Riester and the Arizona Media Association will Produce 2024 Clean Elections Candidate Debates
The Citizens Clean Elections Commission completed its 2024 debate procurement process and selected Riester, partnering with the Arizona Media Association (AMA), as the contractor. Furthermore, the collaborative proposal from Riester and the AMA is engineered to professionally produce debates for the U.S. Senate, Congressional, and Corporation Commission races for the 2024 primary and general elections ensure optimal technologies, processes, and productions for Arizona media outlets broadcasting debates. The ultimate task for Riester and the AMA is to ensure the debates are available to all voters in every corner of the state.
“In this new age of misinformation, Riester is highly motivated and honored to work with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and the AMA’s hundred’s of media members statewide to produce the most professional, technically-sound debates that deliver uncensored and unedited candidate exchanges in English and Spanish to the communities they are competing to serve,” said Riester Founder and CEO, Tim Riester.
For more than two decades, Clean Elections has been the state’s only nonpartisan debate sponsor successfully producing hundreds of local, state, and federal debates. As a voter education leader, Clean Elections focuses each year on improving voter information accessibility and creating tools that support informed election participation.
“Many Arizona races are already a national topic, and the expectation is set for debates that provide visibility into the plans and policies of candidates,” said Clean Elections Executive Director Tom Collins. “Voters rely on Clean Elections to provide candidate debates that are nonpartisan, accessible, and fair. Our final decision on a partner for debates was guided by these principles, while keeping in mind a second, equally critical audience: members of the media who are stewards of civic engagement and providers of information to voters.”
Selecting a production and broadcast partner is key to debate planning, which began months ago with a 2023 evaluation of Arizona debate processes by the Citizens Clean Elections Candidate Debates Work Group. The group summarized its findings for the 2024 debates, and Riester and the AMA will reference them as they finalize plans.
“When it comes to stimulating conversation among voters, nothing compares to debates which is why we have been working on them since last year,” said Clean Elections Voter Education Director Gina Roberts. “We believe that the combined competencies of Riester and the AMA are solid footing to produce debates that will reach all voters and give all candidates a level playing field to make their case to their constituencies.”
“We are committed to the most successful debate season possible,” said Arizona Media Association President and CEO Chris Kline. “We have been allies on other important public awareness initiatives with both Clean Elections and Riester, and because of that, this new partnership is incredibly exciting. This relationship will allow us to make every debate available to hundreds of local media brands on radio, TV, in partnership with newspapers and across countless digital platforms with the goal of reaching every voter in our state.”
In addition, here is information about the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (Clean Elections).
Arizona voters established the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to restore citizen participation and confidence in the political system, improve state government integrity, and promote freedom of speech. and Arizona Constitutions. Visit www.azcleanelections.gov to learn more.
Additionally, regarding the AMA:
The Arizona Media Association is a 501-c(6) non-profit corporation that acts as the official trade association for Arizona’s local radio, TV, print and digital industry. Its mission is to futureproof Arizona local media and protect its critical role in community connection. The Arizona Media Association also underwrites the Arizona Local News Foundation to connect communities with more local news and information. Moreover, membership includes more than 350 radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, digital operations, and associate groups. Visit www.azmedia.org for more information.
About Riester
Driven by humanity and innate care, Riester’s founders built a passionate creative marketing company that connects to people’s emotions to drive change. Composed of culturally diverse, internationally experienced, thought-provoking people, this studious, collaborative, talented and open-minded group is in the constant pursuit of creating more impactful campaigns. AdAge named Riester among the 20 Hottest Creative Shops to Watch in America, and PRWeek awarded Riester its Campaign of the Year honors.