FOX vs. NPR Up-Date

stood up, they backed down. Because of your pressure, the White House Correspondents Association denied FOX the coveted front row center seat in the White House press briefing room recently vacated by Helen Thomas.  On Wednesday CREDO Action asked: Should the White House  Correspondents Association let FOX News have the best seat in  the White House press briefing room and the legitimacy that it  confers?  The answer from respondents was a resounding "Hell no!" In just four days, over 311,000 CREDO Action members and  180,000 MoveOn members — over 491,000 people — petitioned  the board of the White House Correspondents Association and  asked them not to give the best seat in the White House press  briefing room to the rightwing noise machine's key propaganda  outlet. Just hours ago the board of the White House Correspondents  Association met and decided not to give the seat to FOX. There was clearly strong internal bias towards giving the seat  to FOX. CNN reporter and WHCA board member Ed Henry  publicly pledged to cast his vote for FOX before our campaign  launched. And after CREDO delivered the first 150,000 petition  signatures, board member Julie Mason complained to an  insider DC blog that "the reporters, producers and  photographers from Fox News assigned to the White House  are some of the best and well respected in the business" and  furthermore accused CREDO of "smearing" her "colleagues."1 While it's disappointing that the seat did not go to NPR, at least  the board found a way to avoid giving the coveted front row  center seat to FOX. No doubt CREDO's pressure made a huge  difference. The country's most influential reporters need to  put journalistic principles before any kind of loyalty they  feel to fellow members of the elite club which is the White  House press corps. CREDO members' participation in this campaign helped  expose that choice. Every member of the WHCA board  received updates every day on the growing numbers who were  joining CREDO's campaign. When they cast their votes today,  they were well aware of how it would be perceived by the public  — and by the nearly half million people who spoke out during  the campaign — if they chose to legitimize FOX. We don't win if we don't fight. CREDO members fought back  by signing the petition, sharing the campaign on Facebook  and email, and organizing friends and family to join the fight,  and it made a difference. Thank you for making this  campaign a success. Of course, this is a symbolic victory over who occupies a  chair, but symbols do matter. Fox plays to win, and so must we.  This is just one among many battles to lessen the massive power  of Fox. Let'sl celebrate briefly and then CREDO asks you to  join together to fight again. Becky Bond, Political Director CREDO Action 1Group Raises Holy Hell Against Fox News Getting Helen's Seat  — They Prefer NPR to Fox News, MediaBistro.com, July 30, 2010.

Give the Seat to NPR

will decide Sunday.

Should the front row center seat in the White HOuse press briefing room to to FOX News or to NPR?

Amazing. In just 36 hours, 185,000 CREDO Action members joined  our campaign to block FOX News from taking over the White House  press briefing room seat recently vacated by Helen Thomas. Time is running out. Last night we sent the first round of signatures  via overnight delivery to the officers of the White House  Correspondents Association board, including journalists from the  New York Times, Reuters, C-Span, and USA Today, and later today  we will hand deliver boxes of signatures to the president of the board. Amazing. In just 36 hours, 185,000 CREDO Action members joined  our campaign to block FOX News from taking over the White  House press briefing room seat recently vacated by Helen Thomas. The WHCA board will decide Sunday who will get the seat. We will  continue to update them as signatures pour in with another round of  signatures to be delivered on Saturday, but we need your help to  build on our momentum and take the pressure up a notch. Tell the White House Correspondents Association: Give the  best seat in the briefing room to NPR, not FOX! Click here to automatically add your name to the petition. The organizations most actively vying for the seat are FOX, NPR  and Bloomberg News. But FOX News is a right-wing propaganda outlet, not a legitimate  news agency. In recent weeks the network has turned the volume up on its  race-baiting political agenda. The media assault on Shirley  Sherrod is just the latest in a series of racist and politically  motivated attacks on targets like Van Jones, ACORN, and  Eric Holder's Department of Justice. It's bad enough that we have to fight the constant smear  campaigns and appeals to racial paranoia from FOX and  the right-wing media. We can't let them have the best seat  in the White House press briefing room and the legitimacy  that it confers. NPR has had a full time White House correspondent since the  1970s. The public radio network regularly reaches 27 million  listeners with its news programming. The Board of the White House Correspondents Association  will make its final decision during its upcoming board  meeting which has now been rescheduled one day earlier  to Sunday, August 1. So it's urgent that we take action on  behalf of NPR now. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Tell the White  House Correspondents Association: NPR deserves to be  in the front row, FOX does not. Thank you for working for a better world. Becky Bond, Political Director CREDO Action from Working Assets For more information: NPR's letter to the White House Correspondents  Association, July 14, 2010. NPR now vying for front-row White House seat, Yahoo News,  July 19, 2010. Why is the Obama administration listening to right-wing  smear merchants?, CREDO Action, July 29, 2010.

