Keep Super PACs off PBS 12APR12

NPR and PBS have a long standing policy of no political ads and no commercials (though in the past few years program sponsors have been allowed short general infomercials about their companies, this brought about by decreased funding by the federal govt for the CPB, Corporation for Public Broadcasting). The recent court ruling removing the ban on political ads on PBS and NPR doesn't mandate that these broadcasters accept political ads from anyone, just that it is now possible to run political ads on public broadcasting radio and TV. Please join in calling on NPR and PBS to reject all Super PAC and in fact all political ads, and then, if you can go to their websites and make a donation, any amount will help, to keep their free and fair.

Take Action: No Super PACs on PBS! “Sesame Street,” brought to you by Mitt Romney. Up next: “Downton Abbey,” but first, a word from Obama’s Super PAC. We’re not kidding! Moments ago a U.S. appeals court struck down a ban on political ads on public broadcasting stations. That means your local PBS or NPR station could start running nasty attack ads right away.1 Tell PBS and NPR: No Attack Ads! The court said that permitting these sorts of ads would not threaten or undermine the educational nature of public broadcast stations. But polluting public programming with misleading and negative ads is not in keeping with the original vision of noncommercial broadcasting. And it’s certainly not the solution to funding public media. Many Americans turn to public TV or radio to escape the offensive political ads that have flooded commercial stations. Please join us and tell the leadership of PBS and NPR stations that they must reject political ads: Act Now: Political Attack Ads Have No Place on Public Media An overwhelming majority of Americans say public funding for public media is money well spent. PBS and NPR and their member stations should know that accepting political ads is not the solution to public broadcasting’s funding problems. We need to invest in public media, not open it up to dirty Super PAC money. Take action now and then forward this email to your friends. Thanks, Candace, Josh, Craig, Tim and the Free Press team P.S. Like our work? The Free Press Action Fund is powered by donations from people like you. We don’t take a single cent from business, government or political parties. Please keep us going strong with a gift of $10 — or more — today. Thank you! 1. “U.S. ban on political ads on public TV struck down,” Reuters, April 12, 2012: http://act2.freepress.net/go/9700?akid=3445.9767049.ENUf9m&t=10

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