The National Black Church Initiative is calling for its members not to give money to NPR in response to the cancellation of Tell Me More, the nationally syndicated show that the company plans to stop producing after July.
“This cancellation disheartens us deeply,” NBCI President Rev. Anthony Evans said in a statement. “Tell Me More is a brilliantly formatted radio program that showcases a multitude of viewpoints.”
NPR announced the show’s cancellation earlier this month along with the news that it would cut 28 jobs, in an effort to shrink its budget deficit. The network said the show’s host, Michel Martin, and its executive producer, Carline Watson, will remain with the company after the program ends.
The church group said in a news release last week that it is asking its members — “34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African American churchgoers” — not to give money to NPR.
Saying that Tell Me More is “a shining light for African American broadcasters, and serves a much-needed role of minority voices in the media,” Evans concluded, “NPR has abandoned the African American community, and we must turn a deaf ear to you.”
As NPR’s David Folkenflik reported last week, Tell Me More is one of several to have been canceled by NPR in the past decade — and one of three canceled shows that were meant to appeal to minorities:
Source: NPR | BILL CHAPPELL
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