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Press Release
Public Media Makers and Fans Must Fight Back Against Attacks
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) introduced two bills that would cut off federal funding for public broadcasting in America by defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by 2013 and immediately eliminating “certain public radio funding.” The bills mirror earlier efforts by Lamborn to defund all public broadcasting. The legislation was introduced the same day that NPR made public the resignation of Ellen Weiss, NPR’s senior vice president for news, who stepped down after an internal review of the firing of commentator Juan Williams.
Craig Aaron, managing director of the Free Press Action Fund, made the following statement:
“Congress is playing politics with a public trust that hundreds of millions of Americans rely on for news, arts and entertainment, and for educational programming for our kids. It’s disgraceful that leaders of the ‘people’s House’ routinely threaten the nation’s most trusted and respected sources of news just to score a few partisan points. Whether you rely on public media for your morning news, music you won’t hear anywhere else, or Sesame Street, you should be outraged by these cynical attacks.
"Local PBS and NPR stations reach more than 98 percent of American households, and for some communities, they are the only sources of serious local news and information. They also employ thousands of journalists -- at a time when newsrooms around the country are shedding tens of thousands of jobs a year. Leaders in Washington must fight to improve and expand public broadcasting to counteract the collapse of so much commercial journalism and to serve the people corporate media have left behind.
"Public media leaders need to take a stand, too. You don’t put a bully in his place by handing over your lunch money and hoping he’ll go away. You have to fight. And when you do, millions and millions of your viewers, listeners and fans will have your back.”
Craig Aaron, managing director of the Free Press Action Fund, made the following statement:
“Congress is playing politics with a public trust that hundreds of millions of Americans rely on for news, arts and entertainment, and for educational programming for our kids. It’s disgraceful that leaders of the ‘people’s House’ routinely threaten the nation’s most trusted and respected sources of news just to score a few partisan points. Whether you rely on public media for your morning news, music you won’t hear anywhere else, or Sesame Street, you should be outraged by these cynical attacks.
"Local PBS and NPR stations reach more than 98 percent of American households, and for some communities, they are the only sources of serious local news and information. They also employ thousands of journalists -- at a time when newsrooms around the country are shedding tens of thousands of jobs a year. Leaders in Washington must fight to improve and expand public broadcasting to counteract the collapse of so much commercial journalism and to serve the people corporate media have left behind.
"Public media leaders need to take a stand, too. You don’t put a bully in his place by handing over your lunch money and hoping he’ll go away. You have to fight. And when you do, millions and millions of your viewers, listeners and fans will have your back.”
