FAIR NEEDS YOU

While some think the Democrats' political advantage in Washington means that progressive change is finally possible, the center-right corporate media are working hard to move the "acceptable conversation" to the right on so many issues, from the housing bubble to ending torture.

When you read or listen to the corporate media discussing health care reform, how often do you hear the words "single-payer"? Or about the war in Afghanistan, "withdrawal"? The corporate media dismisses these ideas as "fringe" or "unrealistic"—before moving on to more newsworthy subjects like right-wing "tea parties" and Sarah Palin's memoir.
 
FAIR is here every day, exposing the media biases that have so damaged this country. But in order to continue, we badly need your help. $85,000 is our goal—help us get there.

In 2009, FAIR activists have stood up to fight media misinformation:
 
—Single-Payer health care:  The New York Times public editor received more than a thousand letters from FAIR activists about the paper's failure to cover the single-payer option—and said he agreed with our criticism.

—Climate change: When the Washington Post published an error-filled column by conservative George Will, FAIR's letters to the Post demanded that the paper explain how such inaccuracies made it into print.

—Afghanistan: FAIR has documented the near-blackout of peace voices in the debate over escalating the war in Afghanistan.

We joined with other activists to demand accountability at CNBC. We spoke up when the public TV show Frontline left single-payer out of its report on U.S. health care system. We catalogued the racism of Rush Limbaugh and the immigrant-bashing of Lou Dobbs.

That's what FAIR delivered to you all year—for free.

But there's much more to FAIR than this email list. Our weekly radio show CounterSpin is the best half hour of media criticism you’ll hear anywhere. The FAIR Blog provides daily critiques of media misinformation. Our magazine Extra! brings readers a monthly dose of in-depth criticism and studies, much of which is available FREE on our website.

The economic meltdown has hit us hard. We've scaled back, and even shrunk our staff. But no amount of belt-tightening will keep us going without the ongoing support of people like you. We critically need your help now to keep FAIR strong in 2010.

Please help FAIR raise $85,000 by the end of the year.

Supporting FAIR is a safe, tax-deductible investment—we will use every dollar we receive to bring you the information you need to make sense of the media madness.
 
We're counting on you.
 
From everyone at FAIR,
 
Peter, Janine, Jim, Steve, Julie, Deborah and Sanford