On Wednesday April 19th 7 P.M. to 9 p.m. the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists will host Candidates, the Public and the Press: A Town Hall Meeting.This event will be held at the East Tennessee History Center located at 600 Market Street in Downtown Knoxville, TN.

An unprecedented number of new candidates are on area ballots and more have qualified. What does the public need to know about these men and women? What records are available to the public and journalists to learn more about them? How deep should reporters dig and what is appropriate to report?

All these questions plus the latest information on the term limit developments and write-in candidacies will be offered by a top-notch panel of area political experts including Robin Wilhoit, WBIR-TV; Gene Patterson,WATE-TV; Hallerin Hill, WNOX-FM; Hubert Smith of The Hubert Smith Radio Show from AM 850 WKVL; Lloyd Daugherty of The Voice on AM 1180 WVLZ; and Georgiana Vines, The Knoxville News Sentinel. Dean Rice, a government relations specialist who is a lecturer in communications studies at UT, will lead the panel.

The public is invited to attend and participate in the Town Hall Meeting.