Following Supreme Court ruling, American Public Media recognizes necessity and support of free press in full-page New York Times ad

ST. PAUL, Minn., June 27, 2019 – With a full-pageadvertisement appearing in this Sunday’s issue of The New York Times, AmericanPublic Media (APM) will highlight the important work of the free press andthank those who support journalism locally and worldwide.

The ad comes after a U.S.Supreme Court ruling in the case of Flowersv. Mississippi. APM’s investigative group, APM Reports, reported on the Flowerscase for more than a year in Mississippi for the acclaimed podcast In the Dark and – among many revelations– uncovered the district attorney’s past and present practice of racialdiscrimination in jury selection.

The court reversed Flowers’ conviction on Friday, rulingthat the prosecutor used racialdiscrimination in the jury selection for Flowers’ most recent trial.

Key findings from the APM Reports’ investigation wereincluded in the case presented to the Supreme Court.

Released in May 2018, the second season of In the Dark has been downloaded morethan 24 million times and was honored with the George Polk Award,a prestigious award that emphasizes investigative journalism, and the first ofwhich to be granted to a podcast.

In the ad, APM emphasizes the necessity of financial supportfor news organizations everywhere to ensure that people always have the powerof a free press.

“We wanted to show our immense gratitude for those who support the free press and help us investigate and share these stories,” said Dave Kansas, APM’s executive vice president and chief content officer. “This ad is also our effort to remind news consumers of the incredible amount of time, resources and energy that go into keeping all of us informed.”

The ad’s message reads:

Facts are powerful. So are you.

The U.S. Supreme Courtruled in a controversial death penalty case on June 21, deciding that adistrict attorney racially discriminated during jury selection. The decisionoverturns a man’s death sentence.

APM Reports uncoveredcritical facts about the case and brought them to national attention with thesecond season of In the Dark, the first podcast to be honored with a GeorgePolk Award.

This is the work ofinvestigative journalism. This is what it can do.

American Public Mediais proud to contribute to important journalism being produced worldwide.

And we want to acknowledgean important aspect of this work. Investigating and reporting important storiesis expensive.

It takes talentedpeople and a lot of time to find hidden facts. Your support brings them tolight.

You make independent,fact-based journalism possible. You sustain this work by supporting your local publicradio station and public media programming, by subscribing to your localnewspaper and by valuing a free press committed to finding the truth.

Thank you.

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About American Public Media
American Public Media® is the national programming divisionof MinnesotaPublic Radio® and reaches more than 19 million listeners via 1,000 radiostations nationwide each week. APM is one of the largest producers anddistributors of public radio programming in the world, with a portfolio thatincludes BBC World Service, Marketplace®, and the leading classical musicprograms in the nation. APM offers a diverse array of podcasts featuring thebest in food, culture, entertainment, business and investigative journalism.For more information on APM, visit americanpublicmedia.org.

Source: Data are copyrightNielsen Audio. Data are estimates only.