In a curt April 9 editorial, you misrepresented a popular movement to get a news show called Democracy Now! on Maine Public Radio.

SJ denounced DN! as a “decidedly antiwar program,” “not a news program” and a “one-sided commentary” that MPR quite properly refused. These are bizarre charges against a show that’s won five national prizes for excellence in reporting, including the hugely prestigious George Polk Award.

MPR’s own mission statement commits it “to respect the diversity of those we serve, responding to their interests and concerns.”

Over 60 Maine organizations have now asked for a trial of Democracy Now!, groups as respectable and diverse as the Maine Council of Churches, the AFL-CIO, the College of the Atlantic, Maine Peoples Alliance, NAACP, MOFGA and Physicians for Social Responsibility, as well as the Democrat, Green and Labor parties.

In total this represents literally hundreds of thousands of Mainers saying, “Hey, Maine Public Radio, we are your public and we really want to hear alternative voices.”

MPR essentially replied, “Hush, children, our executives shall define the public interest and we’ve decided these views aren’t good for you.”

Doesn’t refusing unprecedented demand for progressive viewpoints dent MPR’s credibility far more than accepting a trial run ever could?

When the corporate media drench us in official stenography and propaganda, we turn to the supposed democracy of our public sphere. Who could object if our “public” radio just auditioned DN! for a while and then let the people decide?

W. David Kubiak, Kennebunkport