I have been listening to Irwin Gratz on Maine Public for 40 years. Irwin makes my morning.

He informs, he is a master at bringing in NPR’s news nationally and from around the world. He’s also pretty good, with his friend Lew McNally, on the weather. I depend on Irwin and his colleagues at Maine Public to start my day on good solid footing. I write today because that solid footing is under attack from the Trump administration, which seeks to defund the annual appropriation for public broadcasting — an appropriation that has always had significant bipartisan support in Congress.

This national support is important to PBS and NPR stations across the country. In Maine, national support is approximately 12% of Maine Public’s budget. Zeroing this out would significantly reduce Maine Public’s ability to bring news and a wide variety of other programming to our Maine listeners. Maine Public reaches people all over Maine. For many, it is our primary source of local and national news and the source of a wide range of programming that includes “Masterpiece Theater” and other PBS favorites.

Please contact Reps. Pingree and Golden and Sens. Collins and King and ask them to support Maine Public. Go to ProtectMyPublicMedia.org for links to these offices. Our freedoms are being tested. We need an independent source of news and information we can trust. Maine Public is here for us. Keep Irwin on the air. Let’s ensure Maine Public keeps making our mornings informed and our evenings delightful.

Ronald Bancroft
Cumberland