine states, Smiley spoke to everyday Americans, including children, about their struggles in today’s economy. Each night, following highlights from the tour, Smiley will speak with a leading poverty advocate.

For more info go to: www.tavistalks.com