Don’t let the Koch brothers control public television

It may not be a sexy topic, but campaign finance reform is the most important step to restoring proper function to our democracy. The billionaire Koch brothers have poured millions of dollars into determining the outcomes of elections to favor their interests. There are two documentaries revealing the Koch’s tactics and levels of manipulation. I worked with Brave New Films to create the “Kochtopus” art. Brave New Films do a ton of great projects and I recommend checking out them all.

-Shepard

Last month, The New Yorker reported that public television backed out of its deal to air the documentary Citizen Koch—just because they were afraid of upsetting billionaire donor David Koch. David Koch has donated $23 million as a board member of two flagship PBS stations, WNET in New York and WGBH in Boston.

Public television was founded to support the public interest, not to cater to the private interests of wealthy donors like the Koch brothers.

Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers, Citizen Koch exposes the outsize role of money in American politics, from the Kochs and other major political spenders. This is exactly the kind of dialogue that public television was founded to foster, regardless of whether or not a powerful donor is happy about it.

That’s why I started a petition to Corporation for Public Broadcasting President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison, Public Broadcasting Service President and CEO Paula Kerger, and Independent Television Service President and CEO Sally Jo Fifer, which says:

Koch money shouldn’t influence public television programming—we want to see the film Citizen Koch aired on PBS!

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Joe Dinkin

This petition was created on MoveOn’s online petition site, where anyone can start their own online petitions. Working Families didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.