John, we’re just days away from a vote on the largest single cut to public broadcasting in U.S. history. [1] I want you to know we have a real chance of stopping it and saving PBS & NPR – if we can scale up our efforts in this final week.

Just yesterday, one of the masterminds behind this cut worried the final Senate vote will be “very close.” [2]

That’s because right now, thousands of Common Cause members are mobilizing and driving calls to tell their Senators: Vote NO on any cuts to public broadcasting.

After all, any Senator who signs off on Trump’s cuts is agreeing to deprive their own constituents of accurate, impartial reporting, educational children’s programming, and even emergency broadcasting.

So Trump is turning the screws – threatening Senators like Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) that they’d better choose his extreme agenda over their own voters.

Why? Because they know an independent free press – including local journalism on how their devastating cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and basic government services are making us all worse off – makes it much harder to get their way.

And at a time when major media giants are caving to Trump’s fear-mongering tactics, we cannot afford to lose PBS and NPR’s fact-based journalism. Remember, when people actually hear about Trump’s agenda, they oppose it – but right now, word isn’t getting out.

And these funding cuts will only dig a deeper hole – depriving local stations of nearly half of their funding, leaving many with no choice but to shut down. [3]

In Pennsylvania, an estimated two million residents supported by WVIA - an affiliate station - would be directly impacted. [4]

This is just one example from the more than 1,500 locally owned stations whose funding is on the line this week – and once they’re gone, it’ll be even more difficult to bring them back.

Here’s the good news: this deal is far from done - with at least four Senators (the number of votes we need to save PBS & NPR) publicly questioning what these cuts will mean for their constituents.

We’re stretching our resources thin to get it done, so we’re calling on everyone who can help us push through the final days of this fight. The stakes are too high to sit out, John: Chip in $5 now to help us protect public media >>

If you've saved your info with ActBlue, we'll process your contribution instantly:

Thanks for your support,

The team at Common Cause

P.S. If you haven’t yet, tell your Senators to reject these devastating cuts, protect independent journalism, and stand up to this attack on the truth. Click here to take action >>

[1]https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-public-media-house-vote-senate/
[2]https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5399204-rand-paul-trump-funding-npr-pbs/
[3]https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-rural-public-broadcasters-white-house-funding/
[4]https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-public-media-house-vote-senate/