Demand BP Clean-Up

Everyday, you're painfully reminded--by the images on television, in the newspaper and on the internet--of the disaster BP has caused in the Gulf.

But what you might not know about is BP's reckless endangerment of the health of its clean-up workers. The oil in the Gulf of Mexico is toxic and BP is not providing the 30,000 clean-up workers with respirators or other safety gear essential to cleaning it up.

BP clean-up workers are already being hospitalized due to nausea, headaches and chest pains caused by the toxic fumes that they breathe in everyday on the job. Yet BP cares more about the negative impact on its public image if clean-up crews wear masks than BP cares about safety. And BP continues to cut every corner possible to protect its bottom line. It's irresponsible and unacceptable.

Click here to DEMAND BP PROVIDE PROTECTIVE GEAR TO CLEAN-UP WORKERS -- ADD YOUR NAME NOW
9/11 clean-up crews worked without protective gear and they are still suffering for it. We can't let that happen again. That's why we've joined with our friends at the PCCC in calling on President Obama to demand BP provide protective gear to each and every clean-up worker -- and we're not the only ones standing up.

Already, over 60,000 Americans have added their names. RFK Jr. and more than 50 elected leaders and candidates for office have joined the campaign. And the media, including the New York Times, have been covering every step of the campaign so far. That's why we need you to sign on today to keep the momentum building and the pressure on until BP does the right thing -- or President Obama makes BP do it.
Now there are reports that BP is threatening to fire any worker who actually uses protective gear. Why? Because BP thinks it's an admission of liability and it'd be responsible for even more clean-up costs. BP is already responsible for the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history, but instead of learning from its mistakes it's making all new ones. It's wrong and it has to stop.

Tens of thousands of DFA members joined us in Boycotting BP, so join us again us today in calling on President Obama to demand BP provides protective gear to all clean-up workers. We'll make sure that the White House, Congress and every candidate for office knows where you stand.
Click here to JOIN US TODAY TO DEMAND BP PROTECT ITS CLEAN-UP CREWS
It's time for BP to stop cutting corners. Join us today to make sure they get the message.

Thank you for everything you do,
Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

Help Make Schools Safer

Below is a message from the American Association of University  Women (AAUW): It's a simple truth - students can't learn if they don't feel safe. And yet, sadly, bullying and harassment affects nearly one in three  American school children in grades six through 10. Bullying and  harassment can result in long-term social, academic, psychological,  and physical consequences, including decreased grades and  interest in school, increased absences and dropout rates, and  decreased likelihood of obtaining a post-secondary education.   Help ensure a safe learning environment for all students by  urging your representative to support the Safe Schools  Improvement Act (H.R. 2262) now.  The Safe Schools Improvement Act would ensure that schools  have effective policies in place to prevent and respond to bullying  and harassment, including policies that strictly prohibit such conduct.  In addition, states, districts, and schools could implement programs  to teach students about the issues around, and consequences of,  bullying and harassment, as well as educating teachers and  administrators on how to best prevent these incidences and  intervene when they occur.  The issues of bullying and harassment in our schools have  garnered increased media attention lately, and the House  Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities held a  hearing on student cyber safety last week.  As members of  Congress work to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary  Education Act this year, AAUW is joining with coalition partners  this week in asking our elected officials not only to cosponsor the  Safe Schools Improvement Act but also to support inclusion of  the bill language in the reauthorization process.   More than half of all teachers reported that bullying and  harassment are serious problems in their schools.  The Safe  Schools Improvement Act would fill a troubling gap in our current  federal education policy and ensure that all students, regardless  of their background or personal characteristics, are provided a  safe environment in which to learn and succeed. Take Action! To urge your representative to cosponsor and support the Safe  Schools Improvement Act, simply copy and paste the following  URL into your Internet browser.  Then follow the instructions to  compose and send your message.  If your representative has  already signed on as a cosponsor, you will be able to send him  or her a message of thanks.  http://www.capwiz.com/aauw/issues/alert/?alertid=15200496 For more information, read AAUW's research report,  Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus. This report  contributes to our understanding of how college students  perceive, experience, and respond to sexual harassment, and  includes information about how to create a harassment-free campus.