You did it! Statewide we sent more than 10,000 emails yesterday to the Governor and our elected state officials telling them: We Want Our Public TV!!
It’s clear that the people have spoken, and we want to be sure that our elected officials who represent us hear what we had to say - RESTORE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION. It’s that simple. Public TV is as essential to our community as the public schools and public libraries. We are a resource for all people.
Please, keep the noise nice and loud - send more emails everyday until the budget is passed - IN favor of public television!
Our state’s character is defined by it’s people, small towns, local business and non-profit efforts – it’s what makes us who we are as a commonwealth. And Public Television is an important part of our social fabric. As many of you did, I grew up learning from public television – Mr. Roger’s and Lady Elaine; Cookie Monster and Grover and the rest of the Sesame Street gang; from Reading Rainbow (my old time favorite). And as an adult, it is the place I turn to for independent film, documentaries and alternative news coverage not on TV anywhere else.If you are like me and value having public television on the air, please stand up and be heard.
Say it with me - What do we want? Public television! When do we want it? NOW!
This morning, we held our weekly programming meeting. This week’s discussion centered on new MiND programs. We’ve just finished a space project with NASA footage about Saturn, the moon, and the stars. We’ve started work on a State of MiND program about homophobia, and another about the real lives of veterans (and, sadly, their high suicide rate). We’re working with a group that helps injured animals, and another that retrains people for new jobs. We’re hoping some tapes arrived so we can tell stories of WWII and Korean War vets as well. Last week, we continued work on a story about a neighborhood playground. I love the mix of topics—and the creative energy that I see every day as we build MiND.
And yet, all of this comes with a certain sadness, because we may not be able to continue in our current direction. TODAY, our community is contacting every key legislator in PA to tell them what will be lost if we sustain a 40 percent funding cut. We encourage you to speak up, to tell those in control of the budget process what you think about our work.
Thank you, one and all, for your ongoing support of MiND.
Please advocate today—and please ask everyone you know to do the same (Pennsylvanians only, please).
Hello all, Howard Blumenthal here, writing today to thank you—hundreds of you, in fact—for speaking up on behalf of public television. Thanks to you, and people like you throughout Pennsylvania, our legislators understand the importance of public television in our communities. You’ve spoken up through thousands of emails through our Advocacy website. You have sent compelling and personal emails to the Governor, and to your local legislators. We thank you for doing a great job getting the word out.
Personally, and as an organization, we’ve learned a great deal about how our government works. For example, I’ve attended two special hearings about Pennsylvania public television at our statehouse in Harrisburg. In fact, one of our Board members testified at the Senate hearing. I testified at the House hearing. Generally, the reception to our ideas was very positive—but a positive reception isn’t the same thing as inclusion in the state budget.
Over the next few weeks, Pennsylvania’s FY2010 state budget will be made final. As you may know, Fiscal Year 2010 begins in July, 2009. And, so far, public television’s budget line is zero… no money at all for any public television station, no money for Big Bird or NOVA, no money for Democracy Now! or MiND, no money for non-commercial, educational, community oriented programming. Not a dollar. Not a cent. Jobs will be lost. Programs will go off the air. Our channel may disappear—or get a whole lot smaller.
So… now begins a big final push.
THIS WEEK, RIGHT NOW, please go to www.mindtv.org/advocate to send an email to your legislators and to the governor. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it really matters.
For those who have already sent advocacy emails, it’s perfectly okay for you to send another. And for those of you whose voices have not been heard, please take a few minutes to advocate on behalf of Pennsylvania public television. Let the legislators know how much you enjoy the innovative new MiND format; our international programs—members of the Korean, Greek, and Indian communities, we really need you to speak up; If you watch our regular airings of Democracy Now, Grit TV and other programs on our brand-new Global MiND channel – please tell your representatives that these programs mean to you; You may have seen our all-new international channel, MHz Worldview, also launched within the past month. Does this offer you the international perspective you were looking for? Please help us keep it on the air.
You know, and we know, that MiND offers something very special in our community. It’s important that you let the legislators know how much these programs mean to you.
And yes, so much of this really is up to you. Without your voice, legislators will pass a budget that includes ZERO dollars for public television. And that places our entire operation in jeopardy. Don’t allow that to happen. Go to www.mindtv.org/advocate. Speak up today, this week, now. Before it’s too late.
Once again, thanks for your time, your interest, and your willingness to lend a hand.
MiND is a new multi-platform (TV, internet, internet VOD) learning channel put together by a real and virtual community of producers, independent thinkers, individuals, non-profits, companies, and more. Our goal is to use media as a way to learn from one another, and hopefully, to cause some positive change.
