| Friend,
Some things just go well together. Peanut butter and chocolate. Barbie and Oppenheimer. Public media and adequate federal funding.
Unfortunately, Congress isn’t seeing eye to eye with us: Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the controversial Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA). Free Press Action helped block this bad bill last year — but we all know that everything gets a sequel these days.
Meanwhile, House Republicans aim to eliminate all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a key revenue source for hundreds of local NPR and PBS stations that air beloved content like Sesame Street and PBS NewsHour. This comes on the heels of NPR announcing substantial layoffs amid a $30-million budget shortfall. Noncommercial outlets like NPR shouldn’t be forced to mimic the for-profit news business to stay afloat: We can and must do more to support them.
So let’s talk about what the government is doing versus what it should be doing: When we talk about giving people the news and information they need, we want to see Congress rally around the CPB instead of the JCPA.
The CPB was already receiving the bare minimum from Congress: With the Biden administration proposing $535 million for FY 2023, the public allocation comes out to merely $1.60/person in the United States. That hardly covers the tax on a large popcorn. To put that number in global context, Japan spends $53/person, the United Kingdom spends $81/person and Norway spends $110/person.
The fact is that giant commercial media conglomerates like Sinclair have armies of lobbyists who won’t relent: The JCPA prioritizes their interests over the needs of communities and independent publishers that serve local audiences. The CPB doesn’t have the resources to compete with these massive lobbying operations. That means it’s up to us to fight for quality local journalism.
That's why we have to ask: Will you make your very first donation to Free Press Action today to help us stop the JCPA and save public media? We’re hoping to reach 300 donations by midnight on Monday to fuel our advocacy in the weeks ahead. As commercial news outlets stop serving the public, lay off reporters and promote clickbait content, policymakers should be looking at ways to support quality independent news and information. They should be listening to the voices of their constituents instead of eyeing the wallets of their corporate allies. No more NPR layoffs and no more corporate handouts.
We need all hands on deck if we’re going to stop the JCPA and save public media: Rush your first donation to Free Press Action to help us reach our fundraising goal of 300 donations so we can keep up the fight.
Thanks so much for standing up for what communities need,
All of us at Free Press Action
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