ARLINGTON, VA – PBS today announced an agreement with impreMedia, the No. 1 Hispanic News and Information Company in the U.S. in Online and Print, to live stream PBS’ NewsHour feed of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Senate confirmation hearings, translated to Spanish, on impreMedia’s Web site (http://www.impre.com/sotomayor). If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court justice and the third woman to serve on the high court.
“As public media PBS and our member stations have a strong commitment to ensuring that citizens have the information they need to fully participate in our democracy,” said John Boland, PBS Chief Content Officer. “We are pleased to partner with impreMedia in utilizing new media platforms to reach the broadest possible audience, including Hispanic Americans who will have particular interest in these hearings.”
PBS will provide full coverage of the Senate Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor expected to begin July 13, 2009 at 10 am ET. NewsHour Senior Correspondent Judy Woodruff will anchor live coverage from the hearing room in the HartSenateOfficeBuilding, with analysis from Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal. PBS will provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of the days when Sotomayor is scheduled to testify before the committee.
“The live Spanish transmission of the Supreme Court hearings is a critical outreach to the millions of Americans who strongly prefer to receive their news and information in Spanish,” says Arturo Duran, CEO of impreMedia Digital. “It also reflects the deep transformation of American society, which may soon have, for the first time in its history, a Supreme Court Justice who grew up speaking Spanish.”
Monday’s hearing is expected to include statements from each of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and possibly Sotomayor’s opening statement. Over the course of several days, the hearings will continue with questions and answers with Judge Sotomayor followed by testimony from other witnesses. The NewsHour’s coverage will begin with the Committee members’ statements on Monday and will continue through the conclusion of Judge Sotomayor’s appearances before the committee. ImpreMedia plans to provide analysis by Pedro Rojas, La Opinion’sEditor in Chief, and their political analyst, Pilar Marrero. They will be making comments before, during or after the PBS coverage.
Live streaming video of the hearings is also available online at newshour.pbs.org, and is provided in conjunction with NPR and PBS. In addition to the video of the hearings, the Online NewsHour has a profile of Sonia Sotomayor and a wealth of information about the Supreme Court, the justices and its history at the Supreme Court Watch site — http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/law/supreme_court/index.html.