Save Public and Web Radio!

Rather than sending out a mass email, I'm posting these two notes here.

How much is $1.53 worth to you? With a federal investment of just $1.53 per American per year, public broadcasting creates and distributes programming such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Sesame Street, Frontline, American Experience and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. This small amount also allows public broadcasting to provide local community services like educational partnerships with schools, job training services, and the opportunity to explore locally important topics in-depth. Yet some in Congress want to eliminate funding for public broadcasting. Take action now to help preserve future funding for public broadcasting. Through the Tell Them Public Matters.com site, I was able to send FREE messages to my elected officials to enlist their support for public broadcasting. Visit TellThemPublicMatters.org today to take action.
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Public radio music webcasting is in immediate danger. The recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) exposes public radio stations that stream their musical content to huge increases in royalty payments and threatens to drastically curtail the programming diversity found on public broadcasting websites. This decision treats public broadcasters the same as commercial entities and saddles public radio stations with inappropriate and unachievable requirements.
Additionally, because the CRB’s decision requires public radio stations to pay royalties on a per song/per listener basis, it directly contradicts public radio’s public service obligations and mission. In a very direct way, the CRB decision penalizes public radio stations for their service to the public. The more of the American population we reach, the larger the royalty payments.

Artists, listeners, and public radio webcasters have joined together to help preserve our public service. We strongly believe in compensating artists, but public radio music webcasting as we know it cannot survive under the new rules. As it stands now, royalty rates for webcasters will increase drastically come July 15th and will be retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!

We need your help! Please take a moment to contact your Members of Congress to let your representatives know how much Internet radio means to you. Ask them to co-sponsor the Internet Radio Equality Act to save public radio webcasting. Act now!