It is crystal clear that the greatest threat to the viability of our representative democracy is the concentration of ownership in the media industry. This trend over the past few decades has allowed information sources and news shows to become controlled as entertainment, or worse yet, to be manipulated for political gain by the plutocratic oligarchy who are in the process of engineering a billionaires coup to control this nation through ownership of its Congress and media.

The recent suspension of Keith Olberman by MSNBC raises the larger question of corporate control of the media in the United States. Thanks to the response of hundreds of thousands of Americans, Keith was reinstated. But without an independent progressive media, progressives like Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and others can be silenced at any moment by their corporate employers. I am very concerned that the proposed merger of NBC and Comcast will move us in exactly the WRONG direction, increasing the concentration of media ownership among a small handful of huge powerful multi-national corporations.

Please join me in saying NO to this merger by signing the petition below:

Whereas, fewer and fewer large media conglomerates own and control what the American people see, hear and read; and

Whereas, one TV network (FOX) has contributed millions to the Republican Party and is a major propaganda arm for Republicans; and

Whereas, ninety percent of talk radio is controlled by right-wing extremists who speak to some tens of million of Americans every day; and

Whereas, Comcast, which is the largest cable TV company in America, is in the process of merging with General Electric’s NBC, one of the world’s major media conglomerates; and

Whereas, the CEO of this new company will be Stephen B. Burke who, in 2004, was a Bush Ranger and raised $200,000 for the re-election of George W. Bush; and

Whereas, our democracy is threatened when the American media is controlled by a handful of corporate interests.

Therefore, we the undersigned join Senator Bernie Sanders in saying NO to the Comcast-NBC merger.

Sign this petition to JUST SAY NO TO THE NBC-COMCAST MERGER!.