Moyers/PBS Needs Our Help NOW!!!

[Dover]

Moyers and his team have been there for us through thick and thin.
It's time to return the favor for some of the very best journalism
available. Please send this note out far and wide.


Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Future of NOW

A Special Message for You from John Siceloff, Executive Producer, NOW on PBS


Good news and bad news.

This moment, this time, is an inflection point in American history -- at least it seems that way from my perch as executive producer of NOW. In the last year we've witnessed an extraordinary election and now an extraordinary recession. We want to continue our reporting on these and other urgent issues for America and the world, and for that we need your help.

But first the good news. We were just notified that NOW on PBS won the top award for political journalism on television, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, given by the Annenberg Center at USC. We tied with "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", and beat every other news show on every network and every cable channel.

And that's not all. The polling company Erdos and Morgan found that opinion leaders consider NOW on PBS to be the "most credible" weekly television news show on television. Again, we beat every other weekly show on network and cable.

These awards honor our tough investigative reporting. Our production teams go on location and follow the facts where they lead us. Since NOW's launch we've reported in all 50 states and 17 countries. Tom Brokaw sums it up: NOW is "fearless about challenging conventional wisdom."

Now for the bad news. We're a million dollars short for 2009. PBS has maintained its generous support, but many of the philanthropies who support NOW have had to make severe cuts in their grants to the show, due to plummeting endowments.

Every member of the staff, including me, will take an unpaid eight-week furlough this year. In that way, we avoid losing our most important resource: our journalists. No one will be laid off.

But we still face a shortfall in the resources we need for robust reporting and investigating. For our ground-breaking piece about the causes of the financial meltdown, "Credit and Credibility", we worked for months to get whistleblowers inside the ratings agencies to talk to us. We're about to air another piece in our beat about the state of the economy that we call "Out of the Woods -- Rebuilding after the Great Collapse". Our coverage of the economic crisis, based on real reporting which doesn't simply put talking heads in a studio, costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I know that these difficult times have affected all of you. Please continue to support your local PBS affiliate--the stations are in economic pain as well. And as a NOW viewer and web user, you may also choose to give directly to NOW on PBS--if so, please email Mimi Evans at [e-mail] for more information. Your contributions will go directly to support our reporting.

Please forward this letter to friends and colleagues.




http://www.pbs.org/now/newsletter.html

NOW - 450 West 33rd Street New York, NY 10001 212-560-8186

[malaise]

1. I'm planning to order the Pete Seeger DVD

from PBS at the end of the month.

[Dover]

2. That's great! It was a wonderful program. You can also donate DIRECTLY to NOW

by clicking on the email [e-mail] and inquire how to go about it.

[malaise]

7. I watched the repeat on Friday night

after Bill Moyers and found out how to order the DVD. I can't afford NOW at this time. The DVD isn't cheap. I'll see what I can do in June. :D
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/pete-seeger/the-power-of-song/50/

[DearAbby]

3. K&R

[L0oniX]

4. Every time they have the quarterly drive for donations they cut out NOW and Bill Moyers Journal...

and instead they have the Flying Dutch Asscarrot or Suzy (money whore) Ortman.

[barbtries]

5. i'll see what i can do

hopefully with dems in power pbs will be fully funded in the future.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. Does Moyers have any connection to NOW anymore?

I thought he was only affiliated with Bill Moyers' Journal these days.

I don't mean to suggest that NOW isn't a worthy program. I'm just seeking a clarification.

[Duppers]

8. no, the OP is misleading

Here's my email, just recieved, from Mimi:

Dear Dxxxxxx,
Thanks very much for your kind words, and for responding so quickly to John Siceloff's special letter - NOW on PBS does need financial support, and we felt that our viewers and web visitors may not realize it (and indeed may want to know). I should also tell you that NOW is now hosted by David Brancaccio – Bill Moyers has had his own show “Bill Moyers Journal,” since 2005. Bill works down the hall from us here in New York and I will make sure he knows your feeling about his journalism. John Siceloff has always been the Executive Producer of NOW, and his vision still guides the show’s mission. NOW differs from the Journal in that NOW shoots in newsmagazine style from all over the US and the world, whereas Bill Moyers is the iconic interviewer and his shows are all in-studio interviews.
If you would still like to support NOW, we ask that you consider making a one-time tax-deductible gift to NOW; we also of course encourage you to support your local PBS station.
Checks* to support NOW can be made out to the Educational Broadcasting System - and noted NOW on PBS - and sent to Steve Bennett, NOW on PBS, 450 W. 33rd Street, 7th floor, New York, NY 10001. We promise not to let any other organization use your personal information for marketing purposes.
We are happy and grateful to accept gifts at any level. Again, gifts by check made out to the Educational Broadcasting Corporation are tax-deductible, and you will get a receipt. David Brancaccio or Maria Hinojosa (NOW’s senior correspondent) will sign all acknowledgment letters.
Give me a call if you need more information. All of us at NOW, including John Siceloff, David Brancaccio and Maria Hinojosa – who represent some of the finest journalists anywhere today, if I do say so myself – are grateful for your investment in the work we do.

Best wishes,
Mimi

*At the moment we cannot accept credit card donations online. I know that form of payment might be easier for some people, and we apologize for that inconvenience.

------------------------------
Emphasis mine.
-duppers