ALBUQUERQUE – Phil Donahue will deliver a keynote speech critical of corporate media at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico Annual Bill of Rights Dinner on Friday, December 9 at 7 p.m. at the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town.

Most people know Donahue for his talk show fame, but may not be aware of his civil rights and civil liberties significance. A leader in national media reform efforts, Donahue will reveal the inside story of corporate media censorship and how First Amendment protections guaranteeing a “free marketplace of ideas” have been steadily eroded with each new merger.

Donahue was interviewed by Sean Hannity of the FOX News channel’s Hannity & Colmes program the fall after he was fired from MSNBC. “Well, we were the only antiwar voice that had a show, and that, I think, made them very nervous. I mean, from the top down, they were just terrified. We had to have two conservatives on for every liberal. I was counted as two liberals.”

When Donahue’s show was canceled, The New York Times reported that “he was actually attracting more viewers than any other show on MSNBC.” All Your TV’s Rick Ellis quoted a network source: “I personally like Donahue, but our numbers were telling us that viewers thought he has too combative and often said things that some respondents considered almost unpatriotic.”

In February, 2003, MSNBC cancelled Donahue’s daily “liberal” talk show–the first of its kind–a mere six months after it debuted. The network claimed poor ratings as the reason, but at the time, Donahue was the highest rated show on MSNBC. His 440,000 viewers a night far exceeded viewer ship for the now long-running conservative MSNBC talk show “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and approached the numbers for “O’Reilly Factor.”

Donahue actively supports gay and lesbian equality; he served on the boards of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the Ryan White Foundation. In 1999, he received the Family Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign.

A press conference will be held with Donahue at 3pm on Friday December 9 at the Fireplace room in Hotel Albuquerque on 800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW. The last day to buy tickets for the event is December 2, the reception begins at 6pm that evening and the awards dinner starts at 7pm. Tickets are $85, $800 for a table of 10, and you can call to place an ad in the program at 266-5915 or go to www.aclu-nm.org.

Public radio talk-show host Arcie Chapa will moderate the event and hand out the awards. ACLU-NM continues to grow, due to the work of many dedicated volunteers. This year we are honoring Bennett Hammer, Ousama Rasheed, Roger Smith, and Joyce Briscoe for their contributions to the ACLU of New Mexico.