Comcast Petition Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2012
CONTACTS:
Mike Haack, Co-founder, Rethink Press, mike@rethinkpress.org
Xi Wang, Co-founder, Rethink Press, xi@rethinkpress.org,
Amanda Kloer, Human Rights Organizer, Change.org, www.change.org, Amanda@change.org
***PRESS RELEASE***
23,000 PETITION COMCAST TO BROADCAST AL JAZEERA ENGLISH NATIONALLY
Activist to hand-deliver over 23,000 signatures to Comcast Cable headquarters requesting full cable access to Al Jazeera English.
WASHINGTON, DC –On Monday, February 13th, 2012, at 1:00 PM, members of Rethink Press, a grassroots media awareness group, will deliver a petition to Comcast Cable headquarters in Philadelphia, PA. More than 23,000 people across the U.S. have signed the petition on Change.org calling on Comcast Cable to provide customers with full cable access to Al Jazeera English, demonstrating the wide support for the network.
“Last year Al Jazeera English’s coverage of the Arab Spring really captured America’s attention,” said Xi Wang of Rethink Press. “People everywhere tuned to it to see coverage of the revolutions. Half of its online traffic was from U.S. viewers, but the problem is that not everyone has the internet. This is why we want it to be available on TV.”
Along with the delivery, Rethink Press members will perform a live “airing” of Al Jazeera English news. “Because people can’t watch it on cable, we’re going to act out the news for them,” explained Rethink Press co-founder Meredith Larson. “It’s not going to be as good as the real thing, but we hope it will make people think about what they’re missing.”
Despite growing support for the network, currently, only 5 metropolitan areas in the United States have24-hour cable access to Al Jazeera English, an internationally acclaimed news network that broadcasts to over 250 million households in 120 countries.
“It’s not enough to say a few people in a couple places can have access to the world,” said Larson. “Comcast needs to listen to its customers and offer a real choice, like Time Warner Cable in New York. Americans deserve to know what’s going on, and we’re hoping that petitions like this a grassroots pressure can get corporations to do the right thing.”
In a previous statement, Comcast noted that they do not have a carriage agreement with
Al Jazeera English and that its customers can watch Al Jazeera English’s programming on the network’s website. “The point is that we want them to get the agreement,” Larson responded. “We don’t want people to have to have the internet simply to know what’s going on in the world.”
Live signature totals from Rethink’s campaign:
http://www.change.org/petitions/comcast-broadcast-al-jazeera-english-now
Journalists interested in contacting Comcast public relations staff should try:
Alana Davis, Spokesperson, Comcast
Alana_Davis@comcast.com
(202) 379-7150
For more information on Rethink Press, please visit:
Rethink Press is a grassroots group that is working to raise awareness about the state of the journalism and media in the United States. We feel that to be well-rounded and well-informed citizens, Americans need and deserve to have access to high-quality local, national, and international news.
For more information on Change.org, please visit:
Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.
