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UPC wishes to thank everyone who protested to Ira Glass,
the producer/radio show host of the misguided hour-long "Poultry
Slam," which aired nationally in November and December 1996/1997
on his program, This American Life. (See the previous issue of
PoultryPress, Winter/Spring 1998, p. 3.,
)
National Public Radio (NPR) disclaimed responsibility for This
American Life. In response, UPC requested clarification of the
relationship between NPR and NPR member stations. NPR
director-executive support Kathleen Scott replied in a letter
dated May 7th: "Regarding the questions you pose in the second
paragraph of your letter, NPR did not fund or facilitate in any
way This American Life at any time. 'Services' as used in my
letter means NPR provides membership support services such as
news reporting, training, promotional recordings or
program-related material to our members. None of these services
is in any way related to This American Life.
"WBEZ is an NPR member station by virtue of its purchase
from NPR of certain NPR programs such as Morning Edition, Talk of
the Nation, All Things Considered and Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
NPR provides no funding to WBEZ."
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What Can I Do?
What Can I Do?
What Can I Do?
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- This American Life is produced by Ira Glass, WBEZ-FM Radio in
Chicago. It is distributed by Public Radio International (PRI).
Please urge PRI not to distribute This American Life/Poultry Slam
to public broadcasting stations in 1998 or thereafter. Contact:
Stephen Salyer, President, Public Radio International, 100 North
Sixth Street #900A, Minneapolis, MN 55403. Ph: 612-330-9202; fax:
9222. (No email address, we're told.)
- Contact your local public broadcasting station manager and urge
the station not to air This American Life/Poultry Slam. The
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) provides funding for
This American Life. CPB Radio Director, Richard H. Madden, wrote
to UPC, "When This American Life applies for additional CPB
funding, as I assume they will in the next year or two, one
consideration will be whether public stations and listeners
around the country find the program of high quality." Tell your
local public broadcasting station that the Poultry Slam is of the
lowest quality. It promotes violence, cruelty to animals,
misinformation about birds, meanness of spirit, and contempt for
other forms of life. It should not be aired.
- As it appears United Poultry Concerns misunderstood NPR's role
regarding its member stations, we apologize for the confusion. At
the same time, we would be glad to know about any NPR program
that now promotes or has ever promoted or even thoughtfully
presented the case for animal rights as suggested by Joy
Williams, who wrote that "Our treatment of animals and our
attitude toward them is crucial not only to any pretensions we
have to ethical behavior but to humankind's intellectual and
moral evolution." From Joy Williams, The Inhumanity of the Animal
People, Harpers Magazine, August 1997, recipient of the 1997 Ark
Trust Genesis Award "For an inspired article which may be the
single most powerful, passionate and convincing essay ever
written on the subject of animal rights."
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