Don’t Let Sarah Palin Dictate the Future of NPR from FREE PRESS ACTION FUND

PLEASE participate (click the header to sign the letter, be sure to add your personal comments) and send a strong message to your Senators and Representatives in Congress to stand up and support NPR. After all, where were all these right-wing talking heads when Mississippi Public Radio dropped the NPR show 'Fresh Air' (see the post below and on this blog on 15JUL10) over objections to program content? Their hypocrisy is disgusting, and their attacks on NPR threatens free press in the U.S. 

Dear Craig, Yesterday, former governor Sarah Palin called on Congress to cut all funds for National Public Radio. "It's time for Congress to defund this organization," Palin wrote after NPR fired analyst Juan Williams for comments he made disparaging Muslims on Fox News Channel. Palin set off a firestorm that spread from extreme right-wing blogs to Bill O'Reilly to Capitol Hill. Later today, Sen. Jim DeMint (R - S.C.) plans to introduce legislation that slashes all funds to one of the last, best sources of journalism we have in America. This is crazy. But with your help we can stop this in its tracks. Calling for Congress to defund NPR is nothing more than political opportunism by public figures who have built a career on such shenanigans. Regardless of what you think about Juan Williams' dismissal, calling for the defunding of NPR as a result is like asking for the death penalty in small claims court. NPR plays a crucial role in America, providing original, in-depth journalism and educational programming. With commercial newspapers, radio and television stations cutting staff and cutting back on original reporting, the need for a robust public media system has never been greater. People from every corner of society need to take a stand and tell our leaders to stop playing politics with our nation's public media system: The U.S. already has one of the lowest levels of federal funding of public media in the developed world — at just $1.43 per capita. Yet surveys show the public considers NPR and PBS not just our most trusted news sources but the most valued public institutions we have. Please take a moment and join tens of thousands of others who are defending NPR and standing up to Sarah Palin and extremists. Please forward this e-mail to all of your friends. Thank you, Josh Silver President and CEO Free Press Action Fund 1. "NPR Axes, Fox defends Williams over Muslim remarks": http://act2.freepress.net/go/475?akid=1878.9767049.YdQjPq&t=8 2. "Sarah Palin, Jim Demint Take Aim at NPR Funding": http://act2.freepress.net/go/476?akid=1878.9767049.YdQjPq&t=10

Free Press Action Fund is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Learn more at www.freepress.net