ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Poynter Institute will host a Luncheon and Community Conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s popular “Morning Joe” show. The event, which is open to the public, will be held at noon on Tuesday, August 28, at the Hilton St. Petersburg, Carillon Park. Tickets are $100.

“Our Community Conversations allow local residents to benefit from Poynter’s work,” said Poynter President Karen Dunlap. “Since starting the programs in 2005, we’ve hosted thousands of citizens who want to better understand the work, challenges and motivations of today’s journalists. We are particularly pleased to be able to offer a program while thousands of guests are in Tampa Bay for the Republican National Convention.”

Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) is the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the show Time Magazine calls “revolutionary” and The New York Times ranked as the top news program of 2008. In April 2011, Scarborough was named to the prestigious “Time 100” list of the world’s most influential people. Previously, Scarborough hosted “Scarborough Country” on MSNBC. Prior to his career in television, he was the publisher and editor of the award-winning newspaper The Florida Sun.

Mika Brzezinski is the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and a best-selling author. Her memoir, “All Things At Once,” became a New York Times best seller in January 2010 and her second book, “Knowing Your Value,” which examines the role of women in the workplace, reached #1 on the New York Times best sellers list for business books in spring 2011. Prior to joining MSNBC in January 2007, Brzezinski was an anchor of the “CBS Evening News Weekend Edition” and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to “CBS Sunday Morning” and “60 Minutes.”

For more information or to register for the event, please visit www.poynter.org/joeandmika, or call 727-821-9494. Corporate sponsorships and tables are available.

About The Poynter Institute Founded in 1975 in St. Petersburg, Fla., The Poynter Institute is one of the nation’s top schools for professional journalists and news media leaders, as well as future journalists and journalism teachers. Poynter offers training throughout the year in the areas of online and multimedia, leadership and management, reporting, writing and editing, TV and radio, ethics and diversity, journalism education and visual journalism. Poynter’s News University (www.newsu.org) offers journalism training to the public through more than 200 interactive modules and other forms of e-learning. Poynter’s Web site, (www.poynter.org) is the dominant provider of journalism news, with a focus on business analysis and the opportunities and implications of technology.

Jessica Blais Director of Marketing The Poynter Institute jblais@poynter.org 727-821-9494