As Josh Painter at Texas 4 Palin reported earlier this afternoon, Discovery Communications and TLC are moving forward with the "Sarah Palin’s Alaska" series without a hitch. Scott Collins at the Los Angeles Times reports that production of the eight episodes of the series will begin next month.
Extremist environmental groups, led by Defenders of Wildlife, waged a well-funded campaign against the series with multiple petitions and with ads at bus stops across from Discovery’s corporate headquarters. We don’t know whether their petition was delivered to the Discovery shareholders meeting as they planned. But we do know that our counter petition, with signatures and a list of sponsors, was overnighted on May 4 to Discovery CEO David Zaslav, with a request that it be presented at the shareholders meeting on May 5.
Our petition drive was launched on April 20, two weeks before the shareholders meeting, with limited resources but a lot of enthusiasm. The group of sponsors listed on the petition represent over 30 Sarah Palin support sites. This was the second Internetwide cooperative effort between Sarah Palin supporters. The first was a Grassroots Webathon spearheaded by Conservatives for Palin in which $115,585. was raised for Governor Palin’s legal defense fund. (See here, here, and here.)
Spearheaded by the authors of Sarah’s Web Brigade and SPIB, the current petition drive was a cooperative effort between many Sarah Palin supporters that enabled us to make a statement of support on behalf of Governor Palin’s new series. A Facebook Cause was also set up for the petition drive. Related efforts are also ongoing at the "Tell TLC/Discovery Communications YES to Sarah Palin" Facebook group, which we encourage you to join. The U. S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) has also encouraged their members to write Discovery in support of Governor Palin's series.
Obviously, Discovery Communications knew they had a winner from the beginning when they landed the contract for Governor Palin’s Alaska series. But what kind of statement would it have been if we her supporters had remained silent in the face of the vicious attack against her series? We’re glad we took a stand and will continue to cheer Governor Palin and Discovery Channel on as this series becomes a reality. (And no, it is not a reality series - it is a documentary about Alaska and her people.) We are certain to see breathtaking scenes of Alaska’s awesome beauty and learn fascinating facts about what it is like to live there.
Thank all of you who have already signed the Show Your Support for Sarah Palin’s Alaska Series! petition. Those of you who have not yet done so, please sign the petition and join us in supporting Governor Palin and Discovery Channel in this endeavor. Contact information for Discovery Communications and TLC is posted on the petition site so you can make phone calls and send letters. Visit the other links posted on the petition site for additional information.
Let’s make Sarah Palin’s Alaska the most-watched series in TLC’s history! Do it for Sarah!
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