Brokaw to Moderate "Characters Unite" Town Hall
Event to explore country's diverse population, finding common ground
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/10/2009 10:05:00 AM
NBC News special correspondent and former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw will moderate a Characters Unite Town Hall meeting in Washington Dec. 2 on "how America's increasingly diverse and divided population can find common ground on today's complex social issues."
Characters Unite is USA Network's public affairs campaign launched in January 2009 to try to get people to work together to bridge cultural and social divides.
The Dec. 2 event at the Newseum will feature a panel of journalists, legislators, civil rights leaders, policymakers and academics, and at least one singer/philanthropist--Jon Bon Jovi.
It will be hosted by actor Dule Hill, who himself bridges the broadcast and cable spheres, having co-starred in NBC's West Wing and now in USA's Psych.
Brokaw is host of a new documentary on USA, American Character Along Highway 50, which debuts January 2010. Brokaw travels from East Coast to West to "present stories of hardship and hope."
"It's time to get past the labeling. We're all different, and we all bring something unique to the table," said Bonnie Hammer, president of NBCU Cable Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions, in announcing the event. "We need our differences to unite us, not drive us apart."
USA parent NBCU is also teaming with Comcast and Charter on a Characters Unite community affairs project for students across the country--an essay contest with the winners getting to attend the Newseum event.
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