WASHINGTON ,
Aug. 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Phil Donahue – for
years the number one rated network television daily talk show host
– was the greatest defender and enabler of our
Constitution's First Amendment right of free speech in
20th century America.
Given the frequency of his programs and the size of his live
television audiences, he gave early national voice to most of the
leaders of social justice movements of the 1960s. When they were
considered too controversial to be interviewed by other national
media, Phil Donahue invited them for
a full hour enabling them to reach his TV audience of 10
million or more people. His guests included pioneers for civil
rights, consumer justice, environmental protection, and workplace
safety. He interviewed outspoken poverty fighters, war resisters,
women liberation advocates, student rebels, gay rights defenders,
aggrieved communities, and their victims. His was far more than an
entertainment show with flamboyant performers.
With his microphone in hand, Donahue would roam through his live
audience to directly engage the people. It was spontaneous,
authentic, unscripted. He became one of the country's best-known
national celebrities with his groundbreaking courage.
Moreover, so deep was his belief in giving voice to all, that he
was ready to offer his stage to persons with views he strongly
disagreed. He had Jerry Falwell on
his show over two dozen times. That was Phil's way of
defending the most profound meaning of the First Amendment –
that of protecting free speech for opinions you may find
abhorrent.
There has been no one like him on national network TV talk shows
since he ended the Donahue Show in 1996. Not remotely.
Coming back with a show on MSNBC in 2002, his insistence on
giving voice to those against the war in Iraq, as well as boosters of that Bush/Cheney
criminal war of aggression, led to GE-NBC firing him.
History should remember him for these immense contributions and
for putting forces in motion that continue to this day for a more
just country and world.
For further comment, contact Ralph
Nader at 202-387-8030 or info@csrl.org
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SOURCE Ralph Nader, Consumer
Advocate