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JOIN US
CBS, stop your plans to ridicule rural America.
Stop production of The Real Beverly Hillbillies now.
Contact them and voice your dissatisfaction with this marketing and programming
decision.
The CBS television network’s plan to create a reality-based program that makes fun of poor, rural people is wrong, and it should not go forward. There are 56 million rural Americans. They don’t need to be laughed at by other Americans or looked down on by CBS.
 Rural America is an important part of the U.S. culture, economy, and environment. Singling rural people out for derision is morally indefensible.
Making fun of people for being poor does not befit a socially responsible corporation or the well-to-do executives who manage that corporation.
All of the very profitable CBS television stations in the United States have been given their broadcast licenses from the government free of charge in exchange for a commitment to decent programming and public service. The proposed series provides neither.
Many parts of rural America face steep challenges - economic hardship, environmental degradation, inaccessible healthcare, and poorly funded schools - but that does not give CBS license to treat the people living in rural America as second class citizens. More to the point, it confers additional responsibility on the network to make sure those citizens are fairly represented.
This is a time when for the common good all Americans have been asked to pull together and confront extraordinary challenges. To come forth now and single out one group of Americans for national scorn is senseless, is reckless, and can benefit only a narrow few who stand to profit from the enterprise.
We urge the CBS to stop production of The Real Beverly Hillbillies immediately.
We urge CBS to reconsider its responsibilities to rural America.
If your organization would like to join our growing list of supporters, please write to Michelle Reynolds with how you would like to be listed.
Thanks for signing on with us but please don't forget to contact CBS and voice your dissatisfaction with this marketing and programming decision.
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