THURSDAY: TPPF press conference launches study by the National Association of Scholars and Texas Association of Scholars

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation will convene its 11^th Annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature with a special conference prequel session, “The Movement and the Media” on Wednesday, January 9. The session, a first-ever third day of programming at Policy Orientation, will be held at the Hilton Austin Hotel from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Sen. Ted Cruz will host the opening keynote luncheon and Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large for National Review Online and author of Liberal Fascism, a New York Times #1 bestseller, offering a second keynote address.  The special day of programming also features nationally known pundit and writer Ben Domenech and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez.

 Panels at the event include:  “Big, Hot, Cheap, & Right: What America Can Learn from Texas” with Texas Monthly Senior Editor Erica Grieder, “What Went Wrong and How We Get it Right: Conservative Media in 2012 and Beyond” with Domenech, and “The American Caricature: A Cartoonist Looks at Politics” with Ramirez. A live taping of WNYC’s nationally syndicated talk radio show “The Takeaway” with John Hockenberry will also take place and as well as a special screening of Rebel Evolution including a Q&A session with film makers Brandon Darby and Anna Zetchus Smith.

“Wednesday’s prequel session will be critical to the conservative movement,” said Foundation Vice President of Communications Chuck DeVore. “There is much discussion about how conservatives need to be better messengers for our ideas. ‘The Movement and the Media’ is a timely session as we conservatives look ahead to 2013 and work hard to spread our message of liberty to new audiences throughout the country. The timing for a discussion like this could not be better.”

The Foundation’s annual event, Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature, brings together lawmakers, policy experts, and citizens from across the political spectrum to discuss the most critical issues facing the state. It runs from the 9^th to the 11^th.

Credentialed media organizations are welcome to attend and cover all of the Policy Orientation’s public events. All persons attending the conference (including reporters) must wear a TPPF-issued name badge to access any Policy Orientation events. To prevent unnecessary delays at the conference registration desk, we encourage all reporters planning to attend the conference to register in advance: http://www.texaspolicy.com/policy-orientation.

Chuck DeVore is Vice President of Communications and Senior Fellow for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit free-market research institute based in Austin.

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