Nexstar has announced that it will host a live virtual Town Hall meeting with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson on Thursday, April 9th, 2020 at 7:00pm CT.
The governor will address the statewide response to the current coronavirus outbreak and will be joined by Arkansas State Health Director, Dr. Nathaniel Smith.
In keeping with the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidance on social distancing, the one-hour virtual Town Hall will take place at the studios of KARK-TV/FOX16-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, and bring viewers in communities across the state together via live television broadcast and livestream video.
Viewers are invited to submit questions to Governor Hutchinson and Dr. Smith via social media using the hashtag #AskAsa.
The television broadcast will be hosted by Bob Clausen, KARK-TV anchor and Donna Terrell, Fox16 Anchor and will air on eight stations operated by Nexstar, including KARK-TV (NBC) and KLRT-TV (FOX) in Little Rock, WREG-TV (Channel 3.2) in Memphis, KNWA-TV (NBC) and KFTA-TV (FOX) in Fayetteville, KTVE-TV (NBC) in Monroe, LA, KTAL-TV (NBC) in Shreveport, LA, and KOZL-TV (MyNet) in Springfield, MO.
The broadcast will also be carried by KAIT-TV (NBC) in Jonesboro. All of the stations will also provide a livestream of the broadcast on their respective websites.
The Town Hall will open with Governor Hutchinson and Dr. Smith addressing the latest information from the White House Task Force, the CDC and the State of Arkansas regarding the coronavirus outbreak. The broadcast will then turn to questions submitted by viewers from around the state via a variety of social media platforms. Viewers can submit questions prior to and during the Town Hall using the hashtag #AskAsa.
“This Town Hall with Governor Hutchinson is in keeping with Nexstar’s core mission to bring our viewers the latest news and critical information, especially in times of uncertainty and crisis,” said Tim Busch, President of Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.
“The Town Hall format will enable Arkansas residents to get potentially life-saving guidance from the Governor and the state’s top health official about the coronavirus outbreak and how the state is coping with the problems the pandemic has created. Providing the Town Hall on our family of stations and websites serving Arkansas will ensure that this important broadcast reaches the largest audience possible. We are grateful to Governor Hutchinson and his administration for allowing Nexstar to serve as the host of this special event.”
Due to the importance of this information to all Arkansas residents, all news providers have been permitted to use the live digital stream of the Town Hall.