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| David Koch |
Environmental activists say they have more than 70,000
signatures and plan to flood a WGBH trustees meeting next week calling for the
ouster of conservative lightning-rod billionaire David Koch from the board —
but, according to the Boston Herald, the
public TV and radio station for now is standing by the longtime PBS mega-donor.
“David Koch has essentially dedicated himself — and tens of
millions of dollars — to deliberately mislead the public about climate change,”
claimed Emily Southard of environmental group Forecast the Facts. “That’s
completely incompatible with an organization like WGBH, which is dedicated to
public education.”
Koch, a prominent Mitt Romney fundraiser last year, has
donated $18.6 million to WGBH since 1982 and $10 million specifically to the
science program NOVA, according to Koch Companies spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia.
He’s also one of the station’s 32 trustees.
His steady, heavy contributions could cause WGBH to commit acts
of “journalistic self-censorship” and influence programming, the petition
claims.
About 50 activists plan to picket the Brighton TV station
next Wednesday and deliver the petition to the board of trustees in a
five-minute presentation during their meeting, Southard said.
WGBH vice chairwoman Maureen Ruettger said, “We will listen
to it just like anything else. You have to listen to both sides.”
